Matt Shirvington is best known as a former Olympic sprinter and co-host of Sunrise, but he’s also a dedicated family man and doting dad.
The 45-year-old, affectionately known as Shirvo, has been with his wife Jessica, an author of Young Adult fiction, since they were teenage sweethearts.
Often that first young love burns brightly then peters out, but for Matt and Jessica that wasn’t to be the case.
The pair married in 2001 – when they were just 22 – and have gone on to have three kids.
Matt and Jessica on their relationship success
The couple has credited their relationship success to the fact that they have known each other since Year 12 at highschool, forming a friendship that has been the bedrock of their life together.
Matt said it was Jessica’s love and support that helped him get through tough times when he was a competitive athlete (he competed at seven Athletics World Championships, the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur (1998, where he broke the Australian 100m sprint record) and Melbourne (2006).
‘’(Jessica) went through a period in my life where I was competing and preparing for the Olympic Games and my mood swings were massive because I lived and died by my performance,’’ the Sunrise co-host told Bounty Parents last month. ‘’She worked through all of that’’.
Having gone through the ups and downs of that high-pressure environment only strengthened their bond. ‘’Allowing each other to be ourselves but supporting each other is probably the key to that,’’ Matt told Kidspot.
‘’We had our times where we broke up and got back together. Now, we just don’t blame each other.’’
Is Matt Shirvington still married?
Matt and Jessica Shirvington, both 45, are still married, clocking up 23 years of marriage this year.
How old are Matt Shirvington’s children?
Matt and Jessica Shirvington have three children – daughters Sienna (17) and Winter (15) and a young son, Lincoln (five).
The process of having kids wasn’t all smooth sailing for the pair, however. The couple has been open about their struggle to get pregnant the third time around, as Jessica battled endometriosis.
‘’We tried and failed to have a third and let it go on the backburner. Then, nine years after, Lincoln came along,’’ Matt told Kidspot.
What are Matt and Jessica Shirvington up to these days?
After his athletics career came to an end, Matt forged a successful career as a TV sports presenter,
In June 2023, he took over as Sunrise co-host Natalie Barr when David Koch stepped down from the role after 21 years.
Jessica Shirvington is a successful author best known for her YA fiction series Embrace, comprised of five books described as ‘’paranormal romance’’.
Jessica told Bounty Parents that the youthful beginnings of her romance with Matt had helped and inspired her to write about relationships in her novels, which are aimed at teens.
Amongst all of this the couple are, of course, also busy parents. Speaking to 7LIFE in September 2023, Matt said watching his kids grow up and discover their passions had been a great joy.
‘’As a parent, you’d do anything to allow them to (follow their passion) and allow that to blossom,’’ he said, noting that Sienna loves the arts, Winter loves sports and Lincoln is just starting to play junior soccer.
‘’That’s the bit that really gets me (about parenthood). We’re all very close and very open and spend a lot of time together – and enjoy spending a lot of time together.’’
Where do Matt and Jessica Shirvington live?
The couple are based in Sydney’s Upper North Shore after selling their home in Mosman, where they had lived for almost 15 years.
In 2022, realestate.com.au reported that the couple had bought a heritage-listed Tudor-style home for $11.2 million.
