Olympic great Liesel Jones shocked her fans last year when she announced during her Triple M radio show that her marriage was over.
And now the 35-year-old swimming champion has revealed intimate details of why she went public with her split from her husband of five years, Damon Martin.
The beloved athlete said that she made the brave decision to expose her private life because she wanted to control her own story.
And as a public figure she didn’t want to be forced to “lie” about the separation.
Liesel made this frank admission during an interview on the latest episode of Stellar magazine something to talk about podcast.
Olympic swimming great Liesel Jones has revealed intimate details about why she went public with her split from her husband of five years, Damon Martin, in a new interview with the Something to Talk About podcast. In the photo: Liesel posed for the latest issue of Stellar magazine.
“I made sure to ask Damo (Martin) first, before revealing the news,” he explained during his talk.
She continued: ‘This was a bit of track time; We had healed a little. She wasn’t going to share information he wasn’t comfortable with, and if he had said “no” then she would have respected that.
But I didn’t want to lie either. It was going to come out at some point, and by facing it I was able to control the story and how I told it. It was not a bitter divorce.
During the interview he paid tribute to his ex in solidarity.
Liesel shocked her fans last year when she announced during her Triple M radio show that her marriage was over. In the photo: Liesel with Damon Martin in 2018.
Liesel rose to prominence as an Olympic swimmer at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Pictured: Liesel holding her gold medal in the 100m breaststroke that she won during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“I’m in the public eye and people ask questions and that meant I could move on, I could be open and honest about dating,” she said.
‘Imagine if someone saw that I was on Bumble and said, “Wait, you’re not married?”‘
In the latest issue of Stellar, the Olympic gold medal champion looks glamorous in the magazine as she poses in a blue denim skirt with a matching shirt.
It comes after Leisel opened up about her love life and experience with matchmaking apps during her radio show last month.
Leisel confirmed that she is back on the dating scene and recently lowered her age group on matchmaking app Bumble.
Leisel and Martin married at the luxury Peppers resort in the rural New South Wales town of Bowral in August 2018, with the ceremony taking place less than a year after they got engaged.
On Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Leisel Jones, Liam and Dobbo, he explained how he has landed 50 new matches since changing his age range from 35-45 to 25-35.
“I changed it yesterday, I already had 50 new people, 50 new matches in that age group,” he revealed.
“The dating pool is very difficult, it’s very difficult to relate to people my age.”
‘I’ve gone from the deep end of the big pool to the toddler pool!’ she joked.
It comes after Leisel announced the “incredibly sad” news that she split from her husband of five years, Damon, last year.
Speaking on his Triple M radio show in November, he told listeners they had called it quits after “realizing it was better to go their separate ways”.
‘We have separated. “It’s incredibly sad news,” she shared at the time in an emotional announcement.
Leisel and Martin married at the luxury Peppers resort in the rural New South Wales town of Bowral in August 2018, with the ceremony taking place less than a year after they got engaged.
“I can’t cook my chops as well as Damo used to, and I miss that,” he continued.
“I’m aware that I’m 38, I’m single now, I don’t have kids and I may have missed that opportunity, so that scares me a little bit.”
‘It’s a really big adjustment to do things on your own. Damo is a wonderful guy, a great guy. “We are both very heartbroken.”
Read more in the new issue of Stellar Magazine