Ryan Lochte is engaged! To a lady he met on Tinder. So… I guess that happens. I never would have thought that Tinder hookups would lead to an engagement, but here we are. It seems like Ryan Lochte met Playmate Kayla Rae Reid back in March of this year, and they immediately hit it off. She stood by him through his Rio Olympics controversy and now she’s standing by him through Dancing with the Stars. I guess that makes her a keeper!
Break out the champagne! Ryan Lochte and model Kayla Rae Reid announced their engagement on Sunday, October 9, sharing the news on their Instagram accounts.
“Memories forever!!! #thelochtes #LA” the 12-time Olympic medalist, 32, captioned a photo that showed the couple kissing on a trail overlooking the Pacific Ocean as Reid displayed her new engagement ring. “Speechless,” the Playboy model wrote as she shared another pic. “Absolutely beautiful. So in love with YOU.”
As Us Weekly exclusively revealed in May, the professional swimmer’s relationship turned serious pretty quickly, with Lochte, even giving them a couple name: #Rayla. The pair began dating this past March, and the current Dancing With the Stars contestant confirmed to Us in May that he was in a relationship with a woman who wasn’t a swimmer.
“It just kind of happened,” he told Us exclusively when asked about dating any of his fellow Olympians. “But now that I have someone, it is stability and it is nice. It’s really nice having someone who isn’t all into swimming and doesn’t really know much [about the sport].”
Reid, who was born in Virginia and raised in California, hinted in an interview with the Daily Mail in August that they met through a dating app.
“He was on Tinder. I might be on Tinder,” she said. “That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
When their children ask how they met, they’ll have to say “there was this app where you could hook up with strangers on the downlow and we fell in love.” Still, congratulations to Lochte and Kayla, I guess. She’s 25 years old and he’s 32, which seems… okay. I mean, she can’t “model” and “pose for Playboy” forever. And while Lochte lost a lot of endorsements following the Rio debacle, he’s still got money.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Lochte’s IG and Reid’s IG.
I met my fiance on Tinder. We always say that we probably never would have met if it wasn’t for it. His 3 friends have also met their current wives/fiances on it!
Good to know. Tinder needs to address their branding problem, its regarded more as a hookup app than a relationship app. Congrats on your engagement btw.
Congrats, lucky you and your fiancé’s 3 friends, Brooksie!
@Naya: I think as long as Tinder is super location-based, it will still be regarded as a hookup app. Also, the problem with it being location-based is that, there were lots of hotties when I lived downtown… But since I’ve moved to the burbs, the options are kind of meh. (I don’t think that’s good for a LTR dating app.)
Also, when I see a man posing with a dog/pet/animals, I find myself being really quick to swipe right… And then I realise I just swiped for the dog and it’s too late.
Yeah. And that swiping thing puts too much emphasis on looks. So its less about personality matches and more about who is the hottest guy closest to you. Still, its interesting to hear that people have found SOs there.
I know quite a few long term couples who met on tinder, including one who are now engaged and another who are married
Agreed! In my circles (25-40) almost every couple I know met on Tinder, including three that are engaged. But maybe in Europe it is slightly different because people seem more reserved in their social interactions with strangers/acquaintances, ie at a bar, coworkers etc. Tinder thus acts as an ice breaker of sorts. Though for the under 25’s it is very much about hooks ups I hear.
2 of my closest friends met their fiancés on the early days of tinder years ago and are extremely happy with them. I only ever met creeps though, I wasnt as lucky haha
What’s the Over /Under on Them ACTUALLY making it to the altar… especially in L8ight of him being in DWTS which is nothing if not Hook-up-engagement-broken engagement Central?
the same publicist who decided to hire protesters now thinks this marriage will make him look better
i mean congratulations
Those protesters might face jail time. I don’t get how a publicist could get anyone to risk the prospect of jail and a record.
*Snort*
LOLOL Who Knew Engagements were the Pregnancy Whitewash Equivalents for Himbos?
HIMBOS
QQ you are everything I need and more
lisa: He is Bieber’s publicist. LOL
I think it’s obvious he is desperately trying to rehabilitate his image and thinks America will love him again if he is settled down and engaged. But not for one second do I think he will make it to the altar. This is all just for show and in hopes of getting endorsements again. Because heaven forbid, Ryan will have to get a real job when the money runs out! gasp!!
Totally agree this is all for his career. His people are telling him he needs a more settled image, and what better way to do that then to “settle down”. Doubt they even make it to the wedding date, though.
Yes and he’s even said as much on DWTS. It’s also interesting, his choice of words that it’s “nice to feel settled” ummmm, okay?
I keep hearing that Tinder is a douchebro haven and this story isnt helping. I will say this, they will have very (conventionally) attractive kids if they choose to reproduce.
Maybe that whole story is just a promo as well to try and re-brand?
My impression is that 2 gorgeous but very shallow people are getting married. After knowing each other 6 months. Good luck!
It’s interesting how there is always a photo of this intimate and special moment… Me thinks he is trying to salvage his image. Was it just these two and a photographer in the middle of field while he proposed??
Malibu Stacey: yeah…..but that ring showing pic he looks pretzled so I can’t figure if he took it?
Nvmd clearly he did not take the first pic.
How spontaneous! A field, a cliff, a proposal and a photog.
A heck, I hope it isn pr rehab and that the lunk is actually in lurve
Possibly, the first picture though he for sure didn’t take. It just makes me chuckle to think him, his fiance and this photographer were hiking together in order to get pictures of this intimate moment.
“It just makes me chuckle to think him, his fiance and this photographer were hiking together in order to get pictures of this intimate moment.” Are you surprised? He hired Justin Bieber’s publicist!
kay: I’m sure a professional photographer took those pics.
Did he take the ring selfie? He must have done right? Kinda amazed how he managed that…or am I having a carnival funhouse perspective moment? Anyone? Lol thanks for helping me wrap my carb sodden brain around this image.
Jessica Lockhart: Well, when Jessica kisses a man, she puts her hands on the sides of his face.
Joey: Because she’s passionate?
Jessica Lockhart: No. Because that way the camera sees only her.
I never thought about that before *eyes emoji*
I know a lot of famous people have admitted to using Tinder, but I’ve never understood why they need to use it. I figure a lot of people throw themselves at famous people all the time anyway (for whatever reason — either for a one-night stand or for long term relationships). Ryan Lochte, however dumb he may be, is good-looking enough that models would throw themselves at him without app help (I mean, they date Leo DiCaprio, so…). So this is all interesting to me, coming from the perspective of a person who is less-goodlooking than both Ryan Locthe and a Playboy Bunny.
I think this is all a tactic to win the public back.
Also, we all know that a marriage between a fool and a playmate always ends up well!
If it were anyone else I’d simply say ‘congrats’ but I have a feeling this is not going to end well.
Oh, brother.
She looks much older than 25.
Michael Phelps also got speedily engaged right after he got in DWI trouble the second time. Publicists must love it.
I agree that I doubt they will last very long.
Michael and Nicole were an item even before the Beijing Olympics and dated off and on up until their engagement. They have some years history together, so Michael finally wising up and marry Nicole wasn’t too surprising to me.
Ryan, on the other hand, is known to do dumb things so his engagement to a Playboy model seems …just about what I would expect from him now that I think about it. Lol.
well this should be fun