“I can’t be that person Michael Phelps can go to lay it all out” - When Olympian's wife opened up about her inability to help him deal with depression

Michael Phelps' wife Nicole Phelps once revealed that she was unable to help the American swimmer during his mental health struggles. The 23-time Olympic champion struggled with severe depression following his initial retirement from the sport after the 2012 Olympics.

Phelps retired as the most decorated Olympian in history at the 2012 London Games with 22 medals. He, however, struggled with severe depression in the following years and became suicidal at one point in 2014.

While he came out of retirement that year to prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Baltimore Bullet's struggles with mental health persisted. The 39-year-old had been dating Nicole on and off for several years but the couple had broken up during his initial struggles with depression in 2013.

However, they reunited in 2014 before tying the knot three years later and despite the 2010 Miss California trying her best to help Phelps, she came to the realization that she couldn't do anything. Speaking about the issue in an interview with Today show in 2021, Nicole said:

"It's been a long process to be totally honest because I think even still to this day I will have conversations with Michael where I'm like if you do this maybe you'll feel that way and it's not fair to him because there's not a fix necessarily. You're born with it in a way and in other ways I can help but I can't be that person that he can go to, to lay it all out on the table." [3:51 onwards]

Michael Phelps did, however, get better with time with the road to recovery getting triggered by a DUI arrest in 2014. He won six more medals in his farewell at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing as arguably the greatest Olympian in history with 28 medals including 23 gold to his name.

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"I'm not going to shame him" - Nicole Phelps on providing unwavering support to Michael Phelps

Swimming - Olympics: Michael Phelps in attendance with wife Nicole Phelps- Source: Getty

Speaking during the aforementioned interview, Michael Phelps' wife Nicole Phelps stated that while she was unable to help the swimmer solve his mental health challenges, she also didn't let the swimmer feel ashamed of his negative thoughts.

"I keep reminding Michael Phelps that I'm not here to judge him, I'm here to support him, I'm here to love him, I'm here open arms, and I'm not going to shame him. I'm not going to say you can't feel that way because every emotion he goes through is 100% valid whether or not I can understand it, that's another story," she said. [5:05 onwards]

Phelps also appreciated Nicole's support and said it felt great because it was the first time someone understood him, adding that no one understood him better than the long-time love-turned-wife.