"I'm not leaving town with you unless you meet my parents" - Michael Phelps and wife Nicole Phelps recall their 'love at first sight' meeting

Michael Phelps met his wife Nicole Phelps at an award show in 2007 and it was a love at first sight for the American swimmer. He wanted to take Nicole with him on a trip to Michigan but she was adamant that the Olympic medalist first meet her family.

Phelps started making his name in the sporting world as soon as he jumped in the pool at the 2000 Olympics. Though he didn't win any medals, he went on a rampage in the following international events before winning a staggering 8 medals at the 2004 Olympics.

The 39-year-old gradually became a celebrity and was invited to ESPY Awards in 2007, where he met his now wife Nicole. Nicole was working as an athlete escort for ESPN, and as destiny had it, she was assigned to be Phelps' escort.

Recalling their first meeting on Need a Lift? with Tim Shriver podcast, the Baltimore Bullet acknowledged that it was love at first sight for him.

“It was pretty much love at first sight. I was like who is she, I need to talk to her. We just kind of got to know each other that night and at the end of the trip, two days later, I was like do you wanna come back to Michigan with me and sure enough she did,” he said. (15:20)

However, Nicole went with Phelps only after she made him meet her parents.

“But I was like you have come up and meet my family. Like I'm not leaving town with you unless you meet my parents,” she said. (15:50)

The 28-time Olympic medalist obliged and it turned out Nicole’s mom was more excited than her on the prospect of Nicole dating a swimmer. The couple dated on and off till 2011 before rekindling their romance in 2014. They eventually married in 2016.

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Michael Phelps and Nicole Phelps had two weddings and now celebrate two anniversaries each year

VIP Guests At Olympic Games Paris 2024: Michael Phelps in attendance with wife and newborn baby (Source: Getty)

After nearly nine years of knowing each other, Michael Phelps and Nicole Phelps tied the knot in a private ceremony before the start of the 2016 Olympics. More than a celebration, the ceremony was aimed to allow Nicole to change the name legally so she could travel with Phelps to Rio.

“We have a legal anniversary where... We had our first child before we got married. So to travel to Rio overseas, we decided that to make it easier. We would just have a little small celebration. Somebody married us in our backyard,” he told People on his eighth marriage anniversary.

Rio marked Michael Phelps’ last Olympic appearance, winning another staggering five gold medals to close out his career with 23 gold medals. The Baltimore Bullet announced his retirement following the Games and later married Nicole again in a destination wedding ceremony in Cabo San Lucas in October that year. The couple are parents of four kids today.