Heavy/ABC Ryan Lochte's mom has never met his kids.
Season 23 “Dancing With the Stars” alum Ryan Lochte is still estranged from his mom. In fact, he admits that she’s never even met his three kids.
On the November 27, 2023, episode of Cheryl Burke’s “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Lochte and his former pro partner, Burke, talked briefly about his parents. Burke recalled Lochte’s mom, Ileana Lochte, coming to the ballroom and cheering on her son in 2016. However, the two have grown apart in the time since.
“She’s doing good,” Ryan Lochte, 39, told Burke when the retired pro asked about his mom. “That’s another subject. We don’t really talk as much,” he said, adding that he’s close to his father.
When Burke asked if Ileana Lochte had met her grandchildren, Ryan Lochte responded, “no.” Lochte and his wife, Kayla Reid, have three children together; daughter Liv Rae, 4, and son Caiden Zane, 6. They welcomed their third child, a daughter they named Georgia June, in July 2023.
Ryan Lochte and his wife have always known they wanted to have three or four kids, so it is possible that they will add another to their brood.
Here’s what you need to know:
Ryan Lochte & His Mom Stopped Speaking Before He & His Wife Welcomed Their First Child Together
Although Ryan Lochte and his mom were once extremely close, he cut off contact with her after he told her that he was going to be a dad.
“When I told her that she was going to be a grandma, and I’m having a kid she said some very, very hurtful things that kind of ended our relationship [for] me and her,” he said on “In Depth with Graham Bensinger.”
“She just said some things to me and my wife, but I mean, I can get over it, but I just want an apology from her. [But] she said that she’ll never apologize,” he added. Ryan Lochte didn’t elaborate on what his mom said or the reasons that she felt a certain way about him having a family.
“I haven’t spoken to her in years,” he added.
Ryan Lochte Doesn’t Have Any Regrets About Revealing His Family’s Estrangement
In an interview with People magazine in February 2022, Ryan Lochte admitted that he’s “glad” that he spoke out about his estrangement from his mother.
“Just because I’m an Olympian, I don’t have everything handed to me,” he told the outlet. “I don’t have the perfect family life. It was hard, but I’m glad I got it out there because I’m so happy with my life and the way it’s going right now. I couldn’t ask for anything else,” he continued.
On Burke’s podcast, Ryan Lochte said that his parents divorced in 2011. At that time, he had a great relationship with his mom. In the years since, however, he’s really built a strong foundation with his dad.
He said that his dad has “always been the grandpa” that he wished for his kids to have, and he really loves and appreciates that.
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