Match of the Day presenters Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates are reportedly dating after becoming romantically involved following their work together on the BBC football show.
The Sun claims the pair are in a relationship, with Chapman's former girlfriend Clere Collier reportedly confronting him about it. Chapman, 52, denies there was any overlap between the relationships and insists he remained faithful, it is reported.
Split from Clere Collier
Chapman is said to have split from Collier, a Dubai-based mother-of-two and estate agent, in April after three years together.
A source told The Sun: "Mark split with Clere out of the blue, without much explanation. They had been making plans for the future and their relationship had been going strong. They stayed in touch after the split, but Clere soon realised that Mark and Kelly were close and she accused Mark of dating Kelly. Mark admitted the relationship, but insisted there was no overlap between the two women and that he hadn't cheated on her. He told her that he had been a single man when he started spending time with Kelly."
Career and personal background
Chapman and Cates, 51, became two of the main presenters of Match Of The Day alongside Gabby Logan last season following Gary Lineker's departure from the programme. The pair appeared together on Celebrity Gogglebox in July, sharing the same sofa.
Chapman had already established himself as a prominent BBC football presenter through his work on Match Of The Day 2 and many other major sporting events before taking on a more prominent role on the flagship programme. He was married to his wife Sara for 19 years before she died aged 44 in 2020 following a battle with cancer. The couple had three children together. Chapman is believed to have started dating Collier in 2023, with the estate agent regularly travelling to the UK from the United Arab Emirates.
Cates, meanwhile, is the daughter of Scotland and Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish. She was previously married to TV producer Tom, with whom she has two children, before the couple split in 2021.
Cates on dating nerves
She previously admitted to co-presenter Logan on a podcast that she was nervous about dating, saying: "I don't have a picture in my head of why a middle-aged, slightly overweight mother of two could possibly be attractive. I can't get my head round that. It's not that I'm putting myself down and it's not a lack of confidence or a low self-esteem. It's just I don't know what that would look like."
She continued: "The thought of going on a date, spending an evening with someone and at the end of it thinking, 'Well, I don't really like you', I would be so resentful of them taking up my time. Obviously it's vice-versa, too, but I'm not really bothered about it from their perspective bearing in mind I don't get to see the people I do like very often."
