Maralee Nichols, the mother of Tristan Thompson's four-year-old son Theo, has broken a long social media silence to share a rare new glimpse of the little boy. The fitness trainer posted a series of photos from their 'Weekend adventures', marking the first time she has publicly shown her son in nearly two years.
The Photo That Broke the Silence
In a charming Instagram album this week, Nichols, 34, documented outings with her son, though she kept his face obscured. The pair were pictured visiting a pond to see flamingos, gazing at a lake, and browsing a bookstore in San Diego. This upload contained her first Instagram posts since September 2024, with her last image of Theo appearing in February of that year, showing him at a fruit market.
Theo's birth in December 2021 was the catalyst for the permanent dissolution of Thompson's turbulent relationship with reality television star Khloe Kardashian. At the time Theo was born, Thompson was still involved with Kardashian, who was simultaneously expecting their own son, Tatum, now three, via surrogate.
A Relationship Rocked by Infidelity
Thompson and Kardashian's on-off romance, which began in 2016, was persistently marred by the basketball player's cheating scandals. Their relationship produced two children: daughter True, seven, and son Tatum, three.
The infidelity was public and relentless. Notably, less than two days before True's birth, reports surfaced of Thompson's alleged fling with a New York strip club bartender. The couple split in 2019 after he was caught kissing Kylie Jenner's then-best friend, Jordyn Woods. They briefly reconciled during the coronavirus lockdowns before the final blow.
The Scandal That Ended It All
The definitive end came in late 2021 when the Daily Mail exclusively obtained court documents revealing Thompson was expecting a child with Maralee Nichols. Thompson publicly confirmed his paternity via an Instagram post in January 2022 after a DNA test.
Kardashian's devastation was captured on her family's reality show, The Kardashians. In an emotional scene, she broke down upon learning the news, which she discovered after her sister Kim read the Daily Mail's exclusive report. Khloe lambasted Thompson for 'humiliating' her, calling the situation "a joke, it's gross, it's embarrassing, it's disgusting."
Despite the acrimonious split, Kardashian and Thompson have since established an amicable co-parenting relationship for their two children. Nichols, meanwhile, has chosen a life largely away from the spotlight, focusing on raising her son out of the public eye until this latest, carefully curated glimpse.
