Retired U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and Kayla Reid’s divorce has been finalized after the former Playboy model filed the legal papers last March, court records show.
Lochte, who got engaged last month to girlfriend Molly Gillihan after one year of dating, said in a statement to People that the pair can start planning their wedding now that his divorce is behind him.
“Finally, now my new and improved chapter of full happiness can start,” the 41-year-old Lochte said. “Wedding planning starts today.”
He proposed to Gillihan in Gainesville, Fla., at the same restaurant where they had their first date.
Reid, who works as a realtor in Gainesville, shared her own statement with the outlet.
“Divorce has been one of the hardest experiences of my life, but it has also revealed a strength I didn’t know I had,” Reid, 34, said. “I’m grateful to be moving forward with clarity, peace, and a lot of faith in what’s ahead.
Lochte and Reid — who share son Caiden, 9, daughter Liv, 7, and daughter Georgia, 3 — went through a messy split in the public eye, which often spilled over to social media.
“Divorce is never something you celebrate, but there is something incredibly empowering about surviving it and realizing you are stronger than you ever gave yourself credit for,” Reid said in her statement.
“To my family, friends, community, and everyone who showed up for me when I needed it most: thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
Reid celebrated being legally divorced in an Instagram post on Monday.
“As of July 1st 2026, 9:59 am, I am officially divorced. 🙌🏼,” she wrote, including a photo of her modeling a yellow dress.
Reid made their divorce public in a note posted to her Instagram Story last June, which said her seven-year marriage to Lochte was “irretrievably broken.”
Lochte and Gillihan left Gainesville for Missouri after he accepted the assistant coaching job for the Missouri State swim program in May.
“Gainesville hates me,” Lochte previously told TMZ. “We are shunned here by the constant bullying and harassment we get on a daily basis from my ex.”
The six-time Olympic gold medal winner added that living in Gainesville was “no longer healthy or feasible” for him and Gillihan, who met at their kids’ schools.
Gillihan has three kids: two daughters, Layla and Maggie, and a son, Oliver.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
