Adam Peaty is said to have snubbed his family from his wedding to Holly Ramsay – and now it has been claimed that some of the Olympic swimmer’s close friends have also been affected by the ‘feud’
Michael Gunning with Adam Peaty at the Paris Olympics last year(Image: Instagram/michaelgunning1)
It appears that the family of Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty weren’t the only ones left out in the cold when it came to his wedding to Holly Ramsay – a close friend of the athlete has also reportedly been left ‘devastated’ by the whole affair.
Adam, 31, tied the knot with Gordon Ramsay’s daughter Holly, 25, in a grand ceremony at Bath Abbey on December 27. However, amid a “toxic” family dispute, all but one of his closest relatives were excluded from the big day – his faithful sister Bethany, who also served as one of Holly’s bridesmaids.
The former GB champion had a falling out with his mother Caroline leading up to the wedding, leaving her ‘broken’ as she missed her son’s special day. Now, it’s been suggested that Adam’s fellow swimmer and friend Michael Gunning, who trained alongside him in Team GB, was also uninvited from the wedding – a move he “never saw coming”.
Gunning is now a TV presenter, hosting coverage of the 2022 Commonwealth Games and appearing on programmes including BBC Morning Live and Lorraine on ITV.
Just before the wedding, Michael shared a cryptic post on social media which read: “Wishing everyone a magical and festive week! This year has been crazy… I’ve travelled the world, had incredible new opportunities, learnt more about myself, made mistakes and taken risks, been dropped by friends, but made unexpected new ones, been told ‘no’ far too many times but stepped fully outside of my comfort zone.
“Life isn’t always perfect, and if you’d told me two years ago where I’d be now, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I’m learning that change can be a really beautiful thing and you should never stop fighting for your dream!”, reports the Mirror.
Michael’s non-attendance raised eyebrows, particularly as the sportsman had been present at the pair’s engagement celebration. However, the snub reportedly arose from his decision to back Adam’s mother, Caroline.
Holly Ramsay and Adam Peaty(Image: Mancpicss66)
A source speaking to The Sun said: “It’s not just Adam’s family who’ve been affected by the wedding feud, some old friends have been too. Michael was once very close to Adam and Holly and even attended their engagement party last year. But he was uninvited from the wedding as he got too close to Caroline, who has been vocal about being estranged from her son.”
The source went on to suggest: “The family have been in touch with him and he said he is feeling very hurt by the couple – especially Adam, given how publicly supportive he was of Adam when he went through a rough time in 2023. Given how close they once were, Michael never would have seen this coming. Adam really has broken us all by acting this way and now to hurt and snub Michael, the kindest and most genuine person out there, says it all really. It’s clear how much Adam has changed.”
Michael has consistently championed his former Team GB colleague, particularly when Adam was revealed as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing back in 2021. Taking to social media, Michael expressed his enthusiastic backing for the swimmer, highlighting the strength of their bond.
He posted: “We have an exciting few month coming up because it’s just been announced that Adam will be competing in Strictly Come Dancing this year! I can’t tell you how EXCITED I am. It’s going to be a blast! Make sure you vote to keep our swimming champ in the competition!”.
However, this isn’t the first occasion that Adam’s relationship with Michael has experienced difficulties, as earlier reports suggested Michael felt “betrayed” following the expansion of Adam’s swimming academy, AP Race – established by Adam alongside training partner Ed Baxter – into Saudi Arabia in 2024.
In the lead-up to their extravagant wedding, Adam and his influencer wife made their allegiances plain when they travelled to Finland for a Christmas break with Holly’s well-known parents, whilst his own family were conspicuously absent. The former Olympian also appeared to skip his mother Caroline’s 60th birthday celebrations.
Caroline Peaty has shared more cryptic comments after her son’s wedding(Image: @adam_peaty/Instagram)
Caroline has spoken candidly about her devastation over the family rift, recently confessing she has ‘lost a piece of herself’ and is ‘praying for peace’ in 2026 following the dispute. The distressed mother revealed just before Adam married Holly that she felt the pair had ‘cut out her heart’ with the snub, which allegedly started after Caroline purchased a dress for the occasion which the bride and groom disapproved of.
Within days of Adam and Holly exchanging vows, the Olympian’s mother posted two messages on social media which seemed to allude to her estrangement from her son. The first featured an illustration of a robin and a ladybird perched together on a branch with the caption: “Just a little reminder that you don’t have to make resolutions, or huge decisions, or big proclamations. You can just set some sweet intentions and take each day as it comes.”
The second quote read: “I won’t end this year pretending everything was fine. I lost a piece of myself this year that I will never get back, and I’m not forcing a smile like it didn’t change me. So no… I won’t be saying ‘2026 is going to be my year’. I’ll be praying that I recover next year, that my heart never has to break like this again, that I never have to survive something like this again. I’ll be praying for peace… real peace, the kind that lets me breathe without fighting for it. I deserve a year that doesn’t hurt.”
And Adam seems to have compounded matters with another significant decision – adopting a new name. Unveiling his new identity on Instagram last week, Adam will now apparently be known as Ramsay Peaty.
Recently published photographs from his wedding, featured in Vogue, reveal the same name written across the couple’s wedding stationery – including a sign displaying ‘Ramsay Peaty’s Bar’.