Ryan Lochte & Kayla Rae Reid Hold Second Wedding Ceremony
Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Ryan Lochte and Kayla Rae Reid held a “second” wedding ceremony over the weekend to make sure their young son could participate this time around, according to a People magazine exclusive.
The swimming champion, 34, and the former Playboy model, 27, held a private outdoor ceremony in Palm Springs, California, Sunday with 15-month-old Caiden Zane Lochte as the ring bearer, the magazine stated. The couple was officially married in a civil ceremony back in January.
“Since we had Caiden, we both wanted him to be a part of (our wedding) in some way,” Lochte told People. “We wanted Caiden to be old enough to walk down the aisle. One of our visions was to have him be able to be the ring bearer, so it’s perfect timing.”
Reid shared a photo of the happy family on Instagram just days before the ceremony.
Lochte said that while they were already husband and wife, Sunday’s ceremony was quite meaningful – and nerve-wracking all the same.
“We’re already married on paper, but for the past 20 days I’ve been getting nervous,” Lochte told People of the couple’s “second” big day. “We already know everything about each other, and now it’s time to celebrate.”
Lochte and Reid announced their engagement in October 2016, months after the summer Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. It was also a month after he was suspended by the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and USA Swimming for an incident at a Rio gas station during the games, per USA Today.
Lochte and three other Olympic swimmers said they had been robbed in Rio, but they were forced to revise their stories in an embarrassing incident after police pushed back on the accounts with surveillance video and other witness statements, USA Today stated. They were accused by authorities of filing a false report, the newspaper added.
“No matter what has happened, Kayla’s been there to pick me up,” Lochte told People about his new bride. “She’s just been there 100 percent and I owe everything to her.”
According to the International Business Times, Reid met Lochte on the dating social media site Tinder. The Virginia native who grew up in Palm Springs became a Monster Energy drink “Monster Girl” model before modeling for Playboy, becoming the magazine’s Playmate of the Month in July 2015, IBT reported.
People wrote that the couple was married Sunday in front of 100 close friends and family. They celebrated with pizza and Mexican treats during the reception while enjoying three different cakes, per the magazine.
