BBC's Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates go public as ex reportedly left 'furious' by split

Match of the Day presenters Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates have gone public with a relationship that has set the British television world talking, after the pair were seen together at a party in London earlier this year.

The couple, who form two-thirds of the Match of the Day presenting team alongside Gabby Logan, had initially kept their romance private. Friends have reportedly welcomed the news warmly, with many said to have wondered why the pair had not got together sooner.

Chapman, 52, lost his wife Sara — the mother of his three children — to cancer in 2020. Cates, 51, the daughter of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, separated from TV producer husband Tom Cates five years ago. The former couple share two daughters.

Not everyone has taken the news in good humour. Chapman’s former partner, Dubai-based property developer Clere Collier, is reported to have been left devastated after the pair split suddenly in April. According to a source cited by the Daily Mail, Collier had been planning to move back to the UK and the couple had even been seen house-hunting together before Chapman ended the relationship. “It all came as a shock to Clere when Mark told her that. She was heartbroken when he ended things. She was not happy at all,” the source said.

On the lighter side, BBC pundit Chris Sutton could not resist teasing his colleagues when the story broke. During Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, with Chapman absent and stand-in host Alistair Bruce-Ball in the chair, Sutton asked pointedly where both Chapman and Cates were that evening. Bruce-Ball deflected with a smile, noting they were “otherwise engaged.” In fact, Cates was presenting the Legends of Football Awards that night, where Thierry Henry and Karen Carney were among those honoured.

Cates has previously spoken openly about the challenges of re-entering the dating world following her marriage breakdown, telling Gabby Logan on The Mid Point podcast that she had struggled to get her head around the idea of dating again in middle age.