Match of the Day presenters Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates confirm new romance

Match of the Day presenters Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates are in a relationship, with the BBC duo understood to have begun their romance earlier this year. The pair are two of three co-presenters on the revamped show following Gary Lineker’s departure ahead of the 2025-26 Premier League season.

Chapman, 52, had been in a three-year relationship with Dubai-based estate agent Clere Collier before the pair split in April. According to The Sun, Collier confronted Chapman with suspicions that he had grown close to Cates, and Chapman confirmed the relationship while denying any overlap or infidelity.

Cates, 51, is the daughter of Scotland and Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish and a prominent figure in sports broadcasting in her own right. She separated from TV producer husband Tom in 2020 after marrying in 2007, and the couple have two daughters together.

Chapman’s personal life has not been without hardship. In 2020, he lost his wife Sara to cancer at the age of 44; the couple had been married for 19 years and had three children together.

Cates had previously spoken candidly about her approach to dating following her divorce. “The thought of going on a date, spending an evening with someone and at the end of it thinking, ‘Well, I don’t really like you’, I would be so resentful of them taking up my time,” she said. She had also noted that she had “no real kind of thoughts about long-term relationships or anything like that” at the time.

Both presenters have been increasingly visible together in the public eye. They appeared on Celebrity Gogglebox over the summer, and Chapman co-hosts the podcast The Sports Agents alongside fellow Match of the Day presenter Gabby Logan, who completes the show’s new three-person line-up.