SITTING together watching Adam Peaty win his sixth Olympic medal at the La Défense Arena in Paris last summer, his fiancée and mother could not have appeared to be any closer.
But a feud has now split the once-close family unit, with both sides making shocking claims.
Adam’s bride-to-be is Holly Ramsay, daughter of multi-millionaire TV chef Gordon, while his mother Caroline was his rock who, when he was a boy, would wake him at 4am to take him to the swimming training sessions which would set him on the path to sporting glory.
The three-time Olympic gold medallist won the 100m breaststroke in Rio 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, where he was also part of Britain’s winning 4x100m mixed medley relay.
He later overcame a battle with depression to take silver in 2024 in the 100m breaststroke in Paris.
Now, though, he finds himself in the middle of a very different fight, with those close to his mum Caroline claiming he has sidelined his devoted working-class family in favour of the fame and fortune of the Ramsays.
With Caroline banned from attending their lavish wedding in Bath next month, a member of the family has branded Adam a “narcissist” and claimed he has left his family behind, adding: “We were sent a ‘save the date’ and it’s all these country houses.
“I’m on Universal Credit — I can’t afford that.
“Adam has been changed by money, fame and fortune. He seems to have forgotten where he came from.”
“We think he has treated Caroline appallingly. You can hear it in her voice. She’s heartbroken.”
Adam’s mum has fuelled the feud in social media posts, writing on Instagram on Monday: “The ones I love are the people who hurt me the most.”
On the other side of the fence are Adam and Holly, who insiders say have been left saddened and hurt by the accusations hurled at them.
The pair have been silent since The Sun revealed Caroline had been uninvited to their big day, with friends at pains to explain the situation is far more serious than those close to his family are suggesting.
A source said: “The police are involved now and are supporting Adam and Holly. There have been threats of violence made against them. It’s not as cut and dry as is being made out.
“There is genuine concern for Adam and Holly’s safety and these threats, made by one individual in his family, are being taken seriously.
“Adam and Holly are focused on taking care of each other. It has been a very difficult time.”
There have been threats of violence made against them. It’s not as cut and dry as it is being made out
A source
Starting in 2023, Adam and Holly’s romance had until now played out like something from a fairytale.
Holly was introduced to Adam by her sister Tilly, who competed alongside the athlete in Strictly Come Dancing in 2021.
The pair became friends and Holly was there for Adam after he started to struggle with depression.
The following year he split from artist Eirianedd Munro, the mother of his son, George, and took a break from the sport he loved.
With the quiet support of Holly, he later returned to the pool and won silver in Paris.
Paying tribute to Adam’s resilience and determination, Holly has said: “To think that when we first met you weren’t in the pool.
“Watching you get back into the water and fall in love with your gift again has been the most inspiring journey.”
Friends say she became a constant in Adam’s life, supporting him during the brutal training sessions that led to the Olympics in Paris last year. One notes how Holly took on the role once held by Adam’s parents Caroline and Mark, who championed their son from his childhood to become an Olympic great.
The youngest of four children, Adam grew up in Uttoxeter, Staffs, with Mark working in a supermarket and Caroline employed as a nursery manager.
When Adam joined the City of Derby swimming club aged 14, it was Caroline who would drive him to and from training sessions daily.
She said previously: “I’d get up at four in the morning, drive him 40 minutes to Derby, sit and wait two hours while he was training, or go to Tesco, then drive him back again and do a full day’s work. Then we’d do it again in the evening.
“We did it gladly — don’t get me wrong — but he realises how difficult that can be, so this is why he wants to give back. Give back to the community, give back to children that are not as well off as some swimmers, where everything is there for them.
Adam — who holds the 100m and 50m breaststroke world records — has shone a light on his family, saying: “Parents are the unsung heroes of the sport. I know how hard it is to make it from a working-class background.
“My mum had to borrow money to even get to something like the trials in 2012 where it’s almost setting you back two grand for a few days of racing.
“It was is a huge amount of money for a family that’s got four kids and you’re not financially comfortable.”
Caroline and Mark stood proudly by Adam’s side at Windsor Castle as he collected his OBE for services to swimming and mental health in 2022.
At the time, Adam paid tribute to his parents and said: “It’s a great journey to be a part of but it also demands everything from you and the people around you, but that’s what these awards are for.
“It’s not just for me but the people who have supported me.”
After he started dating Holly, those close to Adam’s family say they were thrilled.
There is genuine concern for Adam and Holly’s safety and these threats, made by one individual in his family, are being taken seriously
A source
A friend explained: “Holly brought a light back into Adam’s eyes.
“She supported him through some of his lowest ebbs and she made him so happy.
“The family really liked her and thought they made a lovely couple.”
Last December, three months after Adam and Holly got engaged, Caroline spoke of her happiness at the prospect of having Holly as a daughter-in-law.
Celebrating her birthday on Instagram, she wrote: “We are looking forward to the year ahead and to you officially becoming part of our family.”
The sentiment towards Caroline now, family friends note, is far from gushing — telling The Sun that behind closed doors, the relationship between Adam, Holly and his parents has been strained for a long time.
A source said: “Caroline has been putting on a brave face for a while.
‘Lowest ebb’
“She and the family feel they have been pushed further and further from Adam over the past year.
“It seems to some of the family that Adam is more at home with Holly and her folks, while his family has been left behind.
“Caroline is devoted to her grandson George and will move heaven and earth to care for him.
“As tensions have risen, there have been rows and Caroline has always toed the line because she wants to be a part of her grandson’s life.
“Recently, though, things have come to a head.”
Those close to the family claim that Caroline feels ostracised from being a part of the wedding, with arguments arising from her allegedly not being allowed to be involved in making table settings or giving a reading at the church.
Further tensions are said to have stemmed from Caroline not being able to go shopping for a dress for the wedding with Holly and Adam.
The rumbling feud exploded into the public domain over the weekend after it was revealed Caroline had not been invited to Holly’s hen do at Soho Farmhouse in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, and was instead at her home in Staffordshire looking after George.
Those close to the family say Adam’s dad Mark had also been excluded from his son’s stag do.
Adam’s aunt Louise posted a scathing riposte to photographs Holly had posted on Instagram of her two-day party — where she spent time with Adam’s sister Bethany, her own family and Ramsay family friend Victoria Beckham.
She wrote: “I’m so glad that you had a great hen do. As a bride, you deserve that.
“However, as a person you were divisive and hurtful towards a woman who I have loved and continue to love deeply.
“A woman who opened her home and heart to you.
“You decided, for whatever reason, not to invite her, your prospective mother-in-law, to your hen night, yet Adam invited his father-in-law, your dad, to his stag night. You invited your mum (quite rightly) and even your mum’s assistant, your sisters, your friends, my niece, but not my sister — your future mother-in-law.
Adam has been changed by money, fame and fortune. He seems to have forgotten where he came from
“I have also seen messages passing between her and Adam about this and other matters and, quite frankly, I expected better of you and definitely of Adam.
“You have inflicted a hurt on my sister that will take a very long time to heal, if ever.”
Those close to the Peaty family say Caroline is now at her “lowest ebb,” adding: “She has been broken by this.”
They also insist that Adam has turned his back on where he came from, saying: “It looks like Adam doesn’t want anything to do with his family now because we embarrass him. It feels like we’re not good enough. To leave his mum out of the hen do, and then to tell her she’s banned from the wedding is awful.
“She has been a great mum to Adam.
“It feels like he has changed so much.
“He’s grown so distant from all of us and it’s so upsetting.”
Friends of Adam and Holly insist this is not the case and point towards the threats they have received, which are now being investigated by the police.
A source adds: “This is an incredibly difficult situation which is being dealt within the correct manner now.
“What should be the happiest time for Adam and Holly has, very sadly, come under intense scrutiny and it has put a huge amount of stress and pressure upon them.”
