Michael’s sporting career kicked off in 2001, when he began playing for the Sydney Roosters.
Long before he met Kiri-Moana, Michael was married to Sally Carne, a fellow Queenslander who took up with him in the earlier years of his career.
After a somewhat tumultuous relationship, with a brief split in the middle, Sally and Michael tied the knot in 2008.
While the marriage, unlike some others in the NRL, remained free of scrutiny and scandal, it unfortunately wasn’t meant to be, with the pair separating quietly around the same time Michael retired from football, in 2013.
This left the door wide open for Michael to meet and fall in love with Kiri-Moana.
While there’s no public story, as such, she began to appear on his Instagram from 2016, as the two engaged in what looked to be a long distance relationship.
Michael seemed to fall hard and fast for the fashion designer, simply posting selfies taken by his new love to his grid, writing simple things like ‘see you soon’.
He commemorated their first Christmas together with a post as well, sharing a photo of Kiri-Moana’s two sons hugging him while he sat in a wheelchair, having sustained an injury at the time.
“What a memorable first Christmas with my girl! Didn't exactly go to plan, but I'm extremely grateful to have so much love and support around me,” he wrote.
Michael and Kiri-Moana’s relationship seemed to go from strength to strength in the ensuing years, as their lives became more integrated.
“For two years you lived above me on the map, but you were always by my side,” Michael penned in May of 2018.
“For two years we have lived apart but grown closer as a couple/family. For two years I have asked for nothing and you have given me everything,” he continued.
“Happy anniversary beautiful lady, thank you for being you and making me the best version of me. I love you.”
The same year, Michael reflected on what it was like to become a stepfather to Kiri-Moana’s sons.
“Reflecting on my first actual Father’s Day as a ‘dad’. Surreal feeling, but I love our little family,” he wrote alongside pictures of himself with the boys, as well as words they wrote and stuck on his fridge.
“Reading the words on the fridge, laughing with/at the boys and falling asleep reading to them is a perfect day in my eyes. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Embraced by his new-found family, it wasn’t long until he proposed to Kiri-Moana, announcing the engagement on December 11, 2019.
“Just when I think I couldn’t love you any more … I do,” Kiri-Moana wrote on Instagram, sharing a professional photo taken of the pair.
“The perfect woman, the perfect moment,” Michael wrote. “My forever girl, can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you and our little family.”
And in an obvious display that Michael has been accepted into Kiri-Moana’s family, he will be playing Australian Survivor with her sister, Chrissy Zaremba.
Chrissy is a mum to three girls, and a part-time teacher, with hardly any prior knowledge of the game.
Speaking of Michael, Chrissy told 10 that "he is my brother-in-law, but he's also my brother from another mother."
The current season, Blood V Water has contestants bring a family member or friend along, and forces them to then compete, answering the question – is blood really thicker than water?
Australian Survivor: Blood V Water airs Monday-Wednesday at 7:30pm on 10.
WATCH: First Look At Australian Survivor | Blood V Water
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