Fabio Lorenzo
More than 18 months since Michael Klim and his fashionista wife of 10 years, Lindy Klim called time on their marriage, the Olympic gold medallist has found love again.
Klim and Melbourne-born fashion designer Desiree Deravi, who began dating in 2016, share homes in Melbourne and Bali—where Klim’s three Bali-based children, Stella, 11, Rocco, 9, and Frankie, 6, come to live with him every second week.
Klim shares 50/50 care of the kids with his 27-weeks-pregnant ex, who lives in a villa in her native Bali with fiancé Adam Ellis, a British-born property developer.
In an exclusive interview with WHO, Klim—three-time Olympian, businessman, motivational speaker and sometime model—opens up on what has been a difficult period for him.
“It has certainly been a year of transition, but everyone is happy and in a good space,” the 40 year old tells WHO. “We’ve landed in the best possible scenario, so I think we’re looking forward to the next chapter in our lives, whatever it may be.”
Klim and Deravi, 37, a former podiatrist who now runs her own Australian-based label, SWF Boutique, divide their time between Melbourne—where Klim’s Milk & Co skincare company is based—and Bali, where they live in a traditional-style villa in Umalas, midway between the boutiques and restaurants of Seminyak and the surf beach mecca of Canggu.
“It’s nothing too fancy, but it’s just enough for us,” says Klim. “It’s a pretty good routine now, a week on and a week off.”
Indeed, life as a share-parenting dad has become “fairly seamless,” says Klim. When the kids are in residence, everything revolves around them: drop-offs and pick-ups at an eco-friendly international school in Bali, plus after-school activities. Rocco is into tennis, swimming and art while Stella—“she’s 11 going on 15,” says Klim—loves surfing with her father and is showing signs of prowess in the pool.
“She realised she’s got ability and she also got some recognition from her last school carnival,” says Klim, who became a world champ at age 18 before his first Olympics at Atlanta in 1996, then won Olympic gold medals in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays at Sydney 2000.
When the children are around, Sundays are reserved for family outings to favourite places.
“They love being here and hanging out with us,” says Deravi, who takes her “stepmother” duties very seriously and often features happy snaps of herself with Stella, Rocco and Frankie on social media. “They are constantly upstairs in our room, all three of them, always asking for slumber parties. We can’t say no, it’s so cute.”
For more on Michael Klim’s new life, pick up a copy of WHO on sale now.
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