Match of the Day hosts Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman have stepped out together in Mayfair after their secret romance was exposed by his former girlfriend.
Sitting side by side at the top table in the ballroom of a Mayfair hotel on Park Lane, London, Cates and Chapman were the talk of the party. Dressed in a striking floor-length red gown to host the event for a large music charity, Cates was seen beaming alongside her co-host during their first night out together since their relationship was made public.
Guests at the event, where former footballers Thierry Henry and Karen Carney won awards, expressed surprise at seeing the couple go public. One guest at the event said: "Kelly and Mark were at the table together at the front, on the right. It was the host’s table and he was there as her guest. They were talking openly to people they’d known for a long time about being together. Kelly looked happy but Mark looked the happiest I’ve ever seen him. It was lovely to see."
The guest added: "He was glowing. Mark has been through some real grief and difficulty but he has come out the other side." The couple stayed late at the after party in the hotel's Red Bar, where guests noted they looked like they were having the best time.
Long-standing friends discussed their romance and wondered what took them so long to get together. One source said: "They’re old mates who have known one another for years, nearly two decades, and now they’ve fallen in love. You’ll struggle to meet one person in either their work or friendship circles who isn’t totally thrilled for them. It’s lovely, the most heartwarming story you will hear in a very long time."
Romance in Atlanta
BBC stalwart Chapman, 52, and Cates, 51, the daughter of Liverpool footballing legend Kenny Dalglish, were revealed to be dating on Monday, several months after realising their feelings for each other. While reports initially suggested they began falling for each other in May, sparks actually flew in Atlanta during the football World Cup this summer while covering England's ill-fated semi-final against Argentina.
Both were in the city in mid-July working separately across BBC television and radio outlets, spending time together away from cameras. An associate of the pair said: "It was America when it all started to happen. They realised they had feelings for one another and they were both single, and it just works. They haven’t exactly tried to keep it a secret, but they haven’t gone out and broadcasted it to the world either."
Viewers had seen a hint of their closeness when they appeared together on the sofa for Channel 4's Celebrity Gogglebox this summer. However, their romance remains a long-distance one for now. Cates lives in Chiswick, west London, while Chapman lives 194 miles away in the upmarket Cheshire town of Hale.
Friends noted the arrangement is convenient when Cates presents Match of the Day, as the BBC studio in Salford is less than ten miles from Chapman's home.
Reaction from Ex-Partner
While friends and colleagues in sports broadcasting are delighted for the couple, Chapman's 43-year-old former girlfriend Clere Collier is said to be "raging". When Collier, a Dubai-based estate agent, discovered Chapman and Cates were dating, she contacted The Sun newspaper to share the news.
A friend of Chapman said he knows Collier was the source of the story and views it as her taking her chance to give him one back. Acquaintances say Collier can be quite dramatic, though some have expressed sympathy for her situation.
Collier helped support Chapman following the death of his wife Sara from cancer in 2020. Sources said Collier had been planning to relocate to Britain from Dubai as she believed their relationship was becoming more serious. However, in the spring, Chapman unexpectedly told her their romance was over.
A source said: "It all came as a shock to Clere when Mark told her that. At that point Clere still thought they were in a pretty good place and wanted to take their relationship to the next stage, which meant they would have to be in the same country. Clere had been telling friends for a while that she saw herself back in England to be close to him. She was heartbroken when he ended things. She was not happy at all."
Collier discovered the news about Cates very recently and was gobsmacked. A source added: "Clere was shocked and upset that Mark had moved on with Kelly so quickly. It’s the kind of thing that throws a lot of doubt into minds when that happens. It has thrown her life into a place where she didn’t expect it to be going."
Broadcasting Careers and Personal Backgrounds
Family members have welcomed the relationship, with Cates' father Kenny Dalglish and older brother Paul said to be very happy she has found love with Chapman.
Chapman, affectionately known as Chappers across the industry and to viewers, started his career in 1996 as a continuity announcer on BBC television before moving into sports reporting, first on BBC North East and later on Radio 1. He became the resident sportscaster across BBC radio output and joined Radio 5 Live in 2010, cementing his reputation as a sports commentator and presenter. On BBC radio, he anchored coverage of major events including the London 2012 Olympic Games, before later landing roles on Sky Sports and ESPN.
Tragedy struck Chapman six years ago when his wife Sara died in June 2020 after a long illness at the age of 44. The couple married in 2000 and had three children. At the time of her death, a source close to the family said: "Mark and the kids are absolutely devastated. The family was there. It’s just a really sad situation."
Chapman remained single for years before meeting Collier. Their romance appeared to progress, with the couple reportedly spotted looking at houses together in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, despite her being based abroad. Collier regularly posted photos of them on social media. In October 2024, she called him "my one love" on Instagram, and during a country walk for his 51st birthday that same year wrote: "Happy birthday to this one. My one love. So proud of all you do, the biggest heart, the kindest soul, the leader of our pack and not to mention devilishly handsome. I love you, happy 51."
Two years later, Chapman has moved on with Cates, the eldest of Kenny Dalglish's four children with his wife Marina. Born in Glasgow, Cates took a job at Sky Sports News in 1998, midway through a mathematics degree at the University of Glasgow. She served as the channel's first female presenter alongside Mike Wedderburn before moving to Setanta Sports in 2007 and then to ESPN, where she first worked alongside Chapman.
In January last year, Cates was announced as one of the new co-hosts of Match of the Day following the departure of Gary Lineker. Away from television, Cates married producer Tom Cates in 2007 and had two daughters before splitting 14 years later.
Reactions Inside BBC Sport
At Monday night's event, guests discussed how BBC Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski will react to the news. Chapman and Cates are two of his biggest on-screen stars, and while they never host Match of the Day together, the romance has placed the programme back in the spotlight.
When Gary Lineker presented the show, he faced criticism for airing personal opinions. Installing Chapman alongside Gabby Logan and Cates was intended as a low-key shift away from controversy and back to football focus.
A source within BBC Sport said: "Replacing Gary was supposed to be the last time the show was talked about for anything other than football, and now suddenly there is this. Friends are happy for them of course, but now the cat is out of the bag, there will be fears that it could make life at work a lot more complicated. Alex doesn’t like the BBC being put under scrutiny and doesn’t want any controversy. The assumption of those who know Alex is that he won’t be thrilled about this."
As for how Chapman and Cates view Kay-Jelski, who joined the BBC two years ago to lead the sports department, a source noted: "Kelly loves Alex, Chappers hates him."
Meanwhile, colleague Gabby Logan, a long-standing friend of both presenters, was the subject of lighthearted comments among friends. A friend of the couple joked: "Well, she’s the spare part now. The gooseberry. Who would have thought it?"
