Friday 20 May 2022 05:31 PM Cody Simpson breaks silence on 'swimming love triangle' with Emma McKeon and ... trends now
Cody Simpson has broken his silence surrounding the 'swimming love triangle' rumoured to have crushed his dreams of competing in the FINA World Championships in Europe.
The popstar-turned athlete who is now dating pool queen Emma McKeon, seemed all but certain of winning a place on Australia's team in Hungary next month.
He finished second at the national swimming championships with a personal best in the 100m butterfly final.
But just 24-hours later McKeon's Olympic champion ex-boyfriend Kyle Chalmers made the shock announcement that he's going back on his decision to sit out the event.
The pool sprinter had finished ahead of Simpson at the national titles this week in Adelaide in second place and can rightfully claim his place at the World's.
Many suspected the love triangle could be part of the motivation for the about-face but Simpson told Amazon Prime Video commentary team on Friday the pair have spoken and 'cleared the air'.
The revelation came after a Chalmers took to Instagram slamming media reports about his decision and calling the situation a 'nightmare'.
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Simpson and Emma McKeon (pictured together in 2021) are now 'completely smitten' with each other and have moved in together
'He changed his mind and that's something he has every right to do. He earned the second spot. I didn't come second I came third,' Simpson said..
'We had a chat last night,' 'He was cool, he (Chalmers) sort of reached out and we sort of cleared the air about it. So it's all good in that sense. I would respect his decision either way.'
He says his focus now is to keep improving and again be in the mix against Temple and Chalmers in his pet event ahead of the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Meanwhile, Chalmers has vented his frustration on Instagram at the media, feeling he has been unfairly painted as a 'villain' after backflipping on his decision to compete in Budapest.
The powerful athlete from Port Lincoln in South Australia finished ahead of Simpson at the event - and as a result will swim alongside Matt Temple in Hungary.
Kyle Chalmers was originally going to stay out of the men's 100-metre butterfly at the Worlds, but changed his mind
Chalmers took to Instagram to voice his frustrations over the situation slamming the media
'I've sacrificed my body and given everything to my sport and country for the past decade,' Chalmers wrote on Instagram.
'If I knew this was going to be the reaction and the respect I get, I would've never entered the race.
'What was supposed to be an enjoyable new stimulus has turned into a unnecessary nightmare!
'I hope the media get the clicks they want, never forget athletes are humans like everyone else.'
A follow-up message said the Australian media are a 'bunch of buttheads'.
