Mary Fowler and Nathan Cleary’s relationship: Matildas star recalls how it started

As two of Australia’s brightest young sporting stars, Mary Fowler and Nathan Cleary’s romance seems almost fated.

Now, the Matildas star has revealed it all began with paragraph-long texts about the way the two athletes “think about life”.

Fowler, who met NRL player Cleary at an Adidas event in 2023, has opened up about the early days of the relationship during an interview on the Keegan and Company podcast.

Watch the video above.

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“We actually didn’t flirt at all when we were texting… we just had really deep, genuine conversations,” she recalled in a teaser clip for the episode, which drops later this week.

“It would be, like, paragraph message[s], just about the way that we think about life. We dive into a lot about psychology and stuff like that, it was just really interesting chats.”

The footballer, who plays in the UK with Manchester City, said the content of those messages was important for her when it came to committing to a relationship, particularly at a distance.

“It was nice that it started that way, because I don’t think I could do long distance with someone that wasn’t interesting to talk to,” she said.

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Though reports of a romance between Fowler and Cleary emerged in August 2023, it was several months before we had any firm confirmation.

That moment came in January 2024, when the NRL star shared a photo of himself with Fowler on Instagram.

From there, they began appearing more frequently on one another’s social feeds and at each other’s games.

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However, they rarely discuss the relationship in interviews.

Earlier this year, Cleary said they were making it work despite being based on opposite sides of the world.

“It’s always a nice thing to look forward to after a game, and getting to see her on FaceTime,” the Panthers star told the Sydney Morning Herald.

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“We don’t really talk about the game much. She’s still learning about the game – she never watched footy.

“She makes me happy, and that definitely helps – she’s super supportive, and that’s what I love about her.”

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