Olympic champion Adam Peaty's wedding to Holly Ramsay was overshadowed by a bitter family feud, culminating in a brutal text message sent to the groom just minutes before he said 'I do'.
A Devastating Last-Minute Message
As Adam Peaty prepared to walk into Bath Abbey holding his five-year-old son's hand on Saturday, December 27, a devastating notification arrived on his phone. The message was from his aunt, Louise, his mother's sister, and was sent with the intent to 'shame' the couple on their wedding day.
The full text read: "I hope you never suffer the depth of pain you have put your mother through and despite it all she loves you still. Shame on you both. Shame. Remember on this, your happiest day, and on each anniversary of your happiest day, that you hurt your mum so deeply her soul screams."
Months of Escalating Tension
This harsh message was the final blow in a relationship breakdown that had been building for months. Adam's parents, Caroline and Mark Peaty, were dramatically uninvited from the wedding at the historic Bath Abbey.
The friction reportedly began with the couple's 2024 engagement party, where many of Adam's family members felt excluded, leaving his mother Caroline upset. Tensions escalated when Caroline was not included in Holly's hen do celebrations and Mark was not invited to Adam's stag do in Budapest.
A further disagreement occurred over Caroline's choice of a cream dress for the wedding. Although Adam had offered to pay for her outfit, he and Holly reportedly vetoed the colour as it was deemed 'too bridal'.
A Wedding Day Spent Apart
While Adam and Holly celebrated with guests including celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, the groom's parents were 150 miles away at the family home in Staffordshire. Caroline Peaty told the Mail on Sunday: "I'm not going to be hurt like this again."
A source revealed the family spent the evening together, with Caroline becoming upset upon seeing the first wedding photographs. They added that Mark was told he could only sit at the back of the church behind plus-ones 'who Adam has probably never even seen or spoken to'.
The only member of Adam's immediate family present was his sister Bethany, who served as Holly's bridesmaid. After the 1:30pm ceremony, the newlyweds were driven 17 miles to the Georgian manor Kin House for a banquet and cake served at 8pm.
Legal Intervention and an Arrest
The family dispute had previously escalated into a legal matter. Following Adam's stag do in Budapest, the swimmer allegedly received "increasingly abusive and threatening" text messages, which prompted Holly to contact the police.
This resulted in the arrest and subsequent bail of Adam's older brother, James Peaty. Concerns for Adam's safety were such that he was met by officers on the runway upon landing at Manchester Airport.
The joyous occasion of a celebrity wedding was thus framed by a profound and very public family estrangement, leaving a shadow over what should have been one of the happiest days of the couple's lives.
