Married at First Sight groom Ryan Gallagher has opened up about his heartbreaking childhood.
The father-of-one, 36, took to his social media to detail an upbringing that was marked by what he describes as ‘alcohol and abuse’.
Ryan was prompted to make his confession after watching a clip of American mixed martial arts fighter Sean Strickland talking about abuse at the hands of his father.
Including a picture of Strickland in his Instagram story, Ryan explained that the ‘video hit home’.
‘My dad didn’t do or say the same things, but drinking and abuse was a daily thing,’ Ryan said.
‘I used to sleep under the house in the dirt with my dogs to get away from him while my mum was working night duty nursing.
He continued: ‘Or sleep in mum’s car in the carpark at the hospital at night while she nursed, then go to school just like this guy, zoned out and blamed.’
Ryan, who shares a two-year-old son Sampson with Olympian Emily Seebohm, went on to explain that his sad childhood helped him to define a very different kind of parenting.
‘It’s why I don’t drink and [have] never done drugs,’ he said in his post.
‘My father taught me what not to do as a father, it made me the father I am.
‘I’m patient, beyond loving and supportive but most of all Sampson has a present dad who wants to be with him every second.’
Ryan’s emotional share comes after speculation that he has split from Emily.
The pair, who got engaged in December 2022, have unfollowed each other on Instagram, with sources close to the couple also suggesting they have separated.
A source close to the couple appeared to confirm they had split.
The pair first sparked break-up rumours when they unfollowed each other on Instagram, with Ryan removing Emily from his feed.
Then in April a source told Sky News Australia the pair had called it quits, two years after welcoming Sampson into the world.
‘Ryan and Emily are trying to find a new normal, which has been a real process,’ the insider told the publication.
‘Their number one priority is Sampson and ensuring he continues to feel supported by both parents.
‘They haven’t felt the need to make public statements.’
It was also reported by the publication Ryan has relocated to Brisbane and is living on his own after the split.
Emily’s last appearance on Ryan’s grid was more than two years ago.
Ryan met Emily while filming The Challenge Australia in 2022, and four months later they were engaged.
However, they opted to keep their engagement under wraps until March of the following year.
‘We just wanted to live in our own little bubble, we just wanted that for us and our families,’ Emily told the Daily Telegraph.
Ryan proposed next to a dam on his farm near Goulburn, NSW, with a trilogy diamond ring from Goulburn’s Zantis Jewellers.
Speaking to Stellar in February, Emily revealed the couple were in no rush to marry but could elope at any time.
‘I feel like sometimes we talk about it and say maybe we should elope or we’ll go to the Town Hall and just get it done,’ Emily said.
‘If weddings weren’t so expensive or take so long to plan, we would have done it. It’s probably an after Paris [Olympics] thing.’
Subsequently, they revealed their pregnancy in July 2023 through an endearing social media video, accompanied by the caption: ‘We’ve had a little bump in the road.’