Mark Chapman and MOTD co-host Kelly Cates ‘are dating’ after he splits from ex

Allow Exco Player contentThis content is provided by Exco Player and may use cookies or similar technologies. Please click 'Allow and Continue' below to load the content.

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Match Of The Day presenter Mark Chapman is reportedly dating his co-host Kelly Cates after splitting from his girlfriend of three years.

Chapman and Cates joined the BBC sports show alongside Gabby Logan last season after Gary Lineker’s exit.

Chapman, 52, known as “Chappers”, is understood to have split from Dubai-based estate agent Clere Collier “out of the blue” in April, according to The Sun.

Mother-of-two Collier reportedly grew suspicious of his close bond with Cates, 51, who is the daughter of Liverpool and Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish.

However, a source said there was nothing untoward about his reported new romance with Cates, saying: “Mark admitted the relationship but insisted there was no overlap between the two women and that he hadn’t cheated on her.

“Mark split with Clere out of the blue, without much explanation. They had been making plans for the future and their relationship had been going strong.”

Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates are reportedly datingPAThe insider went on: “They stayed in touch after the split, but Clere soon realised that Mark and Kelly were close and she accused Mark of dating Kelly. Mark admitted the relationship, but insisted there was no overlap between the two women and that he hadn’t cheated on her.”

Chapman reportedly told her he was a “single man” when he began spending more time with Cates.

The Standard has contacted representatives for Chapman and Cates for comment.

The pair featured on Celebrity Gogglebox together in July.

Chapman was known for being the BBC’s leading football presenter before making the leap to MOTD, having appeared on MOTD2 and contributed to other sporting occasions.

He was married to wife Sara for 19 years before she died aged 44 in 2020 after battling cancer. They shared three children.

The broadcaster is thought to have begun a relationship with Collier in 2023, with the property expert regularly flying to the UK from the United Arab Emirates to see him.

The pair featured alongside MOTD co-host Gabby LoganPA MediaCates was married to TV producer Tom Cates, with whom she shares two children, until 2021.

She previously shared her fears about dating again, admitting she would feel “resentful” about wasting time.

Celebrity Traitors star Sharon Rooney leads TV thriller An Impossible Way To Die

First couple eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing

Strictly fans demand line-up change as Josh Widdicombe savaged for second week

“I don’t have a picture in my head of why a middle-aged, slightly overweight mother of two could possibly be attractive,” she told co-host Logan on a podcast.

“I can’t get my head round that. It’s not that I’m putting myself down and it’s not a lack of confidence or a low self-esteem. It’s just I don’t know what that would look like.

“The thought of going on a date, spending an evening with someone and at the end of it thinking, ‘Well, I don’t really like you’, I would be so resentful of them taking up my time. Obviously it’s vice-versa, too, but I’m not really bothered about it from their perspective bearing in mind I don’t get to see the people I do like very often.”