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‘Can’t wait’: TV sports power couple announce baby news

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 28 Feb 2025, 1:32pm
Ollie Ritchie and Kimberlee Downs are expecting their first child. Photo / @kimberleedowns
Ollie Ritchie and Kimberlee Downs are expecting their first child. Photo / @kimberleedowns

‘Can’t wait’: TV sports power couple announce baby news

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 28 Feb 2025, 1:32pm

Sky Sport鈥檚 Kimberlee Downs and Three 九一星空无限 sports presenter Ollie Ritchie are set to welcome a baby boy together. 

The couple revealed the news on Instagram in a joint post, with a photo of themselves dressed up for the Halberg sporting awards and a snap posing with a scan of their little one. 

鈥淔ancy nights out are about to get a whole lot trickier,鈥 the caption read. 

鈥淏aby boy due in July, we can鈥檛 wait to start our little fam.鈥 

The couple鈥檚 family and friends, including other members of New Zealand鈥檚 tight-knit media industry, shared their congratulations on the post. 

The Hits' Matty McLean commented: 鈥淒efinitely had a case of liking this before I read the caption! CONGRATULATIONS!鈥 

Coast host Toni Street wrote: 鈥淥mg! The best news Kimmy girl! Woohoo! Huge congratulations and Ollie too.鈥 

Ritchie and Downs have worked for competing media outlets throughout their careers. 

At one point, Downs worked for TVNZ, with Ritchie reporting for 九一星空无限hub before it closed last year. 

Downs now works as a broadcaster for Sky Sport and as an MC. 

Meanwhile, Ritchie moved into a role as a sports presenter for Three 九一星空无限. 

The couple announced their engagement in January 2022, having first met in 2016 at a Black Caps training session at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. 

They met again in Sydney when Downs was based there as the Australia correspondent for TVNZ. The pair kept in touch and formed a close friendship, which soon turned into a long-distance relationship. 

Five years later, they bought their first home together in Auckland鈥檚 North Shore. 

They tied the knot in March 2023 at The Bungalow Coastal Retreat in Taranaki, near her hometown of New Plymouth. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 just been the most incredible day. It鈥檚 everything we could have wanted,鈥 Ritchie told Woman鈥檚 Day at the time, with Downs adding, 鈥淓verything just clicked into place ... we don鈥檛 feel any different now we鈥檙e married.鈥 

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