Former NRL star Alex McKinnon’s ex-wife Teigan Power went public with her new romance on Thursday, almost two years after footy fans were left in shock by the news their marriage had ended.

Power made the relationship with Jake Nelson Instagram official on Thursday night, posting a sweet clip of them kissing at the Hunter Valley Gardens Christmas Lights Spectacular just west of Newcastle, NSW.

But what happened to her relationship with McKinnon? And what was the fallout from their split?

Here, Daily Mail Australia looks back at how the high school sweethearts’ rock-solid bond failed to stand the test of time.  

McKinnon and Power (pictured together) separated in January 2022, putting an end to five years of marriage after she stuck by him when he was left paralysed in a horror tackle

McKinnon and Power (pictured together) separated in January 2022, putting an end to five years of marriage after she stuck by him when he was left paralysed in a horror tackle

On Thursday, Power went public with her new boyfriend, Jake Nelson (pictured)

On Thursday, Power went public with her new boyfriend, Jake Nelson (pictured)

Alex and Teigan’s love story captured the hearts of Australians when she pledged to stand by the NRL star after he broke his spine in a three-man tackle on March 24, 2014. 

The 31-year-old underwent operations to fuse his C4 and C5 vertebrae and spent five days in a coma before he was left wheelchair bound at 22. 

The day after he woke up, doctors gave him the shattering news that he would likely remain a quadriplegic and never walk again.

His girlfriend, who was only 20 at the time, vowed to support him throughout his recovery. 

‘How can you go from loving someone for them getting injured and then saying I don’t love them anymore?’ she asked at the time.

Two weeks after the accident, the former Newcastle Knights and St George Illawarra player proposed to her from his hospital bed.

He vowed to stand up at their wedding – which is exactly what he did during their fairytale nuptials in 2017.

The couple became engaged when McKinnon proposed from his hospital bed just two weeks after the on-field accident that left him paralysed

The couple became engaged when McKinnon proposed from his hospital bed just two weeks after the on-field accident that left him paralysed 

They are proud parents to twins Audrey and Violent, and eldest daughter Harriet

They are proud parents to twins Audrey and Violent, and eldest daughter Harriet 

The newly paralysed athlete has admitted he dealt with a lot of rage following his injury, but the couple defied the odds to keep their relationship going.

They had their first little girl, Harriet Ann, via IVF in 2018, followed by twins Audrey Jill and Violet John in 2021.

However, on April 24, 2022 – after speculation as to why Ms McKinnon was not wearing her wedding ring in recent Instagram photos – it was announced that their love story secretly came to an end months previously, in January.

High-school romance

The couple first hit it off in 2010 when they were introduced through mutual friends at a pub in the Hunter Valley region of NSW

The couple first hit it off in 2010 when they were introduced through mutual friends at a pub in the Hunter Valley region of NSW 

They didn't start dating until a year after they met, but Mr McKinnon said it was 'love at first sight' for him

They didn’t start dating until a year after they met, but Mr McKinnon said it was ‘love at first sight’ for him

Alex McKinnon and Teigan Power met at a friend’s birthday dinner at Denman Bottom Pub, in the picturesque Upper Hunter Region north-west of Sydney, in 2010.

He was 18 said it was ‘love at first sight’, but the 16-year-old schoolgirl wasn’t so sure.

‘We hit it off straight away, feeling very comfortable around each other,’ Ms McKinnon previously told Body and Soul.

‘We were friends for about a year before we started dating.’

When they officially started seeing each other in 2011, the aspiring footballer would drive five hours from Wollongong to Denman every weekend to see her because she was still in high school.

‘We knew from then we wanted to be together forever,’ she said. 

Life-changing accident 

Mr McKinnon started playing NRL for the Newcastle Knights in 2014, at the age of 22.

He played 49 games before tragedy struck in round-three match against Melbourne Storm on March 24 of that year – as soon as he hit the ground, he knew his life was about to change.

‘I knew straight away,’ he told ABC journalist Stan Grant in 2020. 

‘I remember hearing the noise, I remember trying to move but not being able to, I remember players surrounding me and looking at me – clear conversations, I could hear everything.

‘I really just felt embarrassed … I suppose it takes you back to being a man and what your identity is there – strong, unflappable, unwavering – I just felt that it was embarrassing that I was laying there, unable to move, and I just felt like a real failure.’

Alex McKinnon is pictured playing for the Newcastle Knights before a tragic on-field accident left him wheelchair-bound

Alex McKinnon is pictured playing for the Newcastle Knights before a tragic on-field accident left him wheelchair-bound

The young forward, who had been in the prime of his career just days prior, had an operation to fuse his C4 and C5 vertebrae, as well as having a bone graft from his hip to support his neck – and battled to stay alive.

Five days later, he woke up to a medical practitioner pricking him with a pin to determine where his paralysis began and classify the injury.

On the sixth day, doctors at The Alfred Hospital gave Mr McKinnon, his parents and girlfriend the devastating news that it was very unlikely he would ever walk again.

In his emotional biography, Unbroken, Mr McKinnon wrote: ‘I began to yell and sob as tears streamed down my face.’

‘I’m f***ing over this,’ he yelled to his parents.

‘I don’t want to be here, this is making me sick to my stomach, why can’t I just die? Why can’t you just kill me? Why are you going to put me through this? How can you let me live like this? Is it just for you? I’m happy to die. I want this over.’

McKinnon (pictured in action in February 2014) was just 23 when he suffered two fractured vertebrae in a tackle while playing the Storm in March 2014

McKinnon (pictured in action in February 2014) was just 23 when he suffered two fractured vertebrae in a tackle while playing the Storm in March 2014 

‘Teigan loved me still’

Despite his physical and emotional trauma, Mr McKinnon knew he wanted to be with his girlfriend for the rest of his life.

He had been planning to propose for months, but after his injury he knew he couldn’t delay it any further.

Ms McKinnon told Body and Soul that he popped the question just two weeks after the accident: ‘I had flown back in from Newcastle and went straight to Melbourne hospital to see him.’

‘His parents made the excuse that they were going out for dinner and then Alex and I were talking and he very romantically asked me to marry him.

‘I, of course, said yes! I was very blown away and surprised. I knew before the injury that I wanted to marry Alex so I was thrilled that he finally had asked me. 

'How can you go from loving someone for them getting injured and then saying I don't love them anymore?' Power asked Alex McKinnon

‘How can you go from loving someone for them getting injured and then saying I don’t love them anymore?’ Power asked Alex McKinnon

He said it was ‘like a dream come true’, and promised to stand up as she walked down the isle.

60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes interviewed the couple the following year in 2015, when they were 21 and 23, and realised she had ‘underestimated that young people had been capable of deep and mature love’.

Mr KcKinnon caught Ms Hayes by surprise when he said one of his blessings was that ‘Teigan loved me still’.

His fiancée replied: ‘How can you go from loving someone for them getting injured and then saying I don’t love them anymore?’

Ms Hayes described their relationship as ‘extraordinary’.

Alex McKinnon said the moment Teigan agreed to marry him was 'like a dream come true'

Alex McKinnon said the moment Teigan agreed to marry him was ‘like a dream come true’

‘They had grown to know each other, they were already living together, no doubt it is a case of starting again in navigating a relationship when one partner is so dependent on the other,’ she said.

‘He needs daily care and so as not to have some live-in person, it is up to Teigan, she is going to feed him and there are other things.

‘She is central to his wellbeing and she knows that and they work together, that is very grown-up.’ 

Miracle wedding 

McKinnnon was so determined to use his legs again that he defied odds by standing up just 10 months on from the accident and, three years later, he managed to walk with the assistance of physical therapists.

Sure enough, in October 2017, the couple were married at Peppers Creek Chapel in the NSW Hunter Valley.

Tears flowed as the 25-year-old rose to his feet and exchanged vows at the private reception, surrounded by 150 of their closest friends and family.  

‘I was pretty shocked, to tell you the truth. I couldn’t believe Alex stood for all that time,’ Ms McKinnon told New Idea at the time.

Tears flowed as McKinnon rose to his feet to exchange vows at the couple's October 2017 wedding in the Hunter Valley (pictured)

Tears flowed as McKinnon rose to his feet to exchange vows at the couple’s October 2017 wedding in the Hunter Valley (pictured)

‘It was lovely to be able to look him in the eye, rather than looking down at him in his wheelchair. It just made the ceremony that much more intimate. 

‘We started crying every time we caught each other’s eye. It was beautiful.’

The day before the wedding, he wrote on Instagram: ‘Dreams do come true.’

‘Together we had the best day of our lives on Sunday, I can’t wait to share the photos and videos with you all.’ 

In a similar post, his bride wrote on social media: ‘Tomorrow is the day we say ”I do” to the rest of our lives.’

‘I want to be a dad’

In the Australian Birth Stories podcast in 2018, Ms McKinnon revealed that she and her then-husband started seeing fertility specialists in 2015 – the year after he proposed.

She loved children and McKinnon was an only child who was eager to have a big family, but they didn’t know if they would be able to conceive at all due to his impaired spinal cord.

‘The level of his injury meant that he didn’t have any movement voluntarily from his chest down, and that can affect your sperm and the mobility of your sperm,’ she explained.

The couple announced via social media in March 2018 that they were expecting their first child

The couple announced via social media in March 2018 that they were expecting their first child

McKinnon (pictured with wife Teigan and eldest daughter Harriet) always wanted a big family because he was an only child

McKinnon (pictured with wife Teigan and eldest daughter Harriet) always wanted a big family because he was an only child

‘They said Alex’s sperm was really healthy, but his mobility was quite low so the chances of us falling pregnant naturally without intervention was about five to ten per cent.’ 

They saw specialists in Sydney and Newcastle to get an idea of what to expect, but they didn’t actively try to conceive until about four months before the wedding in 2017. 

When that didn’t work, the specialist referred them to an IVF clinic.

Ms McKinnon’s pregnancy test came back positive after the first round, and Harriet was born the day before the couple’s first wedding anniversary.

In 2021, they celebrated the arrival of twin girls Audrey Jill and Violet John.

The couple (pictured with daughter Harriet) announced they were expecting twins in 2021

The couple (pictured with daughter Harriet) announced they were expecting twins in 2021

Power is pictured with her twins Audrey Jill and Violet John

Power is pictured with her twins Audrey Jill and Violet John 

Shock split

On April 24 last year, rugby league journalist Danny Weidler sent shockwaves through the footy community when he revealed the couple had separated in January – four months earlier.

The announcement followed a number of comments on Ms McKinnon’s Instagram account asking why she wasn’t posting photos of her husband anymore, and why she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring.

‘There is no ill will between the pair, who privately concede that after 12 years together, from the time they were high school sweethearts, they are now more likely to find happiness on their own,’ Weidler wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.

‘They are committed to co-parenting their children and they will do so as friends.’

But while the journalist said the ex football player ‘has no issue with the story being written’ about them, Power criticised how the story had come out ‘without our consent’ in an Instagram story.

The couple (pictured at their twins' birthday on Saturday) issued similar post break-up statements, but with one major difference

The couple (pictured at their twins’ birthday on Saturday) issued similar post break-up statements, but with one major difference

McKinnon made a statement (pictured) similar to one his ex-wife wrote announcing their split

McKinnon made a statement (pictured) similar to one his ex-wife wrote announcing their split

‘At this time, Alex and I are navigating this period of change together privately,’ she wrote on Sunday.

‘Due to our situation being made public without our consent, we are asking for our privacy to please be respected at this time.

‘We are together concentrating on protecting our family and children. We have the utmost respect for each other, and are both very grateful for the people, as well as all of the support that we have in our lives.’

Power raised eyebrows when she posted a photo of herself at a wedding in March 2022 (pictured) - without her husband

Power raised eyebrows when she posted a photo of herself at a wedding in March 2022 (pictured) – without her husband

McKinnon also posted a photo of himself at the same wedding - without his wife

McKinnon also posted a photo of himself at the same wedding – without his wife

McKinnon issued a statement on the same day but, unlike his former partner, did not say intimate details were spilled without permission. 

He wrote: ‘Due to our situation being made public, we ask that you respect out privacy as we concentrate on our family and children, as they are our main priority.’

On Monday, Ms McKinnon was spotted for the first time since the devastating break-up was announced – wearing a purple top and white jeans with her eldest daughter Harriet, who was riding a tricycle down the street. 

Mr KcKinnon was spotted spending quality time with Harriet and his father on Tuesday.

Alex and Teigan McKinnon: From high school sweethearts to co-parenting three little girls

2010: The pair met through mutual friends at a pub in 2010. Alex McKinnon said it was ‘love at first sight’, but she said they were friends for a year before they started dating.

‘I was there for a friend’s birthday dinner and we hit it off straight away, feeling very comfortable around each other. We were friends for about a year before we started dating in 2011,’ Ms McKinnon previously told Body and Soul.

The aspiring football player lived in Wollongong but made the five-hour trip to Denman, in the NSW Hunter Valley, every weekend to see his girlfriend – who was still in high school.

2011: The lovesick teens officially start dating.

2014: Mr McKinnon started playing for the Newcastle Knights in 2014, at the age of 22. He played 49 games before a dangerous tackle during a round-three match against Melbourne Storm in March that year changed his life forever.

He fractured his C4 and C5 vertebrae and became a quadriplegic. 

Three weeks after the accident, he proposed to Ms McKinnon – who pledged to stand by him throughout his recovery. Their love story captivated Australia.

2015: Mr McKinnon publicly thanked his then-fiancée for her ongoing support. 

‘Happy Valentine’s Day babe,’ he wrote on Instagram.

The last year has challenged us a lot more then we would of every imagined, yet we’ve become so much stronger then ever before. I can honestly say I don’t know where I would be without you, I love you a fair bit @teiganpower.’

2017: The happy couple got married in an intimate ceremony in the NSW Hunter Valley in October 2017.

Mr McKinnon had promised his bride that he would rise from his wheelchair when he popped the question, and he did just that at their wedding. 

The day before the ceremony, Ms McKinnon wrote to her followers on Instagram, ‘Tomorrow is the day we say ‘I do’ to the rest of our lives.’ 

2018: Ms McKinnon gave birth to their first daughter, Harriet Anne.

2020: They announced that Ms McKinnon was pregnant with twins in November.

2021: Twin girls Violet and Audrey were born in April.

2022: The couple quietly broke up in January.

Mr McKinnon shared a post of him and Ms McKinnon celebrating their twins’ first birthday on April 23.

The following day, their separation was made public in the Sydney morning Herald.

They vowed to continue supporting each other and co-parenting their three daughters. 

[ad_2]
Post source: Daily mail

You May Also Like

Leicester Fined for Profit and Sustainability Breaches Despite Relegation

Table of Contents Hide High-school romanceLife-changing accident ‘Teigan loved me still’Miracle wedding ‘I want…

Manuel Akanji withdraws from Switzerland squad due to injury, returning to Man City

Table of Contents Hide High-school romanceLife-changing accident ‘Teigan loved me still’Miracle wedding ‘I want…

Ratcliffe confident in Southgate for Man United emerges as the first choice for England boss

Table of Contents Hide High-school romanceLife-changing accident ‘Teigan loved me still’Miracle wedding ‘I want…

Uli Hoeness Claims Liverpool and Real Madrid Want Xabi Alonso

Table of Contents Hide High-school romanceLife-changing accident ‘Teigan loved me still’Miracle wedding ‘I want…