Michael Klim Responds After Ex-Wife Lindy’s Affair Allegation

Olympic swimmer Michael Klim has responded with apparent frustration after his former wife, Lindy, revisited long-standing allegations that he was unfaithful during their marriage.

The couple announced their separation in February 2016, following roughly 12 months of attempts to repair their relationship.

Reports alleging that Michael had cheated before the separation were widely published by New Idea and subsequently repeated by other media outlets, including The West Australian.

However, the claims had largely disappeared from the spotlight over the years. During that time, Michael and Lindy appeared to maintain a cordial co-parenting arrangement as they raised their three children, Stella, Rocco and Frankie, now teenagers and young adults.

Their relationship even seemed to become warmer after Lindy’s second marriage ended in 2024 and Michael was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), a rare autoimmune condition affecting the nervous system.

That image of the pair as amicable former partners — reinforced by a warm Christmas reunion nearly two years ago — has now been disrupted after Lindy, 47, discussed the breakdown of her marriage on the Parenthood Podcast earlier this month. The program is hosted by relationship specialist Leonie Akhidenor.

‘The first [relationship] kind of happened really quickly in the sense that there was some kind of infidelity that happened, so my whole world came crashing down,’ Lindy said, referring to her decade-long marriage to Michael.

‘That was a big moment for me because I was like, “Okay, well, I can’t stay anymore. I have to leave.” That was a really difficult decision… It was just awful.’

She continued: ‘That was very traumatic and I was very sad. It all happened very quickly. It was a horrible, horrible time… I was properly depressed, to be honest.’

Asked by the Daily Mail this week to respond to Lindy’s comments, Michael appeared unwilling to revisit the allegations, which have resurfaced years after they first attracted attention.

‘I don’t really want to comment on her podcast and social media activity. I’m okay, thank you. I don’t want to comment about this,’ he said.

‘This is something she chose to talk about. I’m not commenting on anything in our private lives that happened.’

‘I don’t even want to tell you how I feel,’ he added.

During the podcast interview, Lindy also said their relationship remained strained after the 2016 split because she found it difficult to establish a rapport with Michael’s next partner, Desiree Deravi.

Michael and fashion designer Desiree, 46, publicly confirmed their relationship after his separation from Lindy was announced. The Mail does not allege that Desiree had any involvement in, or connection to, the infidelity claims.

Michael and Desiree eventually called it quits in May 2019. 

‘The children’s dad [Michael] had a new partner at the time… and it was really hard for me to see my children with that person,’ she said.

‘It was horrendous, actually, it was a really difficult time, but they ended up breaking up… That is a really difficult thing to experience.’

In November 2016, Lindy told Stellar magazine that she ‘felt really hurt and humiliated’ following her separation from Michael, adding that she only found out about his relationship with Desiree through the media.  

‘I felt very let-down; that was probably the humiliation of finding out about things in a magazine. I didn’t know that was going on, which was really hurtful,’ she said.

‘Obviously we’d been struggling for a while, but I thought we were keeping a hold on it and trying really hard to work it out,’ she added.

‘I felt like I’d failed in a way, as being a wife. I was feeling a bit like, “Oh my God, I couldn’t keep all this together. What’s wrong with me?”‘

Months later, in July 2017, Michael publicly accused Lindy of ‘trolling’ Desiree using the ‘fake profile @j_cross1’ after Desiree posted a selfie on Instagram with his two daughters at the beach.

‘We know it’s you @lindyklim. So just stop with the trolling… You’re a grown woman and stop being so disrespectful,’ he wrote in comments that were widely reported at the time.

Desiree also made similar claims, writing: ‘If @michaelklim1 doesn’t mind and he is their father and the children don’t mind why should anyone else especially since @lindyklim has been blocked for trolling.

‘Let’s get one thing straight, making a fake account and trolling is never OK and these comments are not the first. It’s constant and inappropriate. Not to mention the emails!’ 

At about the same time, Lindy had announced she was pregnant with her then-new partner Adam Ellis, from whom she has since split. 

She has never publicly addressed Michael’s claims of anonymous trolling. 

Lindy and Michael share children Stella, 20, Rocco, 18, and Frankie, 15.

She also shares daughter Goldie, eight, with property developer Adam, whom she separated from in October 2024 after six years of marriage.