Ryan Lochte is transferring on along with his new girlfriend, Molly Gillihan— fairly actually. In a brand new interview, the Olympic gold medalist opened up about his choice to maneuver in along with his companion simply seven months after his estranged spouse, Kayla Lochte, introduced she had filed for divorce. Nonetheless, the response to the elite athlete’s newest life replace wasn’t fairly, as customers slammed the 41-year-old for advancing the connection too rapidly.

Ryan spent a lot of 2025 within the headlines after battling along with his estranged spouse, Kayla, over the custody of their kids in contentious courtroom paperwork.

Now, the swimmer is the subject of dialog due to his new transfer along with his girlfriend, Gillihan.

Talking with PEOPLE, Ryan instructed the publication that transferring in with Gillihan over the brand new yr was “the proper subsequent step,” saying he is spent the “final 10 months” specializing in himself. “That meant doing the work — going to rehab, rededicating my life to Christ, going to remedy and making adjustments that put my kids first.”

“Due to that progress, I’m grateful to now have my youngsters 50% of the time,” he added.

Ryan additionally expressed his pleasure about his new “blended household,” saying that coming collectively as one solely made sense after realizing they had been aligned on what issues most.

“Collectively, we’re a household of six youngsters. She’s my finest pal, our youngsters have shaped an unimaginable bond, and it turned clear that being collectively underneath one roof was the proper subsequent step for all of us,” he mentioned.

In an Instagram publish, Ryan shared photographs of himself and Gillihan seated on the ground of their new house, each clad in monochromatic sweatsuits.

“Residence Candy Residence,” the Olympian captioned the publish.

The response was something however candy, nevertheless, as followers flooded the publish’s remark part with important statements.

“You are transferring too quick, Ryan,” a person wrote. “Gradual the f down.”

“Are you divorced but? You are presupposed to improve, not settle,” a second individual commented.

“Did not you guys develop into a factor like lower than a yr in the past?” one other wrote.

A fourth person questioned, “Did your medals pay for it?”

The announcement of Ryan’s new property comes at an attention-grabbing time, because the swimmer and his estranged spouse had been named in a lawsuit filed by the Fletcher Park House owners’ Affiliation, based on The Blast.

The paperwork state that Ryan and Kayla did not pay “the assessments of all sorts, curiosity, late charges, administrative charges, legal professional’s charges, and prices of collections as a consequence of [the owner’s associate].”

The affiliation reportedly filed a lien on the pair’s Gainesville, Florida, property for $4,000 in July 2025, however later filed a proper lawsuit after the charges remained unpaid.

Ryan was additionally the focal point on the finish of 2025 when he revealed he was auctioning three of his gold medals from the 2004, 2008, and 2016 Summer time Video games. It was later confirmed that Lochte finalized offers for the prized possessions for a hefty $385,520.