The public fallout between Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty and his family has been attributed to tensions surrounding his December wedding to Holly Ramsay. But a source close to the family says the real rift began with a heartbreaking loss that Adam failed to show up for.
In 2024, Adam’s older brother Jamie, 34, and his wife Charlotte suffered the stillbirth of their longed-for third child, a boy they named Josh, at 23 weeks. The couple, who have two sons, Oliver, 11, and Jacob, 7, were devastated.
Jamie asked Adam to attend the funeral for moral and emotional support. Adam declined, saying he had to accompany Holly Ramsay to a friend’s wedding.
“Jamie lost a child, which broke his heart and Charlotte’s,” a source close to the family said. “It seems that it created a rift between the two brothers, which has escalated into a full family row.”
The source added that the baby was delivered stillborn, that the couple got to hold Josh and say goodbye, and that he is never forgotten.
Feud escalates
The brothers’ relationship deteriorated further during the lead-up to Adam’s wedding at Bath Abbey. Jamie, originally selected as a groomsman, was disinvited from the stag do held in Bucharest in November 2025. He was subsequently arrested over allegations that he sent aggressive threats to Adam during that weekend. Adam received a large police escort at Manchester airport upon his return.
Jamie is currently on conditional bail under police investigation and facing possible charges of verbal abuse and harassment. A family source said Holly’s elder sister Megan, a police officer, had advised Adam to take precautionary measures.
Adam and Jamie’s father, Mark Peaty, said the situation had gotten out of hand. He said the brothers had always been close and that, like any normal family, they fight, argue, fall out, and make up. But he added there had been very little empathy for Jamie’s genuine mental health difficulties.
Family locked out
Adam’s mother Caroline, 60, was not invited to the wedding or to Holly’s hen do at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, where guests included Holly’s mother Tana Ramsay and Victoria Beckham. Caroline previously told the Daily Mail she had contemplated suicide in the depths of her despair after Adam banned her from his life.
Adam’s sister Bethany, 33, was the only Peaty family member to attend the wedding, but she has since fallen out with Holly. According to family sources, Holly did not want Bethany to announce her own pregnancy, alleging it would steal the spotlight. Bethany’s third child is due in January, weeks after Holly’s due date in December.
At last week’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, no member of the Peaty family attended to watch Adam, now going by the name Adam Ramsay-Peaty. Only Holly watched from poolside at Tollcross International Swimming Centre as Adam collected bronze medals.
Family sources say Adam has changed since embracing a celebrity lifestyle with the Ramsay family. “The boys have always been close, and Jamie even helped Adam renovate his house,” the source said. “Now Jamie has a potential charge hanging over his head. This is so hurtful and distressing for our family.”
