The story of Bec and Lleyton Hewitt may be the ideal plot for the next Australian soap, but we’re not going to fall into cliches – at least not too much.
At the Starlight Cup, a charity tennis tournament organized by the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Bec (then Bec Cartwright) met 18-year-old tennis sensation, Lleyton Hewitt.
It was 1999, and while Bec was well-known to Lleyton for her role as Hayley Smith Lawson on Home and Away, Lleyton was less well-known to Bec.
The pair were paired up together, which was hilarious – a young, polite Home and Away star vs a temperamental tennis champion. But, according to Bec, everything went smoothly.
“I never followed any sport whatsoever,” she revealed in an interview at the time.
“As for knowing Lleyton, I’d never seen him in his ‘tennis-form’, I never saw what he was like on the court, I’d only met him back when we played the Starlight Cup, so I’d only known him as the nice young guy that he was back then.”
Remembering the encounter, Bec told Stellar Magazine the whole thing was just funny.
“I couldn’t play tennis, so it was quite comical. I didn’t impress him with my game, he just thought it was really admirable that I gave it a go.”
Bec was seeing her Home and Away co-star Beau Brady at the time, while Lleyton was dating Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters. As a result, they didn’t see one other for quite some time.
“I sent him a text message to congratulate him on the year he won Wimbledon, and then I sent him another one to congratulate him on the US Open — I hadn’t even seen it, my parents told me about it, so I thought it’d be nice to send him a text,” Bec reveals in the interview.
Lleyton, on the other hand, responded to her messages, and after their separate relationships ended, he texted Bec. By 2005, the tennis young shot was working on a new TV project in Australia and wanted to know whether Bec was interested.
“We decided to catch up and it went from there. And from the first time we saw each other [at that time], I think we saw each other every day,” Bec says.
She describes the period as a “whirlwind” in an interview with Stellar Magazine. The couple chose to get engaged just six weeks after dating publicly.
“By the time of the Aussie Open we both knew we wanted to spend our lives together, and look at us now!” Bec gushes in the interview above.
They were both young and in love. They were positive they’d discovered their mate at the ages of 22 (Bec) and 24 (Lleyton). Bec’s decision to marry coincided with her decision to discontinue her acting career, which she views as “natural.”
“It was never a choice — a decision — that I made [to quit acting],” Bec told New Idea in 2021.
“It just naturally happened because, obviously, I wanted to be there with the kids. I don’t want to miss anything.”
The couple married in the Sydney Opera House in July 2005 and had a magnificent wedding reception at Taronga Zoo. They’d only been married for two months when they revealed they were expecting their first kid.
As Bec puts it, the period certainly was a “whirlwind”.
Mia, their first child, is now 16 years old and the oldest of their three children. Cruz, 13, and Ava, 11, are her closest companions.
Bec honestly stated in the interview above, shot before the couple started their family, that she knew Lleyton would be a terrific father.
“Lleyton’s such a family person and I know he’ll be a real hands-on Dad as well…he’s always going to want to be involved, wanting to cuddle it, he’ll change the nappies as well I’m sure,” Bec quipped.
Now it seems her thoughts all those years ago have truly come true.
Bec and Lleyton appear to be the proudest of parents, with three ambitious and talented children to look after.
Each of their children has their own interests and abilities; Mia, for example, is a 16-year-old model and fashion enthusiast who is considering pursuing a career in modeling or acting. In July 2019, the rising star was even asked to attend the Dior catwalk show during Paris Couture Week with her mother.
Meanwhile, Cruz, his younger brother, is following in his father’s footsteps – and, according to accounts, he’s more than filling the shoes.
Cruz won the Under 12s Australian Claycourt Championships in Canberra in April 2021, in front of his ecstatic father.
Cruz’s abilities are so excellent that it’s been suggested that the family’s recent move to the Gold Coast was purely to support his tennis career.
According to the Daily Mail, the youngster now has access to a number of state-of-the-art tennis training grounds, including the KDV tennis academy.
Finally, in her short 11 years, young Ava has already dazzled as a dancer and gymnast. She even performed solo on Dancing With the Stars: All Stars last year, when her mother was competing at the time.
When Ava’s solo performance was aired, Lleyton immediately shared a clip to Instagram. He captioned it: “Our little Ava doing her thing! @avasydneyofficial we’re so proud! ?”
He and Bec proudly show their love, joy, and support for their children on social media, and their Instagram pages resemble a big beaming pride smile.
This, of course, includes each other. Lleyton was Bec’s biggest fan during her time on Dancing With the Stars, often sharing photos to his social media and asking fans to vote for her.
“So proud of my amazing, gorgeous wife @bechewitt23 who is in the DWTS All Stars Grand Final tonight. #TeamBec ???,” he captioned one post.
Now that both parents are retired, it appears that they are devoting their time in making their children as happy as possible while still enjoying the ride together.
In a 2016 interview, upon his official retirement, Lleyton called Bec his “rock”.
“I love her so much and we have a great life together, and she produced three fantastic kids,” he told the Herald Sun.
He went on to say that, other from raising his children during his tennis career, Bec is the only one with whom he feels he can completely be himself, even at his worst moments.
He stated this became exceedingly evident after undergoing five surgeries over the course of seven years.
“You start to worry whether you’ll be able to return, so having someone to talk to about it is essential.”
“She really is my soulmate, and we go through absolutely everything together. I couldn’t be prouder to have Bec alongside me.”
The pair are now 16 years married, and looking on to a happy 17 this year.
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