Inside Stuart Broad and fiancée Mollie King’s family life as cricketing legend retires at 37 – from ‘pure elation’ over daughter Annabella’s birth to supporting singer through devastating loss of her dad
- Stuart Broad, 37, ended his cricket career at London’s Oval yesterday
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Stuart Broad ended his sporting career in style yesterday when he bowled England to victory in the fifth Ashes test against Australia at The Oval.
The cricket legend, 37, appeared visibly emotional as he took to the field for the final time – telling teammates and fans how much he will miss them as his 17-year sporting career officially came to a close.
But there, cheering him on from the sidelines, was Stuart’s glamorous fiancée Mollie King, 36, and their eight-month-old daughter Annabella.
The former bowler said that he has chosen to retire this summer when he’s still at the very top of his game – but the decision to leave his sporting career behind will also give him the chance to focus on his young family with Mollie.
Writing for the Mail on Sunday this past weekend, Stuart explained: ‘I am a new dad to Annabella and I want to be one who is there to see her grow up.’
Pictured: Stuart King poses with Mollie King and daughter Annabella at The Oval in London following his final cricket match yesterday
Stuart (pictured) decision to leave his sporting career behind will also give him the chance to focus on his young family with Mollie
Ahead of his final match, the former Saturdays singer paid to her husband-to-be on Instagram – telling Stuart how ‘incredibly proud’ she was of all he has achieved.
She wrote: ‘Watching you live out your dream has been something I will never forget.
‘Annabella and I will be cheering you and the team on today, as always. We love you so much.’
Here FEMAIL takes a look inside the couple’s life together as Stuart leaves his cricketing career behind.
‘We’ve wanted a baby for a really long time’
Mollie and Stuart reportedly first dated in 2012 – but it was only six years later that they entered into a serious relationship and were pictured enjoying romantic dates around London.
In 2021, the cricketer popped the question on a wintry country walk on New Years Day – with Mollie captioning her Instagram announcement: ‘A thousand times yes!’
However, Stuart and Mollie’s world was forever changed when they revealed they were expecting their first child together in June 2022.
In June 2022,the happy couple revealed they were expecting their first child together with his sweet black-and-white photo
Pictured: Stuart Broad and Mollie King cut into a cake at their baby shower in summer 2022 ahead of Annabella’s arrival
She said at the time: ‘Stuart and I are so so happy to share that we’re expecting a baby later this year! We’re absolutely over the moon.’
Speaking to Fabulous magazine, Mollie revealed: ‘It’s something we’ve wanted for a really long time.
‘I wouldn’t say I’ve always been broody, but I have always wanted a family. It’s been about the right person and the right time.
‘I have five nephews and I absolutely love looking after them, which is what made me feel this is what I want. We’re feeling incredibly lucky. I know Stuart’s going to be such a good dad – he’s so excited.’
Ahead of Annabella’s arrival, Stuart put his £2m Nottinghamshire house on the market so the couple – who share a toy poodle called Alfie – could buy their first family home in South London.
Mollie King joked last year that Stuart was ‘regretting’ the marriage proposal after she showed him countless baby nursery paint samples
In November 2022, Mollie King and Stuart Broad announced Annabella’s arrival into the world with this heartwarming photo
Revealing how she had gone into ‘nesting mode’, Mollie joked on Instagram that Stuart may have been ‘regretting the marriage proposal’ after being shown countless paint samples for their daughter’s nursery.
She joked at the time: ‘I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s in for! We’re going for a neutral wall colour and adding little personal touches with pictures, toys and accessories.
‘I still can’t quite believe it’s a room for our little baby girl. It really has been so much fun deciding how we want it to look, although I’m sure Stuart will be glad to never see another paint sample again
Last November, Mollie and Stuart announced their daughter’s arrival with their combined 1.7m Instagram followers.
They gushed: ‘Welcome to the world Annabella Broad. We have never been so in love.’
Speaking to The Telegraph, Stuart said he felt at his ‘most unnerved’ in the lead-up to Annabella’s birth over the ‘total lack of control’ he felt.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Stuart said he felt at his ‘most unnerved’ in the lead-up to Annabella’s birth over the ‘total lack of control’ he felt.
Brought closer together by grief
Pictured: Mollie King and her late father Stephen, who passed away from a brain tumour last year
Mollie’s devastating loss only brought her and Stuart closer together – and the cricketing star later paid tribute to his wife-to-be as the ‘warmest and most caring mummy’ to their daughter.
Just six days after the couple announced their happy news, Mollie was left devastated by the sudden passing of her father Stephen.
The singer’s father had been diagnosed with a brain tumour towards the end of her pregnancy and the star said the tragic loss had left her ‘heartbroken beyond words’.
She wrote at the time: ‘Last week, we had to face the day we hoped would never come and say goodbye.
‘Dad, we love you with all our hearts and we will miss you every single day. You have been our hero and it’s impossible to think of our lives without you.
‘You have always been there for us with every step we’ve taken and you even held on a few extra days to meet baby Annabella.
Stuart also revealed that his young family had played a huge part in his decision to leave the career he loves
Pictured: Mollie King and Stuart Broad pose for a selfie with their baby daughter and dog earlier this year
‘You gave us your everything. You will be in our hearts and our memories every single day.’
However, Mollie’s devastating loss only brought her and Stuart closer together – and the cricketing star later paid tribute to his wife-to-be as the ‘warmest and most caring mummy’ to their daughter.
He wrote: ‘I’ve always been surrounded by really strong people, both in my family & with my work, dealing with highs & lows. How this incredible lady Mollie King has dealt with everything that has come her way in the past month has been unbelievable.
‘The warmest and most caring Mummy to Annabella, yet dealing with the passing of the wonderful Steve King, Pops. It’s been so important to allow ourselves time to feel sad, while our hearts have also been filled with joy with the arrival of our beautiful daughter.
‘We could never have predicted these two life changing moments could have happened so close together but Annabella has been a shining light and we feel so lucky to have her in our lives.’
The cricketer (pictured) said earlier this year that his favourite part of the day is getting his daughter out of her cot – and claims she ‘wakes up singing’.
Pictured: Mollie King, Stuart Broad and their daughter Annabella at home with their toy poodle Alfie
Pictured: the happy couple celebrated the six month anniversary of their daughter’s birth by releasing a pink balloon into the sky
‘A job that gets better everyday’
Last month, Stuart opened up about his experience of fatherhood in an interview with The Telegraph.
The cricketer said his favourite part of the day is getting his daughter out of her cot – and claims she ‘wakes up singing’.
He recalled: ‘My friend Harry wrote me a card when she was born that said: “This is the only job in the world that gets better every day.” He was spot on.’
Following the loss of Mollie’s father, the couple decided to mark the six month anniversary of Annabella’s birth. The pair filmed themselves releasing a pink balloon marked ‘halfway to one, Annabella’ into the sky.
They gushed: ‘Annabella, you’ve brought magic into our lives. Every day we learn something new about you and your wonderful little personality and we can’t wait to see you continue to blossom. We will be there with you every step of the way, darling girl.’
Pictured: Mollie King shared this photo of her daughter Annabella watching Stuart Broad play cricket in New Zealand in February
When Annabella was just four months old, Stuart travelled to New Zealand to play in a test series – leaving behind his fiancée and baby daughter in London.
At the time, Mollie posted a photo of her watching the cricketeer on TV at home – joking that her daughter was thinking: ‘He’s big, he’s bad, no one beats my dad.’
Taking time for themselves
But while the pair have thrown themselves into parenting, Mollie and Stuart also prioritise spending time together as a couple.
In June, the new parents jetted off to Ibiza for their first weekend away since their daughter was born.
As well as enjoying a trip on a private boat, the pair appear to have flown on a private jet for their sun-soaked getaway.
Pictured: The couple – who got engaged in January 2021 – jetted out to Ibiza on their first solo holiday since becoming parents this summer
Mollie King and Stuart Broad (pictured) were first introduced by friends in 2012 and began dating seriously six years later
Mollie wrote: ‘It was certainly a strange feeling being away from our little Annabella, and I won’t pretend that we weren’t talking about her a lot of the weekend.
‘But it was such a fun weekend and really refreshing to get a moment to ourselves and enjoy some time as a couple again! Turns out we can talk about things other than just nappies and nap schedules the whole time!’
‘I want to see Annabella grow up’
Over the weekend, Stuart opened up about why he felt now is the right time to retire from cricket.
In his Mail on Sunday piece, he explained: ‘People will ask why now, and to be honest, ultimately, I really wanted to go out at the top of my own game and in an England versus Australia Test […]
As the game came to a close, Stuart Broad gave Mollie a quick kiss on the lips before heading to the changing rooms
Mollie King pictured holding her eight-month-old daughter Annabella as she watched husband-to-be Stuart Broad play his final England cricket match yesterday
‘It’s also nice to have some control over your destiny and at 37 you are just a hamstring tear away from someone else telling you it is the end.’
However, Stuart also revealed that his young family had played a huge part in his decision to leave the career he loves.
He continued: ‘I am also a new dad to Annabella and I want to be one who is there to see her grow up.
‘My partner Mollie has been awesome for my career: it got a whole lot better after we got together, thanks to her positive attitude to achieving success. I have thrived with her support.
‘Now, though, it fills me with joy knowing that I have the two of them at home, and can spend more time with them.’
Yesterday, Mollie watched with pride as Stuart was given a guard of honour by the Australian players as he walked out to bat for the last time alongside his bowling partner and good friend Jimmy Anderson.
Broad went on to smash his final ball in Test cricket for six before England were bowled out for 395 – setting Australia a seemingly insurmountable challenge to clinch their first away Ashes series victory in 22 years.
Following a 17-year career that has seen him become England’s second most prolific Test bowler overall, he will now join Sky Sports’ commentary team.
The couple have since revealed they are postponing their wedding as they wish for baby Annabella to be more involved in the nuptials.
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