Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird announce separation after nearly 10 years
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are splitting up.
The sports power couple announced Friday that they are ending their 10-year relationship and phasing out their popular podcast, “A Touch More.” They dropped the news together on the podcast.
“I hope you all know we put a lot of thought and care into this,” said Rapinoe, who rose to fame as a member of the Women’s World Cup team in 2011, 2015 and 2019. “It’s a decision that we made together. We’re still going to be there for all of you and for each other. It’s just going to look and feel a little bit different.
“We truly are evolving into something new to each other, to ourselves and to all of you, and we just wanted to say thank you for sharing this space with us and giving us this space for us to find ourselves in a different way through this podcast.”
Bird is considered one of the greatest women’s basketball players in history. She won four WNBA championships and was a 13-time All-Star over a 20-year career.
“We have shared so much of our life, so much of our relationship with you, so that’s why we wanted to come on here and share this, too,” Bird said. “These past 10 years have given us so much, and launching this podcast and sharing this space has been one of our favorite things that we’ve done together.”
Bird, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, and Rapinoe, an Olympic gold and bronze medalist, first met at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. They announced their engagement in 2020.
Rapinoe is planning to start her own podcast, and Bird is committed to a second season of her own venture, “Bird’s Eye View.”
“It’s gonna look a little bit different moving forward,” Rapinoe said. “Obviously, our relationship was such a huge part of this podcast for you guys, but also for us. … We are both really sad to be losing this space. It’s been so meaningful to us, especially post-retirement, to be able to have this space to share, not just together, but with you as well.”
Bird said they will host six more special episodes of “A Touch More” as a “farewell to you all and to this space.”
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
From breaking news and local politics to art exhibitions, live music, high school sports, small businesses, and cultural events, we celebrate the people and places that make Connecticut unique.