How We Met: David & Victoria
Interview by Kathy Dyton
Photography by Caitlin Lock
David (44) & Victoria Weir (39)
This is the story of how David Weir (CBE & British multi gold medal paralympic wheelchair athlete) met his wife Victoria and how after mutual disastrous relationships, they created a happy, blended family down on the South Coast.
Victoria: We met on Tinder and after swiping I saw David’s picture. He was wearing a tuxedo on a red carpet. I didn’t know who he was, or that he was a famous athlete, he didn’t tell me straight away.
David: Tinder was hard for me at first. The pictures I posted didn’t show my chair. I’d get loads of messages and after I said I was in a wheelchair, they’d just disappear and ghost me. I thought, ‘god, this is ruthless’.
Then I thought ‘Actually, I’m kind of lying here’, so I put my wheelchair pictures up and that’s what Victoria saw. But it’s funny as I also got messages from people asking ‘why are you impersonating David Weir?’.
Victoria: I think we were both at that stage where we were getting to the end of our tether with Tinder and rubbish dates. It was constantly disappointing and completely exhausting.
David: Yes, Victoria was going to be my final date. If it hadn’t have worked, I’d already made up my mind that I was coming off Tinder.
Victoria: I was messaging four other people when I first contacted David. As a teacher, I’m hot on my grammar and punctuation. David has dyslexia so his messages were so short, bordering on the blunt (laughs). However, his messages were the most consistent compared to the others, always saying ‘good morning’, telling me where he was training and stuff, so I lost interest in the other guys.
David: I was living in Surrey at the time, Victoria was in St Leonards. I liked her profile first and her appearance of course, but I also liked that she was a teacher and that she lived on the South Coast. I used to suffer with depression so I would always visit this area to get away from it all before I met Victoria.
Victoria: I actually find that sad because he was so close and I didn’t know. I wish I’d met him years ago. We had our first date in London.
David: I suggested a pub, but I forgot it was the Championship playoff, the place was packed and noisy with a huge TV screen but we ended up talking in there for hours.
Victoria: When I had to leave, Dave said ‘so am I going to see you again?’ I said ‘yes’, but I don’t think he believed me. He said I was hard to read. I had my guard up. Before the date I asked him to send me a picture of himself with one of his medals just so I knew he was who he said he was. Internet dating is a minefield.
David: After our first date it was instant for me. Within a month I was meeting her parents. We moved in together within three months. I’d been planning the proposal for a while but Victoria had already told me what ring she wanted, so it wasn’t a complete shock. I gifted her a balloon with ‘Will You Marry Me’ written on it.
Victoria: (Laughs) But he didn’t actually say the words! He forgot to, in the moment, and he just passed me the balloon. Dave comes as a package, he has four previous children, and now we have a child (Teddy) together.
As a teacher, I was used to children and I met the kids very early on. Family is so important to us: my parents are great step grandparents and they are a big part of their lives too. Dave’s a great Dad.
David: We’ve been married for a year now. We could have married at St Paul’s Cathedral because of my CBE, but the waiting list was too long so we married at The Gallivant which was great. Victoria is a wonderful mother and step-mother, along with being beautiful to look at. I’ve never been happier to be honest.
Victoria: Dave makes me laugh. He’s forever late and he’s always rushing around, putting t-shirts on back to front and inside-out at the same time. One time, early on in our relationship, we were having breakfast at a hotel and he leaned over to me and said ‘I’ve never been so embarrassed, my spare pants were hanging on the side of my wheelchair at the buffet and I didn’t realise’. He always makes me laugh… and I really fancy his arms. ⚫