Former Olympian Steph Rice hits back after getting slammed for sharing loved-up video with her pastor fiancé

Former Olympian Stephanie Rice has hit back at critics after she shared a loved-up video featuring her fiancé Mark Lassey.

In the short clip, filmed at night, the 38-year-old swimming champ can be seen dancing and smiling with her husband-to-be.

Stephanie, 36, who announced her engagement in September after dating the Australian pastor for a mere seven months, captioned the clip, 'I waited so long for moments like this.'

'Ready for a lifetime of dancing with you!' she wrote in the Instagram post and signed it with a love heart emoji.

However, the romance-filled share left some followers unimpressed. 

'I feel like nothing is natural anymore everything is staged,' moaned one user.

Another responded with a sarcastic slam at Stephanie's video, writing: 'Hey, can you send us that video we made you take of us living in the moment alone with nobody around that was definitely spontaneous and not planned? Thanks.' 

Another messaged Stephanie: 'Good Christ girl wouldn’t be drunk?'

'Lol, who said I was drunk? Stephanie hit back.

'Not sure if you just wanted to criticise, but I was actually totally sober.'

Still, many people appeared to throw support behind Stephanie. 

'So happy for you, you both deserve it. It’s great to see two people so happy,' messaged a user.  

A touched Stephanie replied: 'Aww what a kind thing to say. Thank you.'

It comes after Stephanie announced she is was set to tie the knot to her beau after seven months of dating. 

The swimming legend revealed the couple's plans to Instagram in September, just weeks after first going public with her and Mark's romance in July.

She shared an array of sweet snaps of the moment pastor and Aussie father-of-three Mark popped the question at Dubai's luxury Atlantis The Royal hotel.

The couple, who met around a year ago, looked overjoyed as they beamed from ear-to-ear and shared a kiss, while Stephanie flashed her diamond sparkler.

Stephanie looked effortlessly glamorous in a gorgeous white floral dress and strapped heels during the picture-perfect outdoor hotel proposal.

She accentuated her stunning features with a high-glamour make-up palette and looked happier than ever as she cuddled up to her new fiancé.

Mark cut a dapper figure in a white shirt, cream trousers and a black blazer as he presented Stephanie with a diamond ring from Perth's Charles Edward Jewellers.

The newly-engaged couple packed on the PDA as they shared a romantic kiss after Mark popped the big question.

In a caption, Stephanie gushed: 'Here's to fresh starts and second chances… Yes to a lifetime with you.'

She concluded the post with a Bible verse, writing: '''Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire.'' ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭37‬:‭4‬.'

Their engagement comes just weeks after Stephanie first went public with their romance in an Instagram post at the start of July in 2024.

Stephanie had been quietly dating the Australian pastor for five months before officially confirming their romance.

They were introduced through a mutual friend and then started a long-distance romance as Mark is based in Perth while Stephanie moved to Dubai in November.

'When we met almost 5 months ago, we both knew this was different,' she gushed in an Instagram post alongside cosy snaps of herself and Mark.

'From the start, there was a deep intentionally between us, and because of the complexities of our lives we wanted to keep these first few months between close family and friends, and enjoy the wonder of falling in love.'

'But as God would have it, that first phone conversation made us feel like this was exactly where we were both meant to end up,' she continued before detailing their long-distance romance.

'Living halfway across the world from each other in different time zones has had its challenges (thank god for Zoom) but God has been so good and so present in every step of our journey, which gives us an unwavering faith that our future will be even more extraordinary through Him.

'If there is one word that sums up how both of us feel right now, it's grateful. Grateful for God, grateful for Him bringing us together in His perfect timing, grateful for a fresh start.

'Grateful for the peace and strength we find in each other, grateful for loving friends and family, grateful for an amazing church and mentors supporting our journey, and most of all, grateful for each other.'

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Stephanie joined the church when she relocated to Dubai late last year and is now heavily involved with Kingdom City.

Mark is a pastor with the same organisaton in Perth and has been with the church for more than 10 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He is also a father to three sons - Tyler, Joel and Luke - who Stephanie has already met as their budding relationship has only gone from strength-to-strength.

Kingdom City started in Perth in 2003 and has since gone global with branches in Africa, Europe and Asia in addition to the Middle East.

Stephanie was previously romantically involved with former soldier Dane Christison, who she met at an Australian church.

The couple holidayed in the United States together over Christmas 2023, but she publicly announced their split just months later in May 2024.

Stephanie had deleted images of her boyfriend from her Instagram page even earlier in March and had not mentioned him in some weeks.

The sportswoman later opened up about how she was happy their relationship had ended.

'When I moved, I really wanted to share a lot more of the journey with you guys in real time,' she said.