“Like She Doesn’t Have a Dad”: Kelly Slater’s Regret for Daughter Due to Surfing Unearthed

Published 04/10/2024, 3:34 PM EDT

“I had these lofty goals and dreams and ambitions and to be perfectly honest that caused some suffering for her,” said Kelly Slater, recalling the core memory of being unavailable for his daughter, Taylor Slater-Kelleher. This year, the 52-year-old surfer failed to secure his second Olympics trip to the 2024 Paris Olympics, but soon after announced his long-time girlfriend, Kalani Miller, was pregnant with an Instagram reel.

Set to welcome a baby in his life after 28 years, Slater first had to make peace with the frequently brought up topic of regret. He missed out on most of his daughter’s life. As the eternal champion’s retirement, fatherhood, and a champion’s changing heart’ video posted by Surfline went viral, his loyal fans remembered how his thoughts never changed about his relationship with Taylor is a work in progress.

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Kelly Slater admits his deepest regrets again

Yesterday, a video was posted on YouTube by Surfline that gained much attention, the conversation revolved about Kelly Slater’s personal life. He said, “I’m trying to unwind myself with my own daughter who’s now 27 and married.” This was similar to another video of his interview with Graham Bensinger from Jun 17, 2016, titled, ‘Kelly Slater: Tough to be there for daughter,’ where he expressed, “I think probably the hardest part for me is my daughter feeling like she doesn’t have a dad there all the time.”

Back then it was more of “guilt,” as he explained, “People have kids and then their career kind of stops or gets put on hold and you know…I think in that sense I probably have a little bit of guilt about that.” Though, Taylor’s mother, Tamara Mitchell, was a major influence on her upbringing during Kelly’s absence and mostly away from the limelight.

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Kelly acknowledges the importance of having both parents in a child’s life and has candidly expressed his regret for his absence. However, despite these early difficulties, a strong father-daughter relationship has grown between them, something Slater isn’t looking to repeat with his baby.

Kelly Slater Becoming Father After 28 Years Gets Support From Michael Phelps and Sports World: “Congrats’

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The 11X world champion has been dating Kalani Miller for sixteen years. On March 19, 2024, the pair shared their pregnancy on Instagram walking barefoot along the beach shore to Ben Harper’s “The Three of Us” as Slater held her belly. This is their first baby together while Slater will become a father after 28 years.

It wasn’t an easy journey for Kelly Slater since his mother took care of Slater and his two younger siblings. She did everything in her power to support Slater after his parents divorced due to his father’s drinking habit. As he enters the new chapter of his life, Slater has had a lot of support from the surfing community to approach fatherhood with gentleness and compassion.

Watch this story It takes a toll on you The Surfing GOAT Kelly Slater Dazzles HisFan With the Trailer of His Upcoming Show

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Written by:

Divya Purohit is a senior Olympics Sports writer for EssentiallySports. She majorly covers gymnastics, alpine skiing, and horse racing. While bringing the detailed stats of gymnastics to the American readers, she covered two prominent events - the 2023 Xfinity Gymnastics Championships, and the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

Edited by:

Sampurna Pal

“Like She Doesn’t Have a Dad”: Kelly Slater’s Regret for Daughter Due to Surfing Unearthed

Kelly Slater admits his deepest regrets again

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