Photography: @leaa_films.
The fact she’s still here… I owe her everything,” former All Whites player Clayton Lewis told Woman’s Day back in June, referring to his fiancée Narelle Sindos, the ex-Newshub journalist who stood by the footballer while he faced charges of match-fixing in 2024.
And now the pair has made the ultimate commitment, exchanging vows in front of 62 of their closest friends and family members in a waterfront ceremony in Bali. After being forced to put their wedding on hold for a year while Clayton’s corruption case was dealt with, the couple was finally able to celebrate last month, surrounded by the people who supported them through their toughest challenge yet.
It made watching Narelle, 32, walk down the aisle all the more poignant for her Olympian groom.
“I bawled my eyes out straight away,” Clayton, 29, tells us from their home in Sydney just after returning from an extended stay in Indonesia.
“It was a pretty emotional day.”
Short, sweet and meaningful
Narelle says putting her feelings into vows was difficult. While Clayton wrote his weeks earlier, she waited until the night before to pen them.
“I work best under pressure,” the former reporter laughs.
But there was another reason she wasn’t in a hurry – Narelle felt the couple had already shown their commitment to each other in spades.
She explains, “Reading out the vows kind of felt a bit redundant… They were short, sweet and meaningful, but also kind of funny because it’s hard to put into words when obviously we stuck with each other through all that stuff.”
Clayton was arrested in Australia in 2024 on suspicion of corruption. The footballer later pled guilty to deliberately receiving a yellow card during a match for Macarthur FC as part of a scheme by his captain to influence betting, something Narelle only learnt about on the night of the arrest.
We had to rebuild our lives
Clayton’s gambling addiction and the fact it was his first offence were taken into account, and he was sentenced to a two-year community release order,
with no conviction recorded. He also sought professional help for his gambling.
The career fall-out was much more difficult, though – Clayton was suspended from football for five years and Narelle lost her job as a sports journalist. Despite this, she stuck by Clayton and the pair built a new life together in Cronulla, with new jobs and developing a shared love of golf.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” says Narelle.
“It was just a shame that this one was on the big stage and it impacted us both, but I was like, ‘We’re going to get through it together.’”
A few surprises on the big day
Despite their unintentionally long engagement, they still managed to keep a few surprises up their sleeves for the special day. Clayton didn’t see Narelle’s wedding dress or hear her bridal song until she walked down the aisle.
“Narelle was feeling the pressure,” says Clayton.
“She was like, ‘What if you don’t like the dress? What if you don’t like my music?’ But I was like, ‘You’ll be fine!’”
In fact, Narelle was too busy navigating a beautiful but complicated stroll with both her dad Steve Sindos and stepdad Tim Field to be nervous.
She laughs, “The aisle was over the pool, so we didn’t have a lot of room and there were bunches of flowers like zigzags, so I was talking to them and felt a lot calmer than I thought I was going to feel.”
Everything was perfect
Plus, the most stressful moment had already occurred. Clayton’s best man had persuaded him just 30 minutes before the ceremony to make his own entrance to Chris Brown’s Forever, a decision that caused great confusion.
Narelle recalls, “When we were getting ready to walk down the aisle, I could hear Chris Brown and I was like, ‘This isn’t my song,’ and the lady was like, ‘No, Clayton’s just changed the song.’ I was like, ‘Clayton’s changed my song?’ We were all freaking out. I was like, ‘Oh, my God!’ That was very stressful.”
But when Narelle did eventually head down the aisle, radiant in a strapless Hera gown, it was to her chosen song, a violin version of James Arthur’s Say You Won’t Let Go. Grinning at the memory, Clayton says, “Everything was perfect.”
Whānau was at the heart of the ceremony, with Clayton’s two brothers as groomsmen and Narelle’s sister her bridesmaid. Clayton’s sister and Narelle’s brother were witnesses, while Narelle’s mum also walked down the aisle.
“It was crucial to involve them as much as possible because we wouldn’t be who we are without them,” says Clayton.
We saw a lot of tears
The pair wanted each guest to know just how much their support meant and decided on a simple but powerful gesture to do it.
Clayton shares, “On everyone’s seat was a little personalised letter about why they were there and what they’d done for us. It was quite a cool moment. We saw a lot of tears, so it obviously meant a lot to them as well.
The ceremony was followed by speeches, a cake, fireworks and dancing, plus a special nod to honour their new hobby.
Narelle tells, “We had a shot wall with golf balls on top of the shot glasses, so everyone took home a golf ball.”
The celebrations were so much fun, the group lost track of time and the midnight event curfew crept up on them.
Narelle laughs, “We’d all jumped in the pool thinking it was really early, but it was 11 o’clock. We managed to get half of the Taylor Swift song Love Story at the end, then they cut off the music, but our friends just kept singing, passing a microphone around in a circle to finish it. It was so fun. Then we sent everyone home wet in their taxis.”
More time for each other
After the wedding, Clayton and Narelle stayed in Bali for another two weeks, spending time with her family, before enjoying five days alone together.
Coming home from paradise was difficult, admits Narelle, adding, “We joked about just missing the flight!”
But in all seriousness, there have been unexpected positives to Clayton’s five-year football ban, including the life they’ve built together in Sydney and the time they’ve had to spend together.
“I worked a lot of weekends reporting on sports and Clayton was playing then too, so we never really could plan things together or holidays,” says Narelle.
“Now we’ve just booked flights home to New Zealand for Christmas, which is something we could have never done in the past.”
Life beyond football
Narelle is happy working in marketing, while Clayton is still figuring out what comes next. For now, he’s working in warehousing as he looks to develop skills beyond sport.
Football, however, may not be completely out of his future. The couple says there is a possibility his five-year ban could be reduced to four years, potentially allowing him to return to playing in 2028. They’re waiting to hear from Football Australia.
As part of the process, Clayton would give talks about the dangers of gambling at sports clubs, something he says would be more than simply a step towards getting back on the field.
He insists, “I want to do it because it’ll hopefully help other kids not fall into the trap that I did.”
A love story worth remembering
For now, though, the newlyweds are looking ahead to a new chapter with plenty more travel. They already have trips to Fiji and Tahiti planned for next year, as well as dreams of an African safari.
But in the meantime, they’re still enjoying the afterglow of their big Balinese wedding, with Clayton ensuring he’ll never forget the date by getting it tattooed in Roman numerals on his bicep – a reminder of their special day and the ultimate commitment he’s made to the love of his life, Narelle.
