Steve Smith wife Dani Willis relationship: How they met, when they got married and everything to know | Love Stories

In June 2017, Aussie cricketer Steve Smith was on top of New York’s Rockefeller Centre, and on top of the world, when he dropped down on one knee to ask his girlfriend of six years Dani Willis to marry him.

Eight years later, their whirlwind romance has led them back to the Big Apple.

It’s a move that has seen the lawyer and the superstar batsman step away from the spotlight of the Aussie sport, and with Smith’s recent move away from One Day International (ODI) cricket we may hear even less from the power couple.

While they now appear to be building a life thousands of kilometres away from home, their love story started in a quintessentially Aussie setting – at a Sydney bar during the inaugural season of the Big Bash League in 2011.

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At the time, Smith was playing for the Sydney Sixers and Wilson was pursuing a law and commerce degree at Macquarie University.

From that moment on the pair were inseparable.

While Wilson graduated her degree and began her career at a Sydney firm, she was also travelling the world to support Smith’s sporting endeavours. Willis was regularly spotted in the crowd for Smith’s cricket matches all over the world and they made fashion-first appearances at Cricket events.

After six years of dating, the couple found themselves on a romantic getaway in New York between tournaments when Smith decided to pop the question. Willis, of course, said ‘yes’.

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To announce the news, Willis shared a selfie of the pair on top of the iconic city. They smiled as Willis showed off her new bling. 

“The beginning of forever,” she captioned the exciting post. 

Smith shared the same photo writing, “Today I got down on one knee and Dani Willis sais YES”.

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A year later, however, Smith, who was captain of the Australian national cricket team, became caught up in the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal historically known as Sandpapergate.

Smith was among those to receive sanctions from Cricket Australia and was replaced by Tim Pain as the team’s captain. 

Amid the scandal, rumours circulated that Smith and Willis’ wedding would be called off but thankfully for the pair, their relationship prevailed. 

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On September 15, 2018, they tied the knot in a stunning wedding ceremony at Bendooley Estates.

Alongside their family and friends, the couple’s star-studded guestlist included Australian Test cricketers Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Moises Enriques. 

Willis shared the couple’s newlywed status to Instagram with a gorgeous black and white wedding photo with the simple caption, “15.09.18”. 

Meanwhile, Smith gushed about their marriage sharing the same photo on his own Instagram. 

“Today I got to marry my best friend,” he wrote. 

“What an absolutely incredible day. Dani Willis looked unbelievably beautiful.” 

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Married life has appeared to go from strength to strength for the couple.

Willis is a lawyer by profession but has also channelled her interests into interior design and Pilates. Meanwhile, Smith returned to Test cricket with a 774-run Ashes series in 2019. 

The couple reportedly bought a $6.6 million Vaucluse home during the height of the pandemic, which they later sold in 2022 for over $12 million. 

The couple don’t share any kids and Willis told the Daily Mail in 2019 they “have no intention of starting a family anytime soon”.

However, they appear smitten with their four-legged friend Bailey, a Pomeranian x Chihuahua who has his own Instagram account with almost 5,000 followers. 

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Last year the couple made a stunning appearance at the Australian Cricket Awards together and towards the end of last year, after celebrating their sixth wedding anniversary, Smith and Willis packed up their life and headed over to New York. 

Of the move, Willis told the Herald Sun she and Smith “have always loved New York and [they] first looked at buying a place over there in 2017.” 

“It’s just the energy drew us to New York and then you have the added benefits of just being able to go about life,” she said, alluding to the couple’s Australian fame.

While they’re living it up in the Big Apple, and with Smith’s latest retirement from ODI cricket meaning he will be making fewer on-pitch appearances, Australia will still always hold a place in their heart.  

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“Australia is always home,” she told the publication. 

“When you touch down or come back you’ve had a whole life here, so Australia is always inherently home but New York is just our base now.”

Smith has just announced his retirement from ODI cricket, following Australia’s exit from the ICC Champions Trophy. He will still be available for Australia in Test cricket and T20 internationals.

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