Mary Fowler and Nathan Cleary appear to have quietly debuted each other on their respective Instagram accounts.
Months of speculation around the pair’s romance was put to bed when they were snapped cuddling up in a Perth park in November.
Cleary was also pictured picking Fowler up from Sydney airport in December on return home from the UK, where she plays for Manchester City.
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But despite the obvious giveaways littered throughout the past few months, neither Fowler nor Clear have publicly confirmed their relationship status.
Not explicitly anyway.
In recent days, both have appeared to ‘soft launch’ each other with subtle features on their social media accounts.
On Tuesday, Fowler posted a series of photos, captioned “R&R”, including one in which she can be seen through the reflection of the window on a balcony that overlooks a beach.
On closer inspection, a male figure that looks like Cleary also appears in the reflection, wrapping his arms around Fowler from behind.
Cleary himself posted a series of photos, presumably taken from his Christmas and New Year period, in which Fowler appears to feature.
Though her face is not shown, the distinct cross tattoo on Fowler’s left hand clearly features in one of the photos.
Another photo shows Cleary resting his head on a pair of legs while lying on the beach, but there is no way of confirming they are Fowler’s — though it looks that way.
Fans jumped all over the minor details in the Cleary’s post.
“THE SOFT LAUNCH,” one wrote.
“@maryfowlerrr😍WE LOVE TO SEE IT,” another said.
“Soft launch era,” a third said.
Fowler was asked about Cleary in her most recent press conference, to which she responded by ending the presser immediately.
Notwithstanding that, Fowler still gave an incredible insight — before the elephant in the room ended things — into how it felt to be front and centre on the Matildas’ rollercoaster last year, which included making the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup and 11-straight sellouts on home soil.
“When you start out, you don’t really think too much about these things,” she said.
“I never would have thought that I’d get the opportunities that I do now, but as I’ve got more opportunities being out in the spotlight a bit more, it’s made me realise the kind of responsibilities that you have to all these people that are watching you.
“I’ve always thought that the biggest way for me to inspire someone is for me being myself, so that’s what I do when I’m out there.
“I try to be genuine, and if that makes someone want to go after a dream or smile, then that would make me happy.”
