
Declan Cleary: Age, Relationship with Sarah Todd, and Family
Few reality-TV moments stir up as much post-season curiosity as two contestants who find love while the cameras are still rolling. Declan Cleary and Sarah Todd went public in June 2025 (per Daily Mail (UK entertainment desk)) after months of quiet speculation about their MasterChef Australia connection. The verified timeline, the reported age gap, and the parts that remain guesswork all deserve a closer look before the next headline writes itself.
Age difference: ~11 years, Sarah Todd older (Mabumbe (lifestyle blog)) ·
Relationship status: Together, per latest reports (Now To Love (Australian celebrity outlet)) ·
Children: Twin daughters Claudia and Charlotte (Yahoo Lifestyle Australia (entertainment portal)) ·
Known for: MasterChef Australia appearances (Coast Monitor (celebrity profile site))
Quick snapshot
- Declan and Sarah confirmed their relationship after meeting on MasterChef Australia (Now To Love (Australian celebrity outlet)).
- The couple share twin daughters, reported as Claudia and Charlotte (Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
- Declan is a father figure to Sarah’s son Phoenix (Daily Mail (fatherhood coverage)).
- Exact birth dates and the true size of the age gap.
- The details of Declan’s reported prior relationship with Talya.
- Whether the 2026 slowdown in shared photos means a split or just privacy.
- Exact date and place of birth for the twins.
- The couple met while filming MasterChef Australia (Now To Love NZ (New Zealand celebrity outlet)).
- December 2025: twin daughters reported born (New Idea (Australian women’s weekly)).
- Signal to watch: whether shared couple photos resume in 2026. (Now To Love NZ (New Zealand celebrity outlet))
- The next milestone is most likely to surface on Sarah or Declan’s own feeds; the twins’ update was shared as a family post (Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
- Earlier reports said the pair began living together within months of meeting (Now To Love (Australian celebrity outlet)).
Ten rows of biography, one pattern: nearly every figure below is a reported estimate rather than an official record.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Declan Cleary |
| Occupation | Chef, builder, TV personality (Coast Monitor (celebrity profile site)) |
| Known for | MasterChef Australia 2023 run and the “fish guy” persona (Now To Love (Australian celebrity outlet)) |
| Reported age in 2025 | 27 (Coast Monitor (celebrity profile site)) |
| Partner | Sarah Todd, chef and restaurateur (Now To Love) |
| Partner’s reported birth date | 26 October 1987 (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)) |
| Reported age difference | ~11 years, Sarah older (Mabumbe) |
| Children | Twin daughters, reported names Claudia and Charlotte (Yahoo Lifestyle AU) |
| Sarah’s older son | Phoenix (TheCityCeleb (celebrity biography database)) |
| Living arrangement | Reportedly living together within months of meeting (Now To Love (Australian celebrity outlet)) |
Are Declan and Sarah from MasterChef still together?
Current relationship status
- Declan Cleary and Sarah Todd publicly confirmed their romantic relationship after meeting on the MasterChef Australia set (Now To Love).
- The couple went public in June 2025 after months of keeping the relationship private during filming (Daily Mail).
- Within months of meeting, the pair were reported to have begun living together (Now To Love).
So the short answer is yes — as of the most substantive reporting, they are still together. The longer answer comes with a 2026 footnote: Daily Mail coverage noted that the couple had stopped sharing photos of each other online, a change that triggered split speculation. Neither Sarah nor Declan has publicly addressed it.
What this means: the “are they together” question now turns on silence, not on any confirmed break-up. The co-parenting coverage remains the most recent detailed account of the relationship.
Birth of their twin daughters
- Entertainment coverage linked the couple to baby news shortly after the romance became public (Now To Love NZ).
- The twins’ arrival was confirmed through a family update in December 2025 (New Idea).
- Reports named the twin daughters Claudia and Charlotte (Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
At that point the couple’s story shifted: it was no longer a behind-the-scenes romance but a family-building narrative. Sarah already had a son, Phoenix, from a previous relationship (TheCityCeleb (celebrity biography database)), and Daily Mail described Declan as stepping into a father-figure role for Phoenix once the relationship became public (Daily Mail (fatherhood coverage)).
The pattern: every family milestone has arrived in a single media wave, followed by quiet until the next update.
Public appearances together
- During filming, the couple kept their relationship out of the spotlight (Daily Mail).
- After going public, they largely appeared together through social posts and family-update stories (Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
- By 2026, shared photos had become rarer, which fed split speculation.
The practical read: their public image was built through their own accounts, so a quieter feed is a real change — but it is not evidence of a break-up. Without a direct statement from either of them, “still together” remains the best-supported answer.
The takeaway: no confirmed split, no official statement, and a family story that still points to co-parenting. The honest status is “together, as far as the record shows.”
What is the age difference between Sarah Todd and Declan?
Sarah Todd’s age
- Wikipedia lists Sarah Todd’s birth date as 26 October 1987, making her the older partner in the relationship (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)).
- Daily Mail coverage in 2025 described her as 38 (Daily Mail).
- Her MasterChef Australia history includes a 2014 appearance and a later return in 2022 (Now To Love).
Sarah’s public record is long enough to pin down a general age range, but there is a caveat: the Wikipedia entry is the most precise figure available and is not independently confirmed by an official biography.
Declan Cleary’s age
- Declan was reported as 27 years old in 2025 (Coast Monitor).
- A confirmed date of birth has not surfaced in the available coverage.
The missing date of birth matters more than it looks. Without it, Declan’s age — and therefore the age gap — is an estimate, not a verified data point.
Calculated difference
- Mabumbe’s report puts the age difference at 11 years, with Sarah Todd older (Mabumbe).
- Arithmetic from the reported 2025 ages — 38 and 27 — lands in the same range.
The cleanest summary: most coverage points to a gap of roughly 11 years, but the honest label is “reported, not confirmed.” If either age is off by a year or two, the headline gap moves with it.
The 11-year gap is arithmetic from two reported ages, not an official record. Headlines that present it as certain are overstating what the sources actually show.
The implication: the age-gap question is a reminder that celebrity data often comes from calculations, not confirmations. The difference between 10 and 12 years is a detail no source has verified against birth records.
Was Declan Cleary married before Sarah?
Previous marriage to Talya
- Biographical profiles describe Declan as previously married to a woman named Talya; no major outlet has published independent confirmation.
- Talya is not a public figure, and almost no records of the marriage appear in entertainment coverage.
This is the murkiest part of Declan’s backstory. Because he entered the public eye only when MasterChef attention arrived — Now To Love reported his 2023 contestant run — his earlier life was never scrutinised the way Sarah’s career has been.
Timeline of the relationship
- What little coverage exists places the Talya relationship before Declan’s MasterChef appearances; it reportedly ended before he became a TV personality.
- Declan met Sarah while working on MasterChef Australia, per Now To Love NZ.
There is no public record of when Declan married Talya or how long the marriage lasted. The sequence that matters for fans — Talya before the fame, Sarah after — comes from biography summaries rather than court records or direct interviews.
Divorce or separation
- No divorce dates, proceedings, or legal details have been reported.
- Coverage describes the split as low-drama, but that description is itself second-hand.
In practical terms, the answer to “how did it end” is simply: we don’t know. A private person who never sought fame gets to keep his history private, and no outlet has dug past the two-line summary.
Readers looking for detail on Declan’s first marriage will come up empty — not because reporters hid something, but because he was not famous when it happened. His documented biography effectively starts in 2023.
The takeaway: the most defensible statement is “reportedly married before, to a woman named Talya.” Everything beyond that is biography by rumour.
Who is the father of Sarah Todd’s children?
Declan Cleary as father
- Declan is the father of Sarah’s two youngest children, the twins, per the family-update coverage (Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
- Daily Mail described Declan as a father figure to Sarah’s son Phoenix after the relationship became public (Daily Mail).
- Phoenix is Sarah’s child from a previous relationship (TheCityCeleb).
As reported, the family unit is blended: Sarah’s son Phoenix plus the twins the couple welcomed together. Declan’s role is clear on paper — father to the twins, father figure to Phoenix — but the couple has not discussed the details of that dynamic publicly.
Birth story details
- New Idea reported that the twins arrived in December 2025 (New Idea).
- Yahoo Lifestyle Australia’s family update described them as identical daughters named Claudia and Charlotte (Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
- The exact date and place of birth have not been confirmed by the couple directly.
The birth coverage traces back to a single thread: one family update, picked up by New Idea and Yahoo Lifestyle Australia. The names Claudia and Charlotte come from that same thread, which is why responsible write-ups call them reported rather than confirmed.
Children’s names (if known)
- Reported names for the twins: Claudia and Charlotte (Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
- Sarah’s older son is Phoenix, whose name has appeared in profile coverage for years (TheCityCeleb).
A useful distinction: Phoenix’s name has been reported across multiple profiles over several years, while the twins’ names rest on the recent birth reporting. Both are presented as accurate, but the twins’ names have a much shorter paper trail.
What happened to Declan Cleary and Talya?
Relationship history
- Profiles describe Talya as Declan’s partner before his MasterChef fame; no outlet has dated the relationship precisely.
- Declan’s public story, as told through coverage, begins with meeting Sarah on the MasterChef set (Now To Love NZ).
The honest reconstruction is short: Declan was reportedly with Talya in his pre-TV life. How they met, how long they were together, and when it ended are details that simply do not appear in the available reporting.
Reasons for the split
- Available summaries describe the end of the relationship as amicable, with no public drama reported.
- No interview or social media post from either party explains the split.
The reason matters to fans mainly because it bears on Declan’s character. The absence of any messy public record is, in itself, a mild signal: in celebrity terms, a quiet split with no mud-slinging is the rare default.
Current relationship between them
- Talya has stayed outside public life; no current connection to Declan has been reported.
- Declan’s public focus, per the latest family coverage, is his household with Sarah and the children (New Idea).
As far as the record shows, Declan and Talya went their separate ways cleanly. The only trace left is the occasional “ex-wife” mention in profile roundups — and none of those mentions adds detail beyond the label.
The pattern: every question about Talya hits the same wall. There was no drama, no interviews, no legal case — and therefore no story. That absence is the story.
Timeline: key events in Declan and Sarah’s story
- — Declan reportedly enters MasterChef Australia as a Season 15 contestant (Now To Love).
- — The romance goes public after months of privacy during filming (Daily Mail).
- — Twin daughters, Claudia and Charlotte, reported born (New Idea; Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
- — Shared couple photos taper off, prompting split speculation (Daily Mail).
Read as a whole, the timeline is compact: roughly three years from Declan’s reported TV debut to fatherhood. The gaps — a missing wedding date for Talya, missing birthdays for both adults — are as informative as the entries.
The next signal will come from Sarah or Declan’s own feed, not from a tabloid. Until one of them posts, every “update” is a recycling of the same small set of reports.
The pattern: each milestone arrives in a single wave of coverage, then goes quiet until the next family post. That is why the timeline reads more like an outline than a biography.
Confirmed facts vs. what’s unclear
Confirmed facts
- Declan and Sarah are in a relationship, confirmed publicly in 2025 (Now To Love).
- They have twin daughters, reported as Claudia and Charlotte (Yahoo Lifestyle AU; New Idea).
- Declan is a father figure to Sarah’s son Phoenix (Daily Mail).
- Sarah is a chef, restaurateur, model, and television personality (Wikipedia).
What’s unclear
- Exact birth dates for Declan — and therefore the true age gap.
- The full history of Declan’s reported prior relationship with Talya.
- Whether the 2026 slowdown in shared photos reflects a break-up or just privacy.
- Whether Declan’s 2023 season was his first MasterChef appearance; that detail rests on a single report.
- The twins’ exact date and place of birth.
The balance is deliberate: the unclear column matches the confirmed one. Readers should treat the confirmed list as the floor — and the unclear list as proof of how much of this story rests on a handful of outlets.
What the coverage says
A theme runs through the reporting: short, sourced bursts of news, followed by long stretches of silence.
“Declan Cleary and Sarah Todd were said to have met while filming MasterChef Australia: Back To Win.”
“The pair stopped sharing photos of each other online in 2026, prompting questions about whether the relationship had cooled.”
“Declan became a father figure to Sarah Todd’s son after the relationship became public.”
The through-line: these are the most repeated lines about the couple, and together they cover nearly everything the public actually knows about the relationship.
For Australian reality-TV audiences, the Declan Cleary and Sarah Todd story is a case study in how quickly relationship news becomes family news — and then becomes rumour. The verified core is small but solid: a confirmed romance, a blended family, and a timeline measured in months rather than years. For anyone following the couple, the honest takeaway is to treat the age gap and the Talya narrative as reported estimates, not biography. For Melbourne’s celebrity media, the choice is just as clear: keep recycling the same handful of reports, or wait for the couple to post something new.
Related reading: More fact-checked profiles of TV personalities: Nick DiGiovanni: Fact vs Fiction on Net Worth & Career · Dr. Chris Brown Vet: Bio, Relationship, Career & News
Frequently asked questions
How did Declan Cleary become a chef?
His pre-MasterChef career was as a tradie and builder, a background Coast Monitor’s profile describes alongside his turn as a contestant (Coast Monitor (celebrity profile site)). The show gave him a national platform, and fan coverage tagged him as the “fish guy.”
What is Declan Cleary’s signature dish?
No signature dish has been widely reported. His public identity is tied to the “fish guy” persona from MasterChef Australia, but neither he nor the show has published an official signature recipe.
Does Declan Cleary have any other children besides the twins?
No reports document other children. His public family story centres on the twins with Sarah Todd and his father-figure role with Sarah’s son Phoenix (Daily Mail (fatherhood coverage)).
Where does Declan Cleary live?
He is based in Australia, where the couple were reported to have begun living together within months of meeting (Now To Love (Australian celebrity outlet)). A specific address has not been published.
Is Declan Cleary active on other social media platforms?
Instagram (@declancleary) is his main public hub, and profile aggregators also list Facebook and TikTok pages under his name. Family updates have appeared mainly through his and Sarah’s social feeds (Yahoo Lifestyle AU).
What happened to Declan Cleary after MasterChef?
He went public with Sarah Todd, became a father figure to her son Phoenix, and welcomed twins — turning his post-show life into the bigger story (Now To Love; Daily Mail; New Idea).
Does Declan Cleary still cook professionally?
Profiles continue to describe him as a chef and builder, but no restaurant or head-chef role has been reported under his name (Coast Monitor). His cooking identity remains tied to MasterChef Australia.