Ryan Lochte is clapping back at harsh critics who are claiming that he looks “unrecognizable.”
The Olympic champion, 41, responded to the “clowns” making insults in a video posted by his girlfriend, Molly Gillihan, via Instagram on Thursday, May 14.
“My phone is blowing up with everyone saying that nobody recognizes you,” Gillihan, 37, told Lochte in the clip.
“Baby, they say that you don’t look the same at all,” she continued, adding that some people went as far as accusing the swimmer of catfishing them.
When Lochte asked Gillihan which photos fans were using to compare his current appearance against, she alluded to ones that were taken at the peak of his professional sporting career.
“Oh, so they’re taking a picture of when I was working out every day, getting makeup put on me for photo shoots, back in, like, 2012 in the Olympics. We’re in 2026,” he responded.
Lochte added sarcastically, “What’s that, 14 years? You think I aged?”
After acknowledging his hair color was different due to dyeing it, the 12-time Olympic medalist further slammed the comments.
“I mean, to be unrecognizable … I don’t get it,” he vented before concluding, “They’re all clowns, come on.”
Gillihan supported her partner during the exchange, telling him she loved him despite the taunts and thought he looked “handsome.”
Poking fun at the moment, Gillihan joked in the Instagram post’s caption, “👀 Who is this guy pretending to be my boyfriend @ryanlochte?!? 🤣🤣🤣 #unrecognizable.”
Earlier this week, Lochte shared a video via his Instagram to announce his new role, which prompted followers to claim he looked drastically different.
“Coach Ryan Lochte is heading to Missouri State University!! I am so excited to announce that I will be coaching with coach @dav_collins @missouristate!” he captioned the post. “I am so excited and beyond grateful for this opportunity!! I can’t wait to take @mostateswim to the next level! Let’s goooo bears!!!🐻.”
Followers flocked to the comments section to make remarks about Lochte’s looks.
“Literally does not look like him,” wrote one, while another added, “Took me a very long time to realize this was him talking about himself in the third person at first.”
Another joked, “Thought it was Kash Patel at first,” which Gillihan later referenced via an Instagram Story post.
Re-sharing the video of Lochte slamming the commenters as “clowns,” Gillihan quipped, “Pipe down Kash Patel!”
Lochte and Gillihan moved in together in January, seven months after the sports star and his ex Kayla Rae Reid filed for divorce.
