Kayaker Kayla's perfect match 'LOVE HEALED MY HEART BREAK'

The kayak world champ reveals how her partner saved her and why it's third-time lucky for her dream wedding

- Florence Hartigan

When the going gets tough, get a puppy! Kayla and rugby star Josh dote on fur baby Kobe (far right).

Third time's the charm for Olympic canoeist Kayla Imrie, who is thrilled to finally be saying "I do" after her wedding was cancelled - twice!

Kayla, who represented New Zealand at the Rio Olympics in 2016, is based in Southern France with fiancé Josh Tyrell, who plays professional rugby for Biarritz.

The happy couple are counting the days to their Kiwi wedding in July, seven and a half years after they met on New Year's Eve 2014.

"We were at a bar in Whitianga," recalls Kayla. "Josh called my name from across the room. He was so confident, I assumed I knew him!"

"We started chatting, but I couldn't place him. Eventually, I just asked him how we knew each other. He said 'Oh, we don't!" she chuckles.

Coincidentally, a mutual friend had shown 31-year-old Josh a picture of Kayla earlier that week. Josh was instantly smitten. "I thought she was beautiful it stuck with me. When all of a sudden I saw her go past me, I had to take my shot!" he grins.

"I'm marrying my stalker!" jokes Wellington-born Kayla.

At first, the paddler, who is of Whakatōhea descent, didn't take the relationship too seriously. "It started off as a summer fling. We were busy with our sporting careers and were in different cities," Kayla, 30, explains. "But it ended up developing into something way more than we thought it was going to be. He's always put me and his family first. He's my best friend."

I knew Kayla was The One when she met my parents," says Josh, who grew up in Hamilton as one of eight kids in his tight-knit Samoan family. "She even made my dad laugh! My parents were like, 'Where did you find her? What is she doing with you!"