Mick Fanning’s ex wife Karissa Dalton: Inside her life following their split

Mick Fanning split from his wife Karissa Dalton in early 2016 following seven years of marriage. 

And life has certainly changed for Karissa in the years since parting ways from the 39-year-old surfing champion. 

The 33-year-old founder of bridal website The Lane officially moved on from her marriage in 2018 when she found love with Ryan Bienefelt, a carpenter based on Sydney’s northern beaches.  

The pair went public with their romance in August 2018 during a ski trip to Queenstown, New Zealand, posting loved-up photos of each other on their respective Instagram accounts.  

Prior to dating Karissa, Ryan had been in a relationship with pop-star Imbruglia from 2016 to 2017. 

In September 2018, Ryan announced that Karissa was pregnant with her first child by uploading a photo of his pregnant girlfriend to Instagram, which showed the beauty cradling her bump in a black slip dress. 

Karissa gave birth to a baby girl on January 5 this year, naming her Veía Valentina.  

Shortly after her arrival, Karissa shared a gorgeous black and white photo of the bub sleeping peacefully at the couple’s Byron Bay home.

She added a quote by Australian artist and writer, Tess Guinery: ‘Sometimes we get given the opportunity to make a brave choice. A choice, to surrender the things that have been great, in exchange for greater. 

‘It’s here a soulful, lively, heart out of chest, tears on cheeks, I’m alive kind of passion lives – it lives just around the corner, from surrender’s bend.’ 

Over the past few months Karissa and Ryan have shared several baby pictures of Veía.  

On Mother’s Day, Ryan paid tribute to Karissa by sharing a sweet tribute to her on Instagram. 

‘Thank you for bringing us the most precious gift of all. We love you. Happy Mother’s Day ❤️,’ he wrote.  

Karissa has also been kicking goals in her professional life in the four years since her split from Mick. 

As the founder and creative director of bridal website The Lane, Karissa spends her days travelling across the globe attending glamorous photo shoots. 

Last year, she travelled to Italy and stayed inside the ancient caves of Matera while working on a glossy editorial shoot for The Lane.

Karissa, who was six months pregnant at the time, recently driving around loose cliff edges while travelling to the location of a photo shoot in Italy. 

‘A shoot I won’t forget… didn’t quite realise shooting here would mean driving around loose cliff edges (6 months pregnant), reversing right to the very edges to get a run up for the next corner!’ she wrote on Instagram on May 8. 

In July 2018, she travelled to New Mexico with close friend Pia Miller, who posed in the local sand dunes for another bridal photo shoot. 

She also visited the Maldives in September 2018, before jetting to Yucatan, Mexico in January 2019. 

Meanwhile, Mick and his new fiancee, Breeana Randal, welcomed their son Xander Dean Fanning, three weeks ago.  

Mick announced his engagement and baby news with Breeana in February.  

‘This beautiful woman has stolen my heart and I’m so excited to create a beautiful family with her. Bub is due in August,’ he wrote at the time.   

Karissa and Mick met in 2004 and married in 2008, before calling it quits in early 2016.

Mick’s marriage split followed a tough six months for the three-time world champion, in which he fought off a shark while competing in South Africa, followed shortly afterwards by the sudden death of his brother Peter in late 2015. 

It was the second death he’d experienced in his immediate family after his older brother Sean died in a car accident in 1998.

‘That was the one that just floored me. I was like ‘what else? What else can be taken in a year?’ At the end of 2015, I just hit rock bottom,’ he told 60 Minutes on Sunday night.