Loris Karius has bared all on his relationship with his famous wife, including her thoughts on the pair living in different countries.
The former Liverpool goalkeeper, 32, began dating presenter Diletta Leotta, 33, who has become known for her work with sports broadcaster DAZN, in 2022.
Just a year later and the lovebirds were welcoming their daughter, baby Aria, before tying the knot in a lavish ceremony in 2024.
And after Karius signed a contract extension keeping him at Schalke until 2027 earlier this summer, their long-distance marriage won’t be coming to an end anytime soon.
In a new interview this week, the German goalkeeper revealed Leotta’s honest thoughts about living life away from him, and the superstar couple’s plans for the future.
Loris Karius is married to Italian presenter and influencer Diletta Leotta, who he wed last year
The former Liverpool goalkeeper has opened up on the couple living apart, with him in Germany and her back in Milan
They share one child together, their daughter Aria, who they welcomed after a year of dating
He told Sport Bild: ‘Diletta even advised me to extend at Schalke. She thinks the club is great and she likes everything she has seen here so far.
‘Diletta also thinks that royal blue is the perfect choice for my sporting success. She is fully behind this decision!
‘But of course it’s hard for me when I can’t see my little daughter Aria for days. But that’s what FaceTime is for, and we see each other regularly – as often as possible.’
Karius also opened up about the possibility of him and his Italian wife welcoming a second child in the near future.
‘We would love to have a second child,’ he added.
‘We don’t know when yet. Nothing concrete is planned so far.’
Asked why neither of them had taken the other’s surname, he said: ‘Love doesn’t go that far! In Italy, it is also more common for everyone to keep their last name after the wedding.’
Karius says that Leotta is actually more famous than he is, and when they’re out on the streets of Milan, she sometimes gets noticed more than him.
Karius said that Leotta advised him to extend his contract at Schalke for a further two years
He joked that his wife is even more famous than he is
‘She is already recognised a lot,’ he joked, ‘sometimes more!’
The new interview comes after Leotta revealed last month that Karius was so overwhelmed meeting her family for the first time that he locked himself in his room and dived onto the bed to process his emotions.
Being introduced to her family in Catania, Sicily, came as a culture shock to the footballer, who struggled to come to terms with how noisy the area was.
‘It was fun to bring Loris to my house in Catania for the first time,’ Leotta told the Storie oltre le Stories podcast via Gazzetta dello Sport.
‘At a certain point during lunch – he doesn’t speak Italian, by the way – he heard all this noise.
Since leaving Merseyside, the goalkeeper has gone onto settle in Germany
‘He wasn’t used to this disaster, he said to me: “Please stop, I need a break!”
‘He went upstairs to his room, locked himself in and threw himself on the bed destroyed by life.
After a difficult period at Liverpool which saw him make a couple of crucial errors against Real Madrid in a Champions League final, Karius has got onto play for Besiktas, Union Berlin, Newcastle and now Schalke in the second tier of German football.
They narrowly avoided the drop last season however, finishing in 14th place.
