Why Olivia Culpo Broke Her 'No Athletes Ever Again' Dating Rule for Christian McCaffrey (Exclusive)

The model and former Miss Universe opened up to ET alongside her sisters, Aurora and Sophia.

Olivia Culpo is opening up about her relationship with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and explaining why she was willing to break one of her rules -- for the better. 

The model and former Miss Universe sat down with ET's Deidre Behar along with her sisters, Aurora and Sophia, to talk all about relationships, family and their upcoming TLC series, The Culpo Sisters

Olivia and Christian first sparked romance rumors in 2019 and since then she's become a fixture in the stands at his NFL games. Before dating Christian, Olivia had some very famous exes, including athletes Ryan Lochte, Tim Tebow and Danny Amendola. 

When asked about breaking her "no athletes ever again" rule for Christian, Olivia shared that it's his family values that made him an easy choice for a partner. 

"He's just the best, I feel like he is really everything that I could ever ask for," Olivia gushed. "So I never have to worry about anything. I think that was the reason why I didn't want to date an athlete, no offense, because there is a reputation there."

Olivia continued, "He just comes from a great family. We have a lot in common in that respect. I feel like you can really tell who a person is by the people that raise them, and I just love his parents so much. They have a great relationship." 

In addition to getting along with his family and having similar values, Olivia playfully noted that Christian "has a really good head on his shoulders and he's hot too, right?"

What's more, Olivia says she and Christian are very open with each other about their future together and plan to start building a family in the next two to three years.  

"Yeah, I think every couple is going to have those conversations. I can't tell you exactly when but I wish I could," Olivia said. "I'm excited for the future. I have no exact timeline, but it will be really great." 

In addition to her relationship, Olivia has much to be excited about when it comes to her and her sisters' upcoming reality TV series. The Culpo Sisters will follow the lives, loves, family and careers of Olivia, an entrepreneur in all things fashion and business, Aurora, the family boss and a mother of two, and Sophia, the peacemaker of the group, in Los Angeles. The trio will open up their homes and hearts in an intimate, no-holds-barred and playfully entertaining way for the series.

"I feel like we've always been open books to a certain extent and our family has always been so loud, so rambunctious ... we've always taken up a lot of space as a family wherever we went," Olivia said about the decision to open up their family to the world. "And the other thing about having a big family, that's so insulating, so I feel like there's a lot of comfort with kind of just, like, knowing we're in this together and whatever happens we still have each other -- that for me makes everything feel better and more organic."

Aurora added, "And it felt safe because ultimately we love each other, we trust each other, we are each other's best friends, like, if the world doesn't like us it's not gonna hurt that bad. I feel like, you know, we've all kind of been cancelled a little bit here and there before so we know what it feels like. It's fine but, like, we're good."

As for comparisons to another famous family, the Kardashians, Olivia said they "couldn't be more different."

"Well it's so different and our parents, where we came from, this is the thing that this show highlights," she explained. "Honestly it's the juxtaposition between our life in L.A. and then where came from in Rhode Island and that's just a really special perspective that no show out there has. Our parents are quirky ... you're gonna fall in love with them but it couldn't be more different."

The Culpo Sisters premieres Nov. 7 on TLC and Discovery+. 

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