Connor McDavid’s wife Lauren talks about Oilers’ superstar’s ketchup fears
Connor McDavid fearlessly skates past defensemen, but his infamous bigger fear seems to be ketchup, despite the amount of sauce he might put on his passes.
His ketchup phobia first made headlines in 2024 as part of Amazon’s FACEOFF: Inside the NHL series, and led to Heinz Ketchup poking fun at the Edmonton Oilers superstar afterwards. In an interview with NHL on TNT, McDavid addressed the saucy question as well:
“The ketchup thing is a funny thing,” McDavid said in October 2024. “My brother and I both just grew up that way. It’s more of a phobia. I wish I could tell you more.”
McDavid’s wife, Lauren, revealed more about the ketchup phobia recently on an episode of the Never Offside podcast hosted by Julie Petry at Cat Toffoli, the wives of NHLers Jeff Petry and Tyler Toffoli. McDavid and Lauren Kyle were married in the summer of 2024, after being together for more than a decade.
However, little is known about Connor’s private life, outside of his ketchup phobia.
Lauren said that McDavid is aware of the memes and finds them funny, but that the factor hasn’t helped him tackle his fears.
“He’s never even tried it, to be honest,” Lauren said. “If I’m having it with a meal, I have to get it from the fridge; he will not put it back in the fridge or touch the bottle. It has to be at the other end…
“He’s seen [the fans dressing up as ketchup], and I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry I exposed you on that show… He does think it’s funny, and he’s still afraid of ketchup; he won’t have it.”
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The episode also featured Lauren revealing several other aspects about McDavid, who signed a two-year deal to stay in Edmonton last summer, saying that he has embraced chess on his phone and the two are fans of the TV series, Survivor.
While McDavid may have a phobia of ketchup, his bigger phobia may be the potential of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a factor the two-time defending Western Conference champion Oilers are looking to avoid, sitting fourth in the Pacific Division after 30 games in 2025-26.