On April 22, 2023, gymnastics legend Simone Biles married professional football player Jonathan Owens. The papers all but touted the pair as the athletic power couple of the decade. After all, Owens had played for major NFL teams like the Green Bay Packers, and Biles is arguably the best gymnast of all times.
The dynamic duo said “I do” in a romantic destination wedding in Cabo, Mexico. Dressed in a stunning Galia Lahav ballroom gown, Biles looked like a bride straight out of the pages of a fairy tale. She would later tell Vogue, “I went with my gut feeling and what I felt the most beautiful in.” She later added, “I was nervous about having a ball gown because I’m so petite — but it works perfect. The leg slit was very crucial. It was to add, in my head, more length to my body. I think this is exactly how brides are supposed to feel: luxurious, beautiful, kind of on top of the world.”
Despite Biles’ princess bride energy, not everybody has supported her marriage. In the months since Biles and Owens tied the knot, hundreds of the gymnastics’ fans have taken to social media to express their doubts regarding the match. In their view, Biles and Owens’ marriage is full of red flags. And no matter how much the couple has tried to defend their relationship, certain fans remain convinced that things between Biles and Owens are not as magical as they insist.
Jonathan Owens told podcasters he didn’t initially know who Simone Biles was
Back in 2021, when Jonathan Owens and Simone Biles were still dating, a red flag emerged in the couple’s relationship. Owens sat down with Texas Monthly and told the magazine that he didn’t know who Biles was until he matched with her on Raya. “I didn’t know who she was. I just hadn’t heard of her,” the NFL player revealed.
At that point in time, Biles was an experienced Olympian who had earned multiple medals for Team USA. In fact, she had already won gold in the women’s all-around gymnastics competition at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In those same games, she had also earned a gold medal on the vault, a gold on the floor, and a bronze medal on the balance beam. Her contribution was considered key to helping Team USA bring home the all-around gold.
To be clear, there was nothing inherently wrong with Owens not knowing a lot about Biles. However, his ignorance was a strange thing to bring up in an interview. Depending on one’s perspective, his words might have come across as a slight, almost as if to imply that Biles wasn’t that famous. In reality, though, Biles was a household name — whether Owens knew who she was or not. Luckily for the NFL player, though, Biles didn’t mind his words. Owens said that his lack of info was “one of the things she liked.”
Jonathan Owens said he wasn’t instantly interested in Simone Biles
Shortly after Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens matched on Raya, the two started talking. However, it wasn’t Owens who instantly recognized that he had matched with the woman of his dreams. Actually, the NFL player initially shrugged off the match. Speaking on “The Pivot Podcast” in 2023, the football player recalled, “I swiped her, and it said we matched. So, I’m like, ‘Oh okay. I’mma see what’s up.’ So, I go do my workout, and I come back and I have some likes on my Instagram.” The likes in question were from Biles. But, rather than message her, Owens took a shower.
Undeterred, Biles slid into Owens’ DMs. From there, they started chatting, and things took off. Oddly, though, Owens felt the need to tell interviewers Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder that he wouldn’t have pursued Biles without a push. Owens said, “If she wouldn’t have messaged me, chances were, I probably wouldn’t … I probably would have just … [My] mind would have went somewhere else and wouldn’t have thought to, you know, [reach out].”
Immediately after Owens made this commend, Crowder rushed to put the NFL player in his place. “This man’s [Owens] a hell of a safety. He will never be as good as a safety as this little motherf****er here is as a gymnasts,” the podcaster said.
