Back in December, Simone Biles and her husband, Jonathan Owens, found themselves at the center of public attention after he made some now-viral remarks about the early days of their romance.
Simone has been married to Jonathan, who plays for the NFL, since April 2023.
Even though Simone is the most decorated gymnast in history, Jonathan insisted that he had no clue who she was when they first met in 2020 on celebrity dating app Raya. “I didn't know who she was at the time, but the first thing that I saw was that she had a bunch of followers, so in my mind, I’m like, ‘She gotta be good,’” he said on The Pivot podcast.
After the podcast hosts seemed surprised by Jonathan’s revelation, the athlete explained, “When she won the Olympics, I was in college. We didn't have NBC. We didn't have Olympic channels. And we're in [football] camp in late July, early August, so I'm not really paying attention. So, I never would've had a moment where I would have watched.”
Simone was present at the interview, and when the cameras panned over to her, she could be seen giggling.
Jonathan was later asked if he felt he was “the catch” in his and Simone’s relationship, to which he said: “I always say we, the man, are the catch. I always say we the catch.”
A month after his initial comments went viral, Jonathan doubled down on his stance, telling Vanity Fair: “A lot of people don't believe me when I say I had no clue. She doesn't like to admit it, but she messaged me first.”
At the time, Simone didn’t explicitly address the backlash Jonathan was facing, though she subtly hit back at the people dragging their relationship. When Jonathan shared a photo of them captioned, “Unbothered 😂❤️ Just know we locked in over here 🤞🏽,” she commented, “🤞🏾💋 for life.”
Fast-forward to today, and Simone has addressed Jonathan’s divisive remarks head-on.
Making an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week, Simone revealed that she initially didn’t think anything of Jonathan’s now-viral comments.
Fiercely defending her husband, Simone said, “He never said I wasn’t a catch, he said he was a catch. Because he is. I’ve never met a man like him.”
“I thought everything was OK, and then I go on Twitter and everybody’s like, ‘Divorce this man. He’s mean!’” she recalled. “I’m like, ‘He’s the sweetest. He praises the ground that I walk on.’ Truly, I’ve never met a man like him. … He truly goes out of his way to do anything for me.”
When asked why she thinks internet users got so mad at Jonathan’s remarks, Simone said, “That interview had nothing to do with me. It was all for him. So, I think they were mad that he didn’t include me in the interview. But he has to have his moments, too, and I let him have it.”
“There was nothing foul about it,” she added.
Simone went on to admit that while she initially found the online discourse funny, it ended up really hurting her feelings.
“I thought it was hilarious at first, and then they hurt my feelings,” she said. “One night I broke down, and I’m like, ‘Why are you guys talking about my husband like this? You don’t know him. You don’t know who he is and if anybody’s met him, they know he’s the sweetest guy, and will do anything for anybody.'”
“That really hurt that they were talking about my husband like that. Because for me, it’s like, talk about me all you want, but don’t come for my family, never,” she said.
“You're not going to know I cried about it, but I be crying about some stuff. But I only cry about it because I can't clap back. Just know that,” she added.