Simone Biles & Jonathan Owens Seemingly Respond To Podcast Backlash

Simone Biles may be the most decorated gymnast of all time, but her husband, Jonathan Owens, claims he had no idea who she was when they first matched on the Raya dating app in 2020. After the NFL player recounted the early days of their relationship on The Pivot podcast, his divisive comments quickly made him and Biles a viral trending topic.

What He Said

Owens claimed that he “never really paid attention to gymnastics” and “didn’t have [the] Olympics channels” when was in college and busy with training camp. After they matched on Raya, he noticed Biles, who also participated in the interview, “had a bunch of followers” on Instagram. “So in my mind I’m like, ‘OK, she’s gotta be good,’” the Green Bay Packers safety explained.

According to Owens, who was playing for the Houston Texans at the time, Biles is the one who messaged first and pursued him. “She came down to Houston. She lived in the suburbs, so she had to drive about 45 minutes to me,” he shared. “Then the rest is history.”

Indeed, Biles and Owens got married at a Houston courthouse in April, followed by a second celebration in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, shortly afterward.

However, Owens ruffled more feathers when he referred to himself as the “catch” in the relationship. “I always say that the men are the catch,” he said, adding he “was afraid to commit” at the time.

Fans Were Divided

The backlash on X (formerly Twitter) was swift. “Bro I’ve never watched tennis, basketball, swimming or F1 in my life and I still know who Roger Federer, Lebron James, Michael Phelps, and Lewis Hamilton are . . . can we pls be fr,” one user wrote.

Others suggested Owens ask Serena Williams’ husband, Alex Ohanian, “how to be a good husband to a GOAT athlete,” or that he should take cues from “the way Travis Kelce speaks about Taylor Swift,” instead.

Still, plenty others defended the couple. “Y’all think y’all can experience someone’s whole relationship from a 30 second clip?” one fan asked, while another noted that they are “clearly happy together . . . but leave it to total strangers on here to get irrationally invested and upset.”

Simone & Jonathan Are “Unbothered”

Amid the chatter, Owens seemingly responded by posting a carousel of Instagram photos of him and Biles on Dec. 21. “Unbothered,” he captioned the post, adding a laughing-crying and red heart emoji. “Just know we locked in over here.”

Biles, for her part, shared Owens’ post to her own Instagram Stories, adding another silly couple’s shot, which she captioned “mood,” to her grid. She also commented on her husband’s post with crossed fingers and kiss mark emojis, writing, “for life.”

After all, she has good reason to tune out the noise: Biles was just named AP Female Athlete of the Year for the third time.