Simone Biles defends her NFL star husband after her fans urged her to divorce him for his podcast comments.
Simone Biles is speaking out about the negative impact her husband, Jonathan Owens', viral interview had on her. In a new episode of Call Her Daddy With Alex Cooper, 27-year-old Biles explains that during Owens' podcast chat, which the Olympian was present for, she was "feeling great." However, things took a turn once her husband's comments hit the Internet.
In the December 2023 interview on The Pivot podcast, the Green Bay Packers safety said he didn't know who Biles was when they started dating. When asked by host Ryan Clark if Owens thought he was "the catch" in his relationship with Biles, Owens replied, "I always say that the men are the catch."
The comment went viral with many calling out the NFL star for thinking he was superior to his wife, the most highly decorated gymnast in the history of the world, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
"I thought everything was OK, and then I go on Twitter and everybody's like, 'Divorce this man. He's mean!'" Biles recalled on Call Her Daddy. "I'm like, 'He's the sweetest. He praises the ground that I walk on.' Truly, I've never met a man like him."
She added of the viral comment, "He never said I wasn't a catch. He said he was a catch. Because he is!"
The Olympian said she initially found the whole situation to be "hilarious," but over time the comments got to her.
"I thought it was hilarious what all these people were saying, 'Divorce him, divorce him'… I thought it was hilarious at first and then it hurt my feelings," she admitted. "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, you know he's the sweetest guy, will do anything for anybody.' That really hurt that they were talking about my husband like that. For me, it's like, talk about me all you want, but don't come for my family, never."
Biles is well aware of her husband's bravado, saying that when they first met on the celebrity dating site Raya, he insisted that he was good at "everything."
"He could do everything, and that cracked me up about him. So I couldn't wait to meet him so I could be like, 'You're not funny. You're not a good cook,'" she quipped. "I just thought that was funny, and I thought that was cute that he thought he was good at everything."
The veteran athlete said she hopes to bring Owens with her to the 2024 Paris Olympics for several reasons, but one is an ego check.
"I'm excited for him to see the Olympics because football's not in the Olympics and he always says it's the hardest sport, it's universal. So, why is it not in the Olympics?" she joked.
Biles felt an instant connection with Owens, whom she married in 2023.
"The first time I met him I came home from our date and said, 'I'm going to marry him.' I don't know why I said that. I don't know what it is. But I just felt something," she shared.
Shortly after they tied the knot, Owens signed with the Green Bay Packers, making their relationship long distance for the first time.
"Now he's back home. Now we're getting into the groove of things," Biles shared. "I think that's what is so nice about our relationship is we get to focus on our sports, respectively, and then we get to focus on each other."
Biles has previously made some pointed comments and posts on social media, but this interview marks one of the first times she has really spoken about her husband's viral remarks.
In an interview with Vanity Fair in January, Biles spoke about her husband's confidence.
"He truly believes he's the best at everything," she said at the time.
After a public struggle at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Biles spoke with ET during her Gold Over America Tour, a.k.a "GOAT Tour," in September 2021.
"Overwhelming amount of love and support of outreach of fans, family and it's just been insane," Biles admitted. "I've definitely taken that with like a grain of salt, because a lot of other things can shift and happen, so I'm just very blessed to still be in this position and to have so many people reaching out, showing love and respect for me. It shines a whole new light on the sport and ourselves as not just an athlete, but as a human."
"It just teaches you that it's okay, at the end of the day you are human," she continued. "Stuff like this happens all the time, and they're gonna love and support you no matter what, and that's what they showed."
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