Owens defended his claim on a Vanity Fair exclusive where Biles is on the cover
In a recent Vanity Fair cover story, Jonathan Owens, husband of gymnastics legend Simone Biles, addressed the persistent disbelief surrounding his claim that he had “no clue” who Biles was when they first connected on the exclusive dating app Raya.
Jonathan Owens continues to claim that he had “no clue” who Simone Biles was. https://t.co/YQ8QI4UeMk pic.twitter.com/9lDiSEqGm0
— E! News (@enews) January 10, 2024
Owens claims he didn’t follow gymnastics
Owens insists that, at the time they met on the app, he was focused on a training camp at his alma mater, Missouri Western State University, and was oblivious to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics where Biles achieved iconic success.
“I never once was like, ‘Oh, let me check gymnastics out,'” he explained.
Owens quickly caught up on Biles’ achievements when he found her on Instagram.
“I was like, ‘Man, she got a lot of followers; she must be pretty good,'” he told Vanity Fair.
The NFL safety faced skepticism when he previously claimed ignorance during a joint podcast appearance with Biles in December.
“When she won the Olympics, I was in college, and we didn’t have NBC… So I’m not paying attention,” he said on The Pivot podcast.
Owens & Biles connected during the pandemic
The couple, whose relationship blossomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, spent quarantine getting to know each other.
They shared moments of laughter, sangria, movies, and games.
Owens reminisced about the early days, saying, “I just noticed her laugh. It was just contagious.”
Owens’ confidence, highlighted by his claim that he was “the catch” in their relationship, stirred controversy on social media.
“I always say that the men are the catch,” Owens said, after he was asked if he considered himself the “catch” in his relationship with Biles.
Grilled on “How in the hell did you pull Simone Biles?”, Owens said on the podcast “It’s really how she pulled me, man, that’s the question.”
Despite the public scrutiny, Owens and Biles remain steadfast in their love.
As Biles shared a wedding-day photo on her Instagram with the caption “Mood,” she addressed critics with a post on X, saying, “Are y’all done yet?”
