Jonathan Owens recently said he’s “the catch” in his relationship with Simone Biles — despite the Olympian being the most decorated gymnast of all time. And her fans aren’t having it.
Owens, 28, and Biles, 26, both appeared on The Pivot podcast, hosted by former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder, in a wide-ranging interview that also discussed how the two athletes met.
In a clip of the podcast released on Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers safety told the hosts he met Biles on the dating app Raya.
“I didn’t know who she was at the time, but like, the first thing I saw was she’s got a bunch of followers, so in my mind, I’m like, she gotta be good,” he said.
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When pushed about how he could have possibly not heard of the multi-Olympic gold medalist, Owens said he had been busy.
“When she won the Olympics, I was in college, and we didn’t have NBC. We didn’t have Olympics channels and we’re in camp. We’re in camp in late July, early August,” he said. “So I’m not paying attention…I’m like, ‘Lemme see who this is.’ I never really paid attention to gymnastics, so it piqued my curiosity.”
After Biles messaged him on the app, the two eventually wed in April 2023 in Houston, People reports.
Clark later asked Owens: “So you was really the catch?”
“I always say the men are the catch,” Owens responded.
Owens’ response drew criticism and consternation across the internet — especially as the clip dropped the week Biles was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for the third time.
“Simone Biles’ husband is a walking red flag,” said one TikToker.
“The way this unknown man sat there and tried to humble his wife, Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, Simone Biles. In the words of Adele, ‘Divorce babes, divorce,'” said another.
One X user went all the way back in Owens’ X profile to dig up a tweet in which he proved he was at least aware of the sport (though Biles didn’t compete in the 2012 Games).
Still, there were some users on social media who seemingly defended Owens, writing: “Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens [are] clearly happy together and they can joke about how they met and initially got together but leave it to total strangers on here to get irrationally invested and upset over his comments about their relationship.”
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To be fair, Owens is not the only person to end up dating or marrying someone whom they didn’t realize was famous at the time.
Lena Dunham’s husband Luis Felber said he had to Google her before they went on a date. The singer Lily Allen just thought “Stranger Things” star David Harbour was “a sexy policeman from a reality TV show” because he’d posted a pic of himself in his Jim Hopper costume.
Despite the online backlash, Owens seems to be “unbothered” by the criticism over his comments, or at least that’s what he posted on Instagram on Friday.
“Just know we locked in over here,” he wrote.
Business Insider reached out to Owens for comment on the backlash but didn’t hear back immediately.
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