NFL player Jonathan Owens is opening up about how he met Simone Biles on a dating app without knowing about her gymnastic achievements.
Despite her status as the most decorated gymnast, Owens initially had no idea who she was.
According to Owens, he initially met her on the dating app Raya in 2020.
“So literally, had been on the app for a couple of days, man, and it’s like she pops up and I’m like, ‘Let me see who this is’ … I had never really paid attention to gymnastics, so it piqued my curiosity,” Owens said on The Pivot podcast.
He then stated that he matched with Biles after swiping right. Shortly after his gym workout session, he noticed that Biles had found his Instagram account.
“I go do my workout and I come back and I have some likes on my Instagram,” he said, laughing. He added that Biles later messaged him to say, “hey.”
“‘Man, this gotta be fake,’” Owens recalled thinking. “I didn’t know who she was at the time. But like, the first thing that I saw was that she just had a bunch of followers. So in my mind I’m like, ‘OK, she’s got to be good.’”
A few days later, the future couple began texting before meeting each other for the first time in Houston.
The football pro noted that Biles initially put more effort into making their romance happen.
“I was fighting it,” he said. “I was afraid to commit. I’m like, ‘Agh, man, this is my third year (as an NFL pro). It’s kind of early.’”
That all changed once they started spending time together. “We hung out, man, it was like we hit it off instantly,” Owens gushed. “You know, we just laughed the whole night.”
During the interview, Owens was asked if he ever told Biles that he didn’t know who she was.
“My question to her was, ‘Who is your competition?’” Owens recalled before adding, “She told me, ‘Myself.’ That’s the most vivid memory I have of that.”
Owens realized that Biles was “the real deal” when the pair were out in public.
“It was all these moms and they’re there with their kids and we walked past and everybody stopped and just —” said Owens.
“Kids were just shaking, like, ‘Oh, my God.’”
The host went on to tease Owens about being the least known athlete and said that he was “lucky” that Biles “took a chance” on him.
However, Biles interjected, saying: “We matched. I was just the first to message. As soon as I clicked, ‘Ooh I like him.’ It matched. So he had already liked my profile. … I wasn’t scared,” said Biles.
“Yeah, she messaged me. She wasn’t scared,” agreed Owens.
“I know what I like and I know what I want,” replied Biles confidently.
“This man is a hell of a safety. (But) he will never be as good as a safety as this little motherf—– is as a gymnast,” said Channing Crowder, gesturing to Biles.
Biles laughed and said, “You know what, he might.”
She said, “Because the other day I said, ‘You know what, in a couple of years nobody is going to call him Simone Biles’ husband. They’ll call me Jonathan Owens’ wife.”
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