Jonathan Owens wasn’t fazed by the backlash to him referring to himself as “the catch” in his relationship with wife Simone Biles.
“I have all my social media notifications off, so I didn’t even know for a while,” Owens, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly of the public response while promoting his partnership with GoodSport. “I was actually with my mom and Simone whenever it came out, so, all the comments and everything, I just let them read it. I try to stay off of it, and obviously if you feel like stuff is kind of getting out of hand, that’s when you reach in and say something.”
The NFL athlete added that there’s no winning when it comes to responding to trolls.
“I don’t mean to cuss, but like, damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” he said. “If you say something, they’re going to say something; if you don’t say something, they’re going to say something. So, just live your life. People are going to talk about you anyway, so you might as well do it the way you want to.”
Owens raised eyebrows after revealing during a December 2023 appearance on “The Pivot” podcast that he didn’t know who Biles, 27, was when they met via Raya in 2020. He was then asked whether he considered himself “the catch” in the pair’s marriage, to which he replied, “I always say that the men are the catch.” Owens further shared that he “was afraid to commit” at first, but Biles won him over.
Some fans took issue with Owens’ comments about the most decorated gymnast in history. Biles, however, defended her husband during an April appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“I was in the room. … They even panned over to me with that viral moment, and I just rolled my eyes and laughed,” the Olympic gold medalist said, noting that she felt “great” about Owens’ interview before the public outcry. “He never said I wasn’t a catch. He said he was a catch. … He praises the ground that I walk on. Truly, I’ve never met a man like him.”
Although Biles admitted she started to feel “really hurt” by the public’s perception of her husband, Owens told Us that the twosome try not to worry about online discourse.
“Our biggest thing is, we know that those people don’t know us from a can of paint,” he said. “I can’t base how I feel off how another person thinks I’m supposed to be. … Everyone has a voice, but we do a good job of tuning it out. But sometimes you have to express yourself and let people know, like, ‘You’re in the wrong.’”
Owens added that he and Biles “focus on each other” when the external voices get loud. “They don’t know everything that goes on in our relationship. As long as we stay tight and our bond stays strong, we’re unbreakable,” he said.
The football player and Biles tied the knot in April 2023 after announcing their engagement the previous year. The two athletes cheer each other on whenever they can. Owens is hoping to make the trip to Paris this summer to watch Biles compete in the 2024 Olympics even though it coincides with the 2024 NFL training camp and preseason.
“Still got some stuff to figure out with the team, but hopefully everyone understands. Obviously I would love to be out there and support my wife,” Owens said. “I haven’t missed a competition yet this year just because I like going out there and watching and everything. And I definitely will say I’m a gymnastics guy now.”
As Owens gears up for another season with the Chicago Bears, he’s grateful to have found GoodSport, a sports drink with only natural ingredients.
“I could really feel a difference in my performance. I really felt replenished and hydrated, ” he told Us while recalling his first experience with GoodSport during training camp in 2023. Owens sought out a partnership with the company himself after realizing that the beverage helped with his cramping problem.
“I’ve always been a major cramper. Whenever it would get to the second half [of the game], I would feel it in my calves, my fingers would start cramping. And anyone knows cramping is a product of dehydration,” he said. “I just really found out that GoodSport really helped me and gave me my peak performance.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
