Simone Biles Was Deeply Hurt By Her Husband's Viral 'Catch' Scandal (But Not For The Reason You Think)
On an episode of "The Pivot Podcast," football player Jonathan Owens opened up about how he met his wife and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. "It's really how she pulled me, man. That's the question," the NFL player explained when asked about their love story. He went on to reveal that he didn't know who the stunningly transformed Biles was, but that the two of them matched on the exclusive dating app Raya, and Biles hit him up soon after.
When host Ryan Clark joked that Owens was the true "catch" in the situation, the football safety replied, "I always say we –- the man –- [are] the catch." He added that he was weary of committing to a relationship so early in his football career but that he and Biles ultimately hit it off. While seemingly said all in good fun, the anecdote ended up going viral, with corners of the internet indignant at the implication that Biles wasn't as desirable of a partner.
Since then, the gold medalist has opened up about how the scandal hurt her, but not because of her husband's words. "I thought it was hilarious at first, and then they hurt my feelings," Biles said about the backlash in an episode of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. "One night, I broke down, and I'm like, 'Why are you guys talking about my husband like this? Like, you don't know him, you don't know who he is.'"
Biles was surprised by the catch backlash
Following the release of the infamous podcast episode in December 2023, the internet was flooded with discourse about Jonathan Owens framing himself as a catch and stating he didn't know of Simone Biles before their relationship. "This is really odd that you would degrade your wife like this on a public platform," an Instagram commenter wrote under a clip of the podcast. "You will forever be known as Simone [B]ile's husband. You're not the catch lmao."
As they're both accomplished athletes, Biles and Owens' relationship has been pretty high-profile since they started dating in 2020. Even with all this media scrutiny, Biles revealed that she was super surprised by the backlash her husband received over his "catch" comment. "Whenever he did that interview, I thought everything was okay," she said on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. "And then I go on Twitter, and everybody's like, 'Divorce this man, he's mean!'"
While many of her fans were offended on her behalf, Biles didn't take the comment negatively. She was even present during the interview, with the YouTube video of the podcast episode cutting to a giggly Biles while Owens recounted the story of how they met. "I didn't think anything of that interview, and he never said I wasn't a catch," she said. "He said he was a catch because he is. I've never met a man like him."
The couple kept their response low-key
When talking about her husband's viral comments, Simone Biles revealed that it hurt seeing her significant other discussed so negatively. "For me, it's like, talk about me all you want, but don't come for my family," she said to podcast host Alex Cooper. She went on to add that she felt frustrated that she wasn't able to "clap back" at the other social media users, choosing to keep things "classy" instead.
While the duo didn't directly acknowledge the scandal, Jonathan Owens posted photos of him and Biles on Instagram a few days after the release of the podcast episode. The pictures included snapshots from one of the Biles and Owens' two weddings in addition to more laid-back photos of them together. "Unbothered," he wrote in the caption, adding a laughing and heart emoji before wrapping the post up with a crossed-fingers emoji. "Just know we locked in over here." Biles also commented on the photo, including a crossed-fingers and kiss mark emoji before writing, "for life."
The gold medalist also expressed her frustrations on X, formerly Twitter, amid the controversy. "Are y'all done yet?" she wrote, including a photo of a child scratching their head. While these coy social media posts conveyed to the public that Biles and Owens were still going strong, the former Olympian still expressed how much the backlash actually hurt her.