11 Red Flags We Can't Ignore In Simone Biles And Jonathan Owens' Marriage

On April 22, 2023, gymnastics legend Simone Biles married professional football player Jonathan Owens. The papers all but touted the pair as the athletic power couple of the decade. After all, Owens had played for major NFL teams like the Green Bay Packers, and Biles is arguably the best gymnast of all times.

The dynamic duo said "I do" in a romantic destination wedding in Cabo, Mexico. Dressed in a stunning Galia Lahav ballroom gown, Biles looked like a bride straight out of the pages of a fairy tale. She would later tell Vogue, "I went with my gut feeling and what I felt the most beautiful in." She later added, "I was nervous about having a ball gown because I'm so petite — but it works perfect. The leg slit was very crucial. It was to add, in my head, more length to my body. I think this is exactly how brides are supposed to feel: luxurious, beautiful, kind of on top of the world."

Despite Biles' princess bride energy, not everybody has supported her marriage. In the months since Biles and Owens tied the knot, hundreds of the gymnastics' fans have taken to social media to express their doubts regarding the match. In their view, Biles and Owens' marriage is full of red flags. And no matter how much the couple has tried to defend their relationship, certain fans remain convinced that things between Biles and Owens are not as magical as they insist.

Back in 2021, when Jonathan Owens and Simone Biles were still dating, a red flag emerged in the couple's relationship. Owens sat down with Texas Monthly and told the magazine that he didn't know who Biles was until he matched with her on Raya. "I didn't know who she was. I just hadn't heard of her," the NFL player revealed.

At that point in time, Biles was an experienced Olympian who had earned multiple medals for Team USA. In fact, she had already won gold in the women's all-around gymnastics competition at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In those same games, she had also earned a gold medal on the vault, a gold on the floor, and a bronze medal on the balance beam. Her contribution was considered key to helping Team USA bring home the all-around gold.

To be clear, there was nothing inherently wrong with Owens not knowing a lot about Biles. However, his ignorance was a strange thing to bring up in an interview. Depending on one's perspective, his words might have come across as a slight, almost as if to imply that Biles wasn't that famous. In reality, though, Biles was a household name — whether Owens knew who she was or not. Luckily for the NFL player, though, Biles didn't mind his words. Owens said that his lack of info was "one of the things she liked."

Shortly after Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens matched on Raya, the two started talking. However, it wasn't Owens who instantly recognized that he had matched with the woman of his dreams. Actually, the NFL player initially shrugged off the match. Speaking on "The Pivot Podcast" in 2023, the football player recalled, "I swiped her, and it said we matched. So, I'm like, 'Oh okay. I'mma see what's up.' So, I go do my workout, and I come back and I have some likes on my Instagram." The likes in question were from Biles. But, rather than message her, Owens took a shower.

Undeterred, Biles slid into Owens' DMs. From there, they started chatting, and things took off. Oddly, though, Owens felt the need to tell interviewers Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder that he wouldn't have pursued Biles without a push. Owens said, "If she wouldn't have messaged me, chances were, I probably wouldn't ... I probably would have just ... [My] mind would have went somewhere else and wouldn't have thought to, you know, [reach out]."

Immediately after Owens made this commend, Crowder rushed to put the NFL player in his place. "This man's [Owens] a hell of a safety. He will never be as good as a safety as this little motherf****er here is as a gymnasts," the podcaster said.

Although Jonathan Owens' initial reaction to matching with Simone Biles might seem odd, it actually was a sign of a much larger problem. By his own admission, the NFL football player had serious commitment issues, and these impacted the early days of their relationship. As Owens shared on the "The Pivot Podcast," "I was fighting it [a connection with Biles], I was fighting it, I was fighting it." When interviewer Ryan Clark began to press him on that point, Owens went on to explain, "I was afraid to commit. I'm like, 'Ah man. This is my third year [playing professional football]. This is kind of early.'"

Because of this attitude, Owens put very little effort into his first date with Biles. He could have picked her up from her home, sent a car to go get her, or organized a socially distanced activity somewhere between his home and hers. Instead, he left Biles with the burden of traveling to go see him. "We couldn't do much as Covid happened, and everything shut down. So, she came through down to Houston. She lived in the suburbs so she had to drive about 45 minutes to me," Owens revealed.

Despite Jonathan Owens' commitment issues, he asked Simone Biles to marry him in 2022. Biles said "yes," and the two announced their engagement in an adorable Instagram post. Unfortunately, though, these good times got tough — and fast. The couple struggled to plan their wedding, leading Biles to feel overwhelmed at times. Speaking to Vogue about this issue, Biles confessed, "The planning process was so much fun in the beginning and then it started getting really stressful." Luckily, she was able to hire a wedding planner to keep things on track. "Carena Trampe of Amy Abbott Events kept me sane the entire time," Biles said.

Of course, Biles and Owens are hardly the first couple to ever struggle with wedding planning anxiety. According to clinical psychologist, Jared DeFife, PhD, in an article for Psychology Today, it can be difficult for people to deal with all the expectations that surround their nuptials. This, in turn, can put pressure on a new marriage. "Wedding planning stress can also place some serious strains on a new relationship," DeFife wrote. Although Biles did not divulge whether or not her wedding-related stress impacted her relationship, it is definitely possible that planning a destination wedding added some tension to the early days of her marriage.

Immediately following Jonathan Owens' appearance on "The Pivot Podcast," the NFL player was dunked in a tidal wave of controversy. To his surprise, Simone Biles' fans from across the globe were appalled by his bold statements — and particularly by his apparent lack of initial interest in his world-famous wife. One YouTuber commented, "I'm so concerned that his ego won't be able to handle being less famous than his wife." Another added, "He's just beyond full of himself."

The internet came after Owens so aggressively that Biles had to rush to his defense, asking "Are y'all done yet?" in a post shared to X. As the couple would quickly discover, though, the answer to that question was "no." Entire Reddit threads were dedicated to dissecting the machismo behind Owens' words, and Instagram users tore him apart. In the end, Biles had to make a public statement to ask people to give her husband a break.

Speaking on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, Biles recalled, "I thought it was hilarious what people were saying, 'Divorce him, divorce him.' ... And then, like, 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. And, if anybody's met him, they know he's the sweetest guy and will do anything for anybody.'"

Gymnastics is one of the most challenging sports in the world, yet Jonathan Owens insists that football is harder. At least, that's what Simone Biles told legendary comedians, Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson, when she appeared on "Back That Year Up" in 2023. Apparently, Biles and Owens argue somewhat frequently over who competes in the toughest sport — and who is the better athlete. "We fought over it a couple of times, and then we vowed once we got married, we wouldn't talk about it again. But, it keeps coming up every time," Biles revealed.

Of course, the Olympic medalist is confident that her sport is the more challenging one. In the same interview, Biles asserted, "So, at the end of the day, gymnastics is harder — if he agrees or not." Biles went on to say that she had evidence on her side. "He has done my workout in the gym, and he could barely do it. And, then I went to their NFL workout, and I crushed it," she explained.

Thompson did not appear remotely surprised to hear that Biles had an easier time doing Owens' workout than vice-versa. As the comedian had already told Biles earlier in the interview, "I know your name. That's all I'm going to say. I know your name. You know what I'm saying? So ... "

Simone Biles is the best gymnast of her generation, but Jonathan Owens thought he could beat her in a vertical rope climbing competition. The couple debated over who would win a race to the top, and Owens told his wife that he would easily. As the NFL player would later reveal in a TikTok video, he actually told Biles, "Oh, I'm going to whoop you."

To settle things once and for all, Owens and Biles headed to the gym where they each had to climb a rope side-by-side. Whoever made it to the top would win. Despite the fact that Owens' height gave him an initial boost (literally), Biles quickly gained on him. She made it to the top of the rope in just over 10 seconds, making her the hands-down winner of the competition. Reflecting on his loss, Owens recalled how perfect Biles' form was throughout the competition, "I look over at her. Her legs are straight out, like, at 90 [degrees]."

Although Owens clearly overestimated his own athletic ability, science says that it is not uncommon for men to believe that they can win a competition against major female athletes. As reported by The Guardian, a 2019 YouGov poll found that one in every eight British men believes that he could "win a point against Serena Williams." Unfortunately, this seems unlikely, as one in every eight British men are not tennis world champions.

According to Simone Biles, Jonathan Owens had a whole lot of confidence when they started dating — some of it unearned. On the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, the gymnast said that Owens used to think he was extremely talented in a wide array of areas. "I just thought that was funny, and I thought that was cute that he thought he was good at everything," she laughed (via New Pittsburgh Courier).

Interestingly, Biles had to help Owens understand that he was not necessarily as gifted as he believed. Even when the two were still chatting on Raya, Biles dreamt up a few strategies to put Owens in his place. "He could do everything, and that cracked me up about him. So I couldn't wait to meet him so I could be like, 'You're not funny. You're not a good cook,'" she revealed in the same interview.

Although Owens may not have originally been the best chef, Biles' teasing might have helped him improve. His wife told E! News that he likes to make her dinner — meaning that his culinary skills are at least passable. "Jonathan cooks either like salmon, chicken. We eat a lot of chicken, either with broccoli, and like potatoes or mac and cheese, but always veggies with it, and we kind of wind down for the night," she said.

Unfortunately for Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens, the controversy surrounding their relationship did not let down in light of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Although Owens accompanied Biles to the games — and even took time off from training to support her — he made one serious misstep that left fans reeling. Hours after Team USA gymnastics' earned first place in the women's all-around competition, Owens took to Instagram to post a photo of himself wearing Biles' shiny new gold medal. "Congrats baby on becoming the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history," he wrote.

While Owens' congratulations seemed sincere, some of Biles' fans began to doubt the intention behind the post. After all, certain people felt that it was odd that Owens would choose to post a photo of himself wearing Biles' bling — rather than one of her on the podium. As reported by Page Six at the time, one Instagram user wrote, "That's Simone's gold medal you're holding, not yours my guy." Apparently, thousands agreed. In fact, a whopping 4,000 people reportedly liked the comment — revealing that not everybody was impressed by Owens' choice of photo.

Jonathan Owens is not the only one who has gotten into trouble for wearing his partner's athletic gear. In August 2024, Simone Biles had one of her most awkward moments ever when she appeared at one of her husband's football matches wearing a jacket with his likeness on it. Although her choice of attire could be viewed as a sweet gesture by some, there is a major reason why it was controversial. The jacket was made during Owens' time playing for the Green Bay Packers. However, by 2024, he was playing for the Chicago Bears. In other words, Biles showed up at one of Owens' games wearing a rival team's jacket.

Simone Biles should be stripped of all her medals after wearing Packers gear while cheering for the Bears. Yeah yeah I get it, her husband played for the packers and it's an Owens themed jacket, but this is just wrong. pic.twitter.com/2mAh0ZNIDa

— MikeyBets (@RealMikeyBets) August 17, 2024

Unsurprisingly, Biles got a whole lot of backlash for her choice of attire. On an episode of "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears" (via People), one of the gymnast's friends even warned her about the jacket prior to Owens' big game, saying, "I would be taking that jacket off if I were you." Biles, however, wore the jacket throughout the match, calling into question how much she really knows about football and football rivalries. After all, the Packers and the Bears have long been sports "enemies," and, as one X user put it, Biles' jacket had "Bears fans ... foaming at the mouth."

All the red flags in Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens' marriage may imply that the two are somehow not in love. However, body language experts have largely discarded this theory. Nonverbal communication specialist, Judi James, even went so far as to tell The Sun, "Jonathan looks slightly in awe of Simone." James later added, "Jonathan could not do more in terms of body language to show that he adores Simone. This is where he does not even share her spotlight — he bends naturally into Simone and leans in most of the time."

In the same interview, James went on to hint that Owens might not always do a good job choosing his words. After all, some of the things he has said in interviews don't seem to line up well with what he appears to be feeling. "Jonathan's historical comments seem to have haunted him," James postulated. Although this might explain the dissonance between Owens' public statements and his feelings, it is also not necessarily a good sign. Communication is key in a marriage, and this might not be Owens' strong suit.