Simone Biles’ Boyfriend Jonathan Owens Says ‘I Didn’t Know Who She Was’ Prior To Dating

Simone Biles, a five-time medalist who participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games this week before withdrawing due to medical reasons, has been dating NFL Houston Texan’s player Jonathan Owens. But Owens said he had no idea about his girlfriend’s “greatest gymnast in history” status.

The athletes first made their official Instagram debut as a couple in August 2020 but began dating months before in March. Biles has said her unexpected free time due to the 2020 Summer Games being postponed that year cleared her busy schedule allowing her time to date and the two first connected with him on the celebrity dating app Raya.

“He would say I slid into his DMs,” the 24-year-old told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. “I saw him and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s pretty cute,’ so I said hi … and then I saw that he was in the Houston area, so we started chatting a little bit, and then we went to hang out a week or two later.”

Biles got an assist from her younger sister, Adria, who noticed the pair only had FaceTime hangouts together and had never met. So Adria invited the NFL player on a family trip. Owens brought his English bulldog Zeus along.

In the Facebook Watch original series Simone vs. Herself, Owens said that he had no idea who Biles was when the two first started chatting on the dating app, and he had never watched gymnastics before.

“Her work ethic was really the first thing that caught my eye,” he said in the docuseries. “I never really watched gymnastics before I first started talking to her. The coolest thing for me is that I get to witness someone who is literally in the pinnacle of their sport. It’s motivating to see that and the impact that she has on people. We were walking past this group of girls, and they were shaking, ‘Oh my god, it’s Simone!’ This is when I kind of knew. Like, okay, yeah, she’s the real deal.”

Biles said earlier this year that having a lot of downtime during quarantine allowed her to be right on the sidelines of her boyfriend’s games.

“What’s been really exciting is being able to experience life with my family and friends,” she shared. “Getting to go to my boyfriend’s [NFL] games. I told him that I’ve never been to so many games in a season in my life. Because usually, I’m so busy and all over the place.”

Biles and Owens currently live together in Spring, Texas with their two French bulldogs Lilo and Rambo and Zeus. Biles trains at the World Champion Center and Owen practices for his Houston team.