Simone Biles received a very bitter reminder about the reality of spending the winter months living in Chicago when she woke up to a “winter wonderland” outside her Illinois home—a sight that prompted her to joke about fleeing back to Texas.
The 28-year-old former Olympian has spent the last two years splitting her time between Chicago, where her husband, Jonathan Owens, 30, plays for the Chicago Bears, and her hometown of Houston, TX, where the couple have just finished work on a stunning custom mansion.
While she has been dedicated about attending as many of Owens’ games as possible since he signed with the team in 2024, she seemed less than thrilled about the snowy scene that greeted her on the morning after the Bears’ Nov. 9 win over the New York Giants.
Sharing an image of her snow-covered backyard, Biles wrote on her Instagram Stories: “Woke up in winter wonderland,” before joking: “Bye, I’m leaving,” and adding a crying face emoji.
Although some might see her reaction as dramatic, the weather forecasts indicate Biles had plenty of reason to be shocked by the snowy weather—particularly given that the temperatures in Chicago on the morning of Nov. 10 were just 28 degrees, while in Houston, residents were enjoying balmy temperatures of 53 degrees.
Snowy weather is, however, something Biles is likely to experience plenty of in the coming months, with forecasters predicting a bitter winter for 2025 and 2026.
According to CBS News, a weather phenomenon known as “The Blob” could result in one of the coldest Chicago winters in the last 10 years—with experts comparing the forecast to that experienced in 2013-2014, when temperatures plunged to as low as 0 degrees on some days.
The Bears currently have four more home games scheduled in the regular season, with their last set for Jan. 4, when they will face the Detroit Lions.
Meanwhile Houston is expected to enjoy a warmer and drier winter than normal, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which predicts that the coldest periods will take place from mid-December through until early February.
It is currently unclear whether Owens and Biles will remain in Chicago beyond the end of the current NFL season, when the safety’s contract with the Bears is due to end.
Biles revealed earlier this year that the couple had invested in a home in the area where they will be based for the rest of the season, however she did not clarify whether they have purchased a property or are simply renting.
Their primary residence is located more than 1,000 miles away from the Bears stadium, in a suburb of Houston, where they are now the proud owners of a newly-built custom lakefront mansion, which was completed in October after more than two years of work.
Biles and Owens broke ground on their marital dwelling in early 2023 and the former Olympian has since shared several updates on the progress of the construction on her social media accounts.
Just a few weeks ago, however, it seemed that construction had finally reached its end point, when Biles took to her Instagram Stories to share images of the home’s completed lakefront pool and basketball court.
Her visit to the property saw the sporting superstar celebrating a number of milestone occasions—including her apparent confirmation of the furious plastic surgery rumors that have hung over her head for the past few months.
Bounding onto the spring surface, the gymnast began performing a series of flips in the air, sharing the footage with a very cheeky caption alluding to the rampant speculation that she has undergone a breast enhancement.
“First flip in a year… at the new house… with the new [cherry emoji],” she wrote, using the cherries to refer to her chest.
2025 has certainly been a transformative year for Biles in more ways than one, marking the first time since her childhood that she has not been in active training for gymnastics for a prolonged period, instead focusing her energies on other projects, while also supporting her husband in his NFL career.
Should they end up returning to Houston when the NFL season draws to a close, they will be safe in the knowledge that they can enjoy a life of true luxury in their new abode, which boasts a number of very impressive amenities.
While the outdoor area surrounding the property has been outfitted with a number of fun-filled features, the interior boasts some incredibly high-end features, including a luxurious primary bathroom with an enormous soaking tub, a custom-designed laundry room, and an in-house pet spa for the duo’s beloved French bulldogs.
The dwelling is also located just a short distance from Biles’ parents, Nellie and Ron, who own a gymnastics training facility in Spring, TX, where their daughter prepared for her most recent Olympics performance at the 2024 Games in Paris.
Though Biles has taken a well-earned break from the sport since helping Team USA claim the team gold at those Games, she has not officially retired from gymnastics. She even hinted recently that she may consider returning for yet another shot at Olympic glory.
Speaking to Olympics.com, the athlete—who has competed in three Olympic Games since 2016—noted that, whenever she chooses to end her run on the mat, she wants to do so on her own terms, rather than being forced to retire at a time that doesn’t feel right to her.
“I want it to be my choice when I’m done,” she said. “I don’t want the doctors to be like, ‘Hey, you can’t move on.'”
Biles added that, while she hasn’t decided one way or another whether the 2024 Paris Games were her last, she would be happy to end her career with that performance.
“I’m grateful that if this (Paris) was the end, that I got to choose my ending,” she explained.
When asked whether she would continue returning to the sport in the hopes of securing a spot on Team USA for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, Biles conceded that she has left that door open.
“There’s more to it. … We’ll definitely see,” she shared.
Biles opened up about her decision to take a break from gymnastics during a recent trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she spoke to young athletes about the importance of prioritizing their mental health.
She explained that mental health care became a key aspect of her own life after her performance at the 2020 Olympics was derailed by a case of the “twisties,” a dangerous mental block in which a gymnast loses all spatial awareness while in the air.
“Everyone likes to talk about L.A. and what that road looks [like] for me,” she said when asked about her potential participation in the next Olympic cycle. “So, currently, I am taking some time off from the gym, because I think it’s really important that your physical health matches your mental health.
“That’s why you saw so much of my success in Paris, because the mental and the physical were right on par. They were right on track with each other, so I think that’s really, really important.”
Biles noted that, whether or not she is competing in Los Angeles, she will be there to cheer on her fellow athletes in some capacity.
“I just don’t know right now if it’s on the floor or in the stands,” she said.
In the meantime, Biles seems content to embrace a position on the sidelines—both as an NFL WAG and a supporter of gymnastics around the globe.
Having traveled to Argentina earlier this month to host a gymnastics clinic with her longtime trainer, Laurent Landi, Biles returned to the U.S. in time to cheer on her husband and his team in their nail-biting win over the Washington Commanders on Oct. 13.
Biles and Owens will also have to spend time moving into their new abode in Texas, having spent the past few years living in a nearby property in Spring, which the gymnast bought in 2020.
Located near her childhood home, the property has four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms and sits on a spacious 1.02-acre lot, much of which Biles and Owens have taken full advantage of, installing an enormous swimming pool and plenty of outdoor entertaining areas.
It is not yet known whether they will list the property now that their custom mansion has been completed.