C Flanigan/FilmMagic via GettyImages(NEW YORK) — While Michael Phelps was making headlines in the Rio pool, his support squad, fiancée Nicole Johnson and their son, Boomer, was making headlines from the stands.
Olympic fans couldn’t get enough of the future Mrs. Phelps or the pair’s adorable newborn, who became an online sensation thanks to his Instagram.
But, as Johnson will admit, in the pre-Boomer, pre-engagement days, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Phelps and his fiancée. The two had an on-again, off-again relationship for eight years before getting engaged in 2015. In a new interview with Cosmopolitan, Johnson opened up about the breakup that eventually landed the two at happily ever after.
She blamed the couple’s split on “bad timing.”
“Michael and I both know that had we tried to have a child and get married in the previous time we were together, it probably would not have ended pretty,” she told Cosmo.
“We both had a lot of growing up to do. We both had a lot of learning about ourselves to do. I don’t think you can be in a good relationship unless you love yourself to the fullest and you want to help the other person become a better person,” she added. “We definitely needed that time apart to recognize that about ourselves and to appreciate one another.”
And, of course, with a breakup comes some animosity.
“There definitely were times, and I think Michael would say the same thing, where I hated him,” Johnson admitted in the interview. “We were at odds at times. Even when I loathed him, there were still times when I was like, ‘God, I wish I was with him.'”
Lucky for Johnson, there’s no more wishing. With a wedding coming up, Johnson said she’s busy planning. Unfortunately, though, there will be no aquatics involved.
After confirming that Phelps will not be wearing his medals down the aisle, Johnson added, “I don’t see us getting married in a pool either.”
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