Who Is Michael Phelps' Wife? Everything To Know About Nicole Johnson
They are the focus of a new documentary.
Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock In March 2019, Michael Phelps and his wife, Nicole Johnson, announced that they were expecting their third child together.
And just a few months later in September, their newest baby was born. The new bundle of joy joined big brothers Boomer and Beckett, who are 4 and 2 years old, respectively.
The swimmer and the former pageant queen got married in 2016 after years of off-and-on dating. Since then, they have shared parenting duties as well as doing charitable work through his foundation, which provides swimming lessons to unreserved kids.
In his new HBO documentary, Weight of Gold, Phelps enlists some of his fellow Olympians to open up about their lives, both personal and professional.
Who is Michael Phelps' wife, Nicole Johnson?
Read on to learn everything about her.
Nicole Johnson was a former Miss California USA.
At 17 years old, Johnson had spotted an ad for Miss Teenage California. She entered the pageant in the hopes of winning a scholarship and placed as the first runner up.
She enjoyed the process so much that she kept competing and was crowned Miss California USA in 2010. She went on to compete in the Miss USA pageant and placed ninth overall.
She loved the pageant system, saying, “People think pageant girls are snotty, cutthroat, self-absorbed. Everybody that I meet in the industry is so kind, giving, and they are some of the most amazing women."
Johnson also does charity work.
Her platform as a competitor was preventing child abuse, and she worked with Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families, which helps children who have faced abuse and neglect.
She also does work with the Michael Phelps Foundation, which offers swimming instruction to kids who might otherwise not have that opportunity and promoted water safety.
Nicole Johnson has a career outside of beauty pageants.
In addition to her pageant work and charitable work, Johnson has a degree in communications, with a concentration in sports and entertainment from the University of Southern California.
She has worked as an ambassador for INTA Gems & Diamonds, the official crown jeweler of Miss California USA, and even became an accredited jewelry professional with the Gemological Institute of America.
After that, she worked for restaurant loyalty program, MOGL and was employed as a communications director for YP, formerly known as Yellow Pages.
Johnson and Phelps had an off-and-on romance for awhile.
She started dating Michael Phelps in 2007. The pair were together until 2011 when they split for a while, but they never got over each other.
In 2016, Johnson opened up about the split and reunions, saying, “I'm pretty sure we both shared stuff with our parents and were like, 'Oh, this is it, there's no way we are getting back together.’ And then when we finally did, it was still a little rocky and figuring things out, figuring each other out because it had been some time. But we didn't miss a beat."
In 2015, Phelps recounted, “I said to a couple of my friends if I ever had the chance to get her back, that would be it. She was the one I loved the most. Her and I have been on and off for eight years. It's been a long time. We've been through a lot. But I love her to death. We've been able to grow as a couple through everything we've been through, the positive changes I've made in my life.”
The pair got back together in 2014. By 2016, their first child, Boomer, came along and they got married in a private ceremony about a month after his birth. They followed that up with a formal ceremony in Cabo later that year.
Nicole Johnson and Michael Phelps always wanted a family.
After Boomer, they didn’t waste any time adding to their family. Son Beckett arrived a little over a year after Boomer was born, and the couple really liked the age difference.
Phelps revealed in a 2018 interview, “This is something Nicole and I always talked about was having kids close in age. They’re able to grow up together. For me, it’s taught me more patience. We are very blessed to have two amazing kids so far.”
Now, Nicole Johnson and Michael Phelps have a third child.
Adding a third baby to their family had always been on their radar, even when Johnson was still expecting their second son, Beckett.
In 2017, Phelps revealed, “We always talked about three, so second one is on the way. We’ll see what happens. We’re going man-to-man now, and it’s probably going to be more challenging.”
In March 2019, the couple announced that they were expecting baby number three, and just a few months later, their son Maverick Nicolas arrived.
Michael Phelps' new documentary The Weight Of Gold is out now.
The swimmer's new HBO documentary was just recently released. Not only does Phelps appear in the film, but he also narrates it and is the executive producer.
The sports documentary dives into the entire process of becoming an Olympian, including what it takes to get there, the reality once you are there, and what it's like when they finally return home. It also shows the athletes' personal lives, which includes Phelps wife and kids, who show up on-screen in the film.
Weight of Gold also takes a look at some other well-known Olympic athletes besides Phelps, like Apolo Anton Ohno and Sasha Cohen. In addition, it covers some deeper mental health topics, such as depression and suicide.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted in April 2019 and was updated with the latest information.