Who Is JJ Watt's Wife, Kealia Ohai? Couple Gets Married In Surprise Bahamas Wedding
NFL legend JJ Watt recently married award-winning professional soccer player Kealia Ohai.
Getty JJ Watt — born Justin James Watt — is one of the most well-known active players in the National Football League. Drafted by the Houston Texas in 2011, Watt is a five-time NFL Pro Bowler, a three-time NFL Defensive Player Of The Year and winner of numerous football-related accolades.
Off the field Watt has continually made headlines for both charitable work and entrepreneurial ventures. He is the founder of the Justin J. Watt Foundation and notably helped raise over $37 million for victims of Hurricane Harvey Watt has served as the "Vice President of Power Relations" for an NRG Energy subsidiary and has received an honorary doctorate from the Baylor College Of Medicine.
Watt has also earned his stripes as a host and on-air broadcaster. He co-hosted the 2016 edition of the CMT Music Awards, alongside Erin Andrews, and earlier this month hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.
SNL aside, Watt also made headlines recently by getting married to girlfriend Kealia Ohai in a surprise wedding, prompting people to ask: Who is JJ Watt's wife? Below is more about Ohai, Watt and their recent marriage.
1. Who Is JJ Watt's wife, Kealia Ohai?
A native of Utah, Ohai played four years of college soccer with the North Carolina Tar Heels. During the 2012 season, Ohai was on the school's championship-winning team and was named the tournament's most outstanding offensive player.
Following her collegiate soccer success, Ohai was drafted by the Houston Dash as the then-expansion team's first ever college draft pick in 2014. Just two years later she became the captain of the Dash. Ohai was traded to the Chicago Red Stars earlier this year.
She has also played for the 2012 US U-20 Women's National Team, which won the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Ohai scored the game-winning goal within the final game to help the U.S. team win that World Cup.
2. Watt and Ohai got married just a few days ago.
Less than two weeks after Watt hosted Saturday Night Live, Watt and Ohai got married on February 15, 2020. The two were married in the Bahamas, having announcing their engagement in May 2019.
The two had gone public with their relationship when Ohai was a guest on the 2 Up Front podcast in 2017 on which Ohai confirmed them to be dating. But Watt had initially kept things quiet, only dropping subtle hints about his relationship with Ohai, once posting a holiday season Snapchat picture which showed “J” and “K” stockings inside his home.
3. Lots of soccer players were at Watt and Ohai's wedding.
Crystal Dunn, who played for the U.S. Women's National Team and was a team of Ohai teammate in college, posted to Instagram story during the wedding. This included a photo of Dunn and her husband with Ohai.
Amber Brooks, a former Houston Dash teammate of Ohai, published a photo to Instagram which showed Ohai pointing to the back of Watt's collar where "Mr. Kealia Watt" was stitched in. She had also shared images of the couple on the dance floor as part of an Instagram story.
On the football end, Amy Palic, vice president of communications for the Houston Texans, posted to Twitter about the wedding: "The most beautiful wedding. The most beautiful love story. Great friends. A night to remember. @jjwatt @kealiaohai." However, this tweet has since been deleted.
4. Ohai has overcome adversity to become a top athlete.
Ohai has been legally-blind in her right eye since her early childhood. This was discovered during a routine optical exam when she was six years old.
To correct this, Ohai initially wore a patch on her left eye for most of the day for about six months. She ultimately moved on to wearing the patch "on and off for periods of a few hours at a time," but remains having limited vision in one eye.
5. Watt and Ohai are not the only football/soccer relationship in the family.
It is very rare when a husband and wife are both active professional athletes. It is even more rare when both the husband and wife are top-tier, stand-out, award-winning athletes in their respective sports.
But Watt and Ohai are not the only professional athletes at their family get-togethers — Watt is the older brother of Los Angeles Chargers fullback Derek Watt and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker TJ Watt. Meanwhile, Ohai's brother-in-law is former NFL Houston Texans player Brian Cushing, who is married to his college sweetheart and Keila's sister, Megan Ohai, who played for USC's women's soccer team.
6. Ohai can be followed on social media.
Ohai has official accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. She does not have an official YouTube account.
Ohai is most active on Instagram, and her last four Instagram postings all include Watt. Watt's last few social media postings on Instagram and Twitter also include Ohai, but you will definitely want to watch Watt's Twitter video from February 16, 2020 of him dancing with his grandmother during his wedding party.
Darren Paltrowitz is a New York-based writer, editor and author. He is also the host of the Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz podcast, as co-produced with PureGrainAudio.com.