Shanon Biles told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview Tuesday that she is ready to make amends with her daughter, Simone, the most decorated Olympic gymnast in history, following her four-medal winning performance in Paris.
“I’m waiting for the opportunity, but I’m waiting on her to be able to come to me,” Biles told the outlet. “Let’s sit down. I just have to be patient.”
Shanon and Simone have been estranged since 2000 when Shanon signed away Simone and her sister Adria’s adoption papers. The two were then raised by Ron and Nellie, Simone’s maternal grandparents.
“When we signed the [adoption] papers, it was like my dad flipped a switch on me—no communication, don’t call, and don’t visit. That’s how it was at the beginning,” Shanon told The Daily Mail in 2016.
At the time Shanon was dealing with drug and alcohol addiction and had frequent run ins with the law for drinking and driving, assault and drug possession. But she told the Daily Mail she is now sober.
“I am a recovering addict and will always be an addict. But there’s a way [to recovery]. You have to learn to stay away from people, places and things. Change your routine and live your life. Live your best life,” Shanon told the outlet.
Shanon, who had $34 to her name in 2018, according to a bankruptcy filing, now works as a cashier at a Save A Lot.
“I’m not the person I used to be. I’m okay, today. I’m a loving person. I’d give you the shirt off my back,” she said. “I’m very different from what I’ve been portrayed.”
Shanon told the British tabloid in 2016 that her conversations with Simone are brief: “I miss you, I love you, I can’t wait to see you, I’m proud of you, I’m watching. You go girl,” Shanon relayed one example.
Shanon also derided the media and Ron’s treatment of her in 2016.
“I feel like he didn’t have to be so harsh about it,” she told TMZ. “He could’ve been a little bit more classy with it. He didn’t have to put me under the bus.”
Ron did a sit down interview with NBC in 2016, telling the outlet “her (Simone’s) mother had many problems whether with drugs or alcohol. Her kids were eventually taken away from her.”
Shanon said she speaks to and hears about Simone through Ron, although she said she has a direct line to Simone, which she won’t use.
“I do have a direct number, but I won’t use it. I want her to reach out to me,” she said. “It hasn’t happened yet, but I have patience. I’m waiting on her.”
Shanon added that she would like “to sit down and talk” with Simone “and answer any questions (she) may have. I don’t know what you’ve been told but I want you to hear the real deal.”
