Phelps and Johnson married in June in Ariz., records suggest
Olympic star has denied reports of wedding
Michael Fred Phelps and Nicole Michele Johnson were married in June in Paradise Valley, Ariz.
TMZ reported Wednesday that the Olympic champion and his fiancee were secretly wedded. They had been engaged since February 2015.
A representative at the Clerk of the Superior Court Office in Maricopa County, Ariz., confirmed to TheBaltimore Sunthat a marriage license with Phelps’ and Johnson’s names is in the system.
The clerk could not report the dates or specific location on the license, but TMZ has reported that the couple were wedded June 13. The names and ages on the certificate TMZ posted online are consistent with those of the celebrity couple.
Phelps’ agent, Drew Johnson at Octagon Media, and his mother, Debbie Phelps, did not immediately respond Wednesday night to emails from The Sun requesting comment. Sister Hilary Phelps did not respond to an email or a voicemail message.
Thenewscomes after the Baltimore-area native, who has lived in Arizona with Johnson for the past year, denied on Facebook Live on Tuesday that he and the former Miss California USA had wed. A Facebook user asked about a black ring he was wearing.
“I’ve never worn a ring ever, ever in my life, so I’m getting married soon, so I figured I might as well try to see what it feels like to have a ring on,” Phelps said before emphasizing that he wears his ring on his right Michael Phelps and Nicole Johnson at the 2015 USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards in Los Angeles in November. hand, not his left.
“I am not telling you the date of the wedding,” he said. “That’s a super secret. You guys will know soon, though.” Apparently, we do. He also said, “I’m not married yet.” The couple, who gave birth to their first child, Boomer, on May 5, dated on and off for several years before their engagement.
“There definitely were times, and I think Michael would say the same thing, where I hated him. We were at odds at times,” Johnson told Cosmopolitan earlier this year. “Even when I loathed him, there were still times when I was like, ‘God, I wish I was with him.’ ”
Johnson blamed their relationship turbulence on “bad timing,” and dished on details about their wedding to Access Hollywood, confirming that they had set a date.
Their ceremony would be “small and intimate,” but Johnson said she’d throw a “massive bash for everyone in the States.”