The luckiest gal in the world! Just one day after Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles finally met her celebrity crush, Zac Efron, her “international boyfriend,” fellow gymnast Arthur Nory Mariano, stepped in to protect his spunky pal.
“Hey @zacefron I saw her first … She is my girl,” he captioned a reposted image of himself lifting Biles, 19, off the floor in a giant bear hug and planting a kiss on her cheek. “Proud of you Simone! You are phenomenal in whole world and special. You made history. Love u.”
The 22-year-old Brazilian athlete added a crying-laughing emoji, as well as a grinning one to make sure fans didn’t think he was actually threatening the Neighbors 2 actor. Mariano and Biles have joked about their relationship in the past, calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend, and supporting each other through the 2016 Rio Olympics.
On Tuesday, Biles posted the original photo with the simple caption “@arthurnory” and a green heart emoji shortly after meeting Efron, 28, for the first time on the Today show.
“On cloud 9 💙☁️ @zacefron,” Biles captioned an adorable GIF of herself pecking Efron on the cheek and smiling huge.
The Baywatch actor later admitted that he was just as nervous to meet Biles after watching her incredible run at the Olympics.
“They won gold medals; they were crushing it the entire Olympics, and I was, like, hiding in a closet waiting to come in, so I didn’t know what to think,” Efron said on the Today show Wednesday, August 17. “I was kind of getting nervous myself, but it ended up being so sweet.”
