“I would like to make amends with Simone,” confessed Shanon Biles, the gymnastics star’s 52-year-old estranged mother in an interview with DailyMail, where she revealed that she’s waiting for the chance to reconcile with her daughter.
“I would just ask her to forgive me. Can we move forward? Don’t judge me on my past. Let’s move forward.”
Shanon was forced to give her four children away to foster care due to struggling with a drug addiction more than 20 years ago.
The youngest, Simone, 27, and Adria, 22, were adopted by Shanon’s father, Ronald, 75, and his wife, Nellie, when the gymnast was just 6 years old.
The eldest, Ashley, 34, and Tevin, 29, were instead taken in by Ronald’s sister, Harriet, dividing the siblings in two.
“It was hard to give up my kids, but I had to do what I had to do. I wasn’t able to care for them. I was still using [drugs] and my father didn’t want me coming in and out of their lives when I wasn’t right,” she explained.
Simone Biles’ mother begged for forgiveness and an opportunity to reconnect after more than 20 years separated from her daughter
Despite feeling the same pride that every mother would feel at her daughter’s incredible accomplishments, Shanon knows that she can’t just reach out to Simone, preferring instead to keep tabs on her through her father.
“What I hear about Simone I hear through my dad. I speak to him all the time.”
“If I need to know anything I call my dad. I ask him about Simone, and he keeps me posted.”
Shanon, who lives in a red-brick row house in the neighborhood of Franklinton in Columbus, Ohio, celebrated her daughter’s triumphant return to the Olympics with her neighbors and friends.
The mother reported feeling an overwhelming sense of joy as her daughter took home three gold medals and one silver medal with incredible performances in the vault, floor, and balance beam events.
Far from painting herself as a victim, she takes full responsibility for the circumstances that had led the two to be separated, recognizing the importance of putting Simone’s well-being ahead of her own need to reconnect with her.
“I am a recovering addict and will always be an addict. You have to learn to stay away from people, places and things while you recover. Change your routine and live your life. Live your best life,” she argued.
“I’m waiting for the opportunity to talk, but I’m waiting for her to be able to come to me. I just have to be patient.”
Shanon has accrued massive debt over the years and has been in trouble with the law
In October 2018, in an effort to pay back a massive $14,234 debt across 21 different companies for financial and health reasons, as well as $3,834 for a student loan, Shanon petitioned for bankruptcy, arguing that she had no money to her name other than a $34 prepaid card.
The Chapter Seven document lists as her assets two unusable cars worth a combined $2,125, homeware, electronics, clothes, and jewelry worth $9,650, as well as her house, valued at $9,684.
The years following her financial struggles were also plagued by legal troubles, as she was involved in various misdemeanors and criminal cases.
In January 2020, just a month before Simone Biles was announced to represent the United States at the Tokyo Games, Shanon was found guilty of assault, which resulted in a 180-day suspended prison sentence and probation until January 2022.
Since then, she’s managed to straighten her life out and now works as a cashier at discount grocery store 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. I’m very different from what I’ve been portrayed,” she argued.
Shanon claims to be clean and sober nowadays, but even with her newfound stability, she remains reluctant to contact Simone despite knowing her phone number
“I do have a direct number, but I won’t use it. I want her to reach out to me. She’s 27 now. She’s married. I would have liked to have been a part of that, but I just have to wait for her. You can’t push anybody.”
Communication between the two was severed early, as her father, Ronald, believed it was best for Simone to be as far as possible from her mother’s troubled life.
“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 in the beginning.”
“It took me six years before I saw my children again. But I was respecting my Dad to let the kids transition into their new lives, he felt that it was the best thing for them.”
Shanon reveals that she held a grudge against her father for a while, feeling betrayed and blaming him for separating her family.
“I was hard-headed. I didn’t care, screaming, ‘I want to see my kids, why are you doing this to me?’”
She later came to understand the difficult position he was in.
“I didn’t understand at the time but years later, I understood why. I had to deal with myself first,” she explained.
When asked about the sibling’s biological father, Kelvin Clemons, Shanon revealed that she’s still in contact with him, that he lives in Cleveland, and that he would also like to rebuild his relationship with Simone.
“We both want to see her. I talk to him all the time. He says, ‘If you talk to Simone, give her my number. I’d love to talk to her.’ But how can I do that when I can’t even talk to her? I have to go through my dad first.”
Despite saying that the relationship with her father Ronald has improved over the years, Shanon still believes he only told Simone an incomplete version of the story that led to their separation.
As the interview neared its end, Shanon delivered a personal message to her daughter:
”I would like to sit down and talk to you and answer any questions you may have. I don’t know what you’ve been told but I want you to hear the real deal.”
Readers sympathized with the mother’s plea, but they also recognized that such a complicated relationship may never be fully healed
“The best thing she can do is leave her adult children alone. They have had enough drama in their young lives and they have overcome obstacles and sorrows.”
“Whatever happens in the future, the wound of abandonment will never heal.”
“You can’t abandon your child then expect them to treat you like a doting mum all these years later. Forgiveness is a different issue.”
“Part of what the bio mom gave up was any access to Simone in the future. You can’t just choose drugs over your kids, then pop back in when they’ve achieved something as adults.”
Others were more cynical, believing that Shanon’s plea comes as an attempt to fix her own financial struggles with the help of her extremely successful daughter.
“This is a clear attempt to guilt the famous/rich/successful person into renewing a relationship they do not want to be a part of.”
“If Simone opens the doors to her mother she’s going to have a relationship with someone who will eventually expect a caretaker or for her to help her through her issues and struggles. There’s no way around that.”
“The question is whether Shannon would be as interested in reconciling with Simone if her daughter wasn’t an Olympic champion who is no doubt quite wealthy.”
“Be happy that your child blossomed into a beautiful flower.” Shanon’s testimony left fans feeling even more impressed at Simone’s accomplishments considering her rough origins
