Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian said he was interrogated for two hours during his first date with Serena Williams, but it wasn’t the tennis legend who was asking the questions.
In the latest installment of her ESPN+ docu-series, “In The Arena,” Williams recalled when she brought her current agent Jill Smoller and her assistant at the time to her first date with Ohanian.
“Serena, her assistant, her agent, and then me on the other said of the table, and they just bombarded me with questions,” Ohanian recalled.
“It was like two hours of interrogation and questions. Do I have kids, am I married. Nothing was off limits.”
Smoller, who also appeared in the episode, said, “I totally tried to get the book on him right away.”
Williams recalled Smoller asking him about his dating history.
“Jill asked him straight up like, ‘What’s up with your girlfriend?’ and he’s like, ‘I don’t have a girlfriend.’
“He was saying that he had broken up with her. It changed things when he said that because I was like, ok, now he’s not being this beast,” Williams said, laughing.
Serena Williams reposts a text she shared with Alexis Ohanian when they first met during her “In The Arena” docuseries on ESPN+.Instagram/Serena Williams
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian at the New York Red Carpet Premiere “The Game Changers” September 9, 2019.Dave Allocca/Starpix
A past text exchange between the couple showed Ohanian’s message: “Look, let me take you out to dinner.”
Williams’ reply read: “Okay, but I’m gonna bring my agent and my assistant.”
Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian and their daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. attend the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Trocadero on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France.WireImage
In the docu-series, Williams shares a personal account of her most meaningful Grand Slam appearances and milestones on and off the court.
The seventh episode of the series, titled “Love All,” highlights when they first met during the 2015 Italian Open in May, their engagement in early January 2017 and the Australian Open later that month.
Williams went on to win her 23rd Grand Slam while pregnant at the Australian Open.
Serena Williams poses with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy after winning the Women’s Singles Final against her sister Venus Williams day 13 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.Getty Images
They welcomed their first child, daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., together on Sept. 1, 2017.
Two months later, Williams and Ohanian tied the knot in New Orleans on Nov. 16, 2017.