"They’ll look at me & be like 'No that can’t be her'" - When Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian called himself the 'antidote' to public attention

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian once opened up about the amount of attention they drew in public as a couple. He made a self-deprecating admission about how he served as a buffer by shielding them from being intruded upon.

Although Ohanian was known for being the co-founder of Reddit, his public profile rose dramatically when he began dating Williams in 2015. In November 2017, the pair tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in New Orleans, two months after the 23-time Grand Slam champion gave birth to their daughter Olympia. However, Ohanian didn't believe that his life had changed greatly after becoming a public power couple.

In a 2018 interview with 52 Insights, Alexis Ohanian said that Serena Williams had been accustomed to fame since she was a teenager, while he knew the importance of being mindful of his behavior in public as the face of a major company like Reddit.

"I don’t feel like it’s changed too much. My wife’s been high profile for a very long time, I have been rather newly high profile, but I’ve spent the last 13 years as the face of a company, so I’ve always had to be mindful of my behaviour in public," Ohanian said.

Ohanian pointed out that both he and Williams had the freedom to share only what they wanted with the public, since neither of their jobs relied on constant attention.

"So I think it’s dovetailed pretty nicely for us to the point where we’re about as public as we want to be. It’s an exciting world we live in now because neither one of us needs attention for us to do our jobs better. It’s not like we’re in an industry where that’s valuable. So I think we’ve got the freedom to be as public as we want to be and I don’t think it’s changed too much," he said.

Ohanian also humorously confessed that he was a very effective "antidote" to public scrutiny because people often refused to believe that they had seen Serena Williams when she was out with him.

"Actually, I’m still a pretty good antidote for my wife when we’re out in public because people will see her and me, and they might recognise her, but then they’ll look at me and be like, "no that can’t be her." So we’re pretty unaccosted," he added.

Alexis Ohanian has also been very proud to be recognized as Serena Williams' husband and revealed that his ultimate dream was to be simply known as their daughter Olympia's father.

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian gave a confident predicition for her chances at Wimbledon 2018

Serena Williams with her husband Alexis Ohanian - Source: Getty

In the same interview, Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian was asked how he expected his wife to fare in her campaign at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. Ohanian wasted no time, confidently asserting that she would win her eighth title at the grasscourt Major.

"She’s going to win it of course," he said.

Ohanian's surety wasn't a surprise, given the former World No. 1's exceptional record at SW19. Williams won back-to-back titles at Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016 before missing the event in 2017 while she was pregnant with their daughter Olympia.

However, Serena Williams fell short of her goal to win her 24th Grand Slam title at the 2018 edition of the grasscourt Major. Although she made a stellar run to the title, Angelique Kerber claimed a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the blockbuster final.