Amid rumors of a romance between Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and model Olivia Ponton, a new report claims the two have been “hooking up” for months.
“They have been hooking up since the early fall and are keeping it casual,” an insider who knows Joe, 28, and Olivia, 22, told People in an article published on Wednesday, December 18.
Romance rumors first swirled when it was revealed that Olivia was the one who reported that Joe’s house had been broken into earlier this month. When the burglary occurred on December 9, Joe was in Texas for a football game against the Dallas Cowboys. When the TikTok star arrived at Joe’s house in Anderson Township, she found a “shattered bedroom window and the room ransacked,” according to a report from TMZ Sports published on December 10. Olivia called her mom when she saw the damage, and her mother, Diane, made the first call to 9-1-1.
“[Olivia] is wondering what she should do, if she should be hiding or if she should be going outside,” Diane told the police department in audio of the call obtained by TMZ.
In a later call made by Olivia herself, she added, “Someone broke into my house … It’s like completely messed up.”
In the initial report, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model was listed as being “employed by Mr. Burrow.”
Two days after the incident, Joe broke his silence.
“So obviously everybody has heard what has happened. I feel like my privacy has been violated in more ways than one,” Joe said in a statement during a press conference on December 11. “And way more is already out there than I would want out there and that I care to share, so that’s all I got to say about that.”
The Iowa native said that he was mostly frustrated with the violation of his privacy that came with his house being burglarized.
“We live a public life and one of my least favorite parts of that is the lack of privacy,” Joe continued. “And that has been difficult for me to deal with my entire career. Still learning. But I understand it’s the life that we choose. Doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.”
Fans were shocked to learn about a potential relationship between Joe and Olivia. He was previously linked to Olivia Holzmacher, whom he dated for several years. Holzmacher, 27, and Joe began dating in 2017 when they were both students at Ohio State University. They made their Instagram debut as a couple in August 2017 when Holzmacher shared a photo of the two of them on the Ohio State football field.
When Joe transferred to Louisiana State University the following year, Holzmacher opted to continue her education at OSU. She graduated in 2019, and she’s been seen supporting Joe during his time with the Cincinnati Bengals. In 2022, the Bengals took on the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl and lost by just three points, but Holzmacher was cheering Joe on from the stands.
Neither Joe or Holzmacher have addressed whether or not they’ve parted ways at the time of publication.
