Who Is NFL QB Russell Wilson's Ex-Wife Ashton Meem?
To football fans, Russell Wilson is one of the greatest quarterbacks of this generation. To celebrity pop culture followers, he's Mr. Ciara. Who else remembers Wilson's vow to be chaste ahead of their marriage? Well, turns out Wilson wasn't a virgin husband ... because he was married once before!
Maintaining an It-couple status, Wilson and singer Ciara tied the knot in 2016 with a posh British ceremony, and later welcomed a daughter in 2017 and a son in 2020, per Harper's Bazaar. While they have a beautiful family together now, both Wilson and Ciara were in serious relationships shortly before they met in 2015. Ciara was engaged to rapper Future with whom she already had a son with, and Wilson had recently filed for divorce.
So who is the first Mrs. Wilson? Here's everything we know.
Russell Wilson pulled off a romantic proposal for Ashton Meem
Russell Wilson married his high school sweetheart, Ashton Meem, in January 2012. Discussing her relationship with the football star, Meem told Richmond-Times Dispatch, "We met briefly in high school," adding, "Then again at a summer party and after that started seeing each other." The couple maintained a long-distance relationship through college before Meem transferred to Wilson's university, North Carolina State.
In 2010, Wilson asked Meem to marry him with an elaborate proposal. He blindfolded her and led her to a suite at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, North Carolina. There, surrounded by white rose petals, the couple's dog, Penny, entered the room with a sparkly new collar. On the tag read, "Hey Mom, Dad has a question he wants to ask you." That's when Wilson got down on bended knee to propose. "It was amazing! My parents were outside too, with their dog!" she shared with the publication.
Two years later, they wed at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. The sweet union, however, did not last long.
Russell Wilson and Ashton Meem's romance quickly fell apart
The duo called it quits by April 2014 and shortly after, rumors swirled Ashton Meem had struck up an affair with Russell Wilson's teammate Golden Tate. The player denied the relationship, writing in The Cauldron in January 2015 that he had nothing to do with Wilson's divorce. "That is laughable for anyone who knows us. His ex-wife, Ashton, is still best friends with my girlfriend," Tate penned.
Since the split, Meem has gone fairly quiet. She uses the last name Wilson in her handle on Instagram, but has since changed her name on the platform to Ashton Garrett. It is uncertain whether or not she has remarried as of 2022. Her social media presence has been inactive since 2017 following a majority of snapshots of her dachshunds.
As for her career, Meem works in advertising for American Family Insurance in Raleigh, North Carolina, as confirmed by her LinkedIn page. She has been employed there since 2011 as an Advertising Operations Assistant. While she's certainly not on the red carpet like Ciara, it seems Meem has found her own happiness outside of the spotlight. And, according to Celebrity Net Worth, she has a reported net worth of $4 million. Not bad. Even with her previous relationship wrapped up, however, her name did pop up in an unexpected diss tweet.
Emmanuel Acho threw shade at Ashton Meem
Draft season brings about a level of critique and anticipation as the rounds play out, but it isn't always the players alone being discussed. That's right, significant others can very well be dragged into the commentary, and when it comes to Ashton Meem, some serious shade was thrown her way despite no longer being coupled up with a star player. For the 2020 NFL Draft, ESPN analyst Emmanuel Acho decided to post a word of caution for the partners of future players while using Meem and quarterback Russel Wilson as examples.
In a since-deleted tweet, Acho wrote (via New York Post), "As we prepare for day 2 of the #NFLDraft, girlfriends remember to play it cool. It's not where you start, it's where you finish." The warning is vague enough, but it was the pictures paired with the advice that seemed biting. The analyst shared two photos of Wilson: one with Meem (where he started) and the other with Ciara (where he finished).
Despite some fans laughing along with the tweet, it also received a lot of backlash. Folks on Twitter were disappointed that focus was being put on "pitting women against each other," per the New York Post, and implying clout and image is most important in relationships with athletes. Many, even those wanting more of the bizarre drama, acknowledged Acho's misstep of trashing Meem, one person tweeting, "Bro that's highly disrespectful." Yikes.
Ashton Meem wanted to keep their lives 'normal'
Well before NFL quarterback Russell Wilson and Ciara had a family of their own, his ex-wife was open about looking ahead for their future. In late 2013, only a few months before announcing their divorce, Ashton Meem chatted with Seattle's "Tom & Curley Show" about her relationship with Wilson and how they balanced life with his career. "Honestly, we just try to keep our home life as normal as possible," she explained at the time. "We just try and keep it real, realize what my husband does is a job, it can change at any minute, and what really matters is we don't change no matter what changes around our environment."
Meem admitted to being in awe at times of the big events and attention aimed at them due to the sport, but spoke about keeping level headed. Watching her partner on the field taking hits was difficult, but she trusted Wilson and the other players to "make smart decisions and play a fair game." She added, "I would be out there on the field blocking for my husband, but I'm not quite big enough."
Life certainly didn't stay normal as news of Meem and Wilson splitting up received enough publicity to later evolve into actual memes. The athlete's ex-wife has stayed very much out of the spotlight since, and beyond a few posts on Instagram from the early 2010s of the couple at events or spending time with their dogs, the relationship is a thing of the past.