In late November, hot divorced women’s soccer star Ali Krieger told Self Magazine that she wasn’t quite ready for a new relationship following her split from Ashlyn Harris — she was focused instead on healing herself and putting herself first. But today, in a new episode of the Kickin’ It with CBS Sports, Ali revealed that she is, in fact, open to dating — and that she “might be opening up to 100% of the population, not just 50.” The hosts responded with enthusiasm to this revelation that she’s open to dating people of all genders, with Mo Edu declaring he might have some buddies interested in “submitting an application.” Olympic athlete Heather O’Neil responded to this news in the comments, noting “100 percent of the pop be popping off from this.”
The possibility that Ali Krieger is going bi big time has inspired a bit of discourse, but most fans are being supportive of Ali’s desire to get out there and find love again. Regardless, it doesn’t seem like Ali ever explicitly stated that she was exclusively attracted to women — she has called herself “gay” in a general way, but has mostly stuck to identifying as a member of the LGBTQ community while avoiding specific labels. She’s spoken before about male celebrity crushes and first loves. (And, even if she had identified otherwise at any point in her life, it’s okay for people to change their minds or discover new things about themselves as life rolls forward!) Prior to dating Ashlyn, Ali had another relationship with a woman, rumored to be her FFC Frankfurt teammate Ariana Hingst. She spoke about her gay journey in a June 2022 episode of Doing Hard Things with Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle:
I think it was different for me because when I went to college I didn’t know two women could actually be together. I didn’t know that was a thing and that could be normal. And so I was a bit confused and then I started to explore my sexuality in college towards the end of my four years and then when I got to Germany I dated a woman there and I had a really great relationship for a couple years. And then when I met Ash, I was like, whoa, this is a thing and this is real and this isn’t just a phase.
Ali Krieger’s episode of Kickin’ It covers a lot of ground. She speaks quite a bit about the aftermath of her relationship and how the NWSL championships and her retirement celebrations had served as a nice distraction from the rough emotional stuff she knew was coming ahead. She’s now focusing on her family and getting a lot out of therapy: confronting herself, healing from childhood trauma, and figuring out the roots behind her tolerance for certain unhealthy situations. Furthermore, she’s learning how to be vulnerable and bounce back from a turn she didn’t anticipate her life ever taking. Most importantly, she has enrolled in boxing lessons. So WATCH OUT WORLD!
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