Nicole Williams English and Husband Larry Open Up About the Night They First Met

The 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie and her former NFL player-spouse are expecting their first child together.

Larry and Nicole Williams English.Vivien Killilea/Getty Images

Nicole Williams English and husband Larry locked eyes but did not speak the first time they met. Earlier this year, during Miami Swim Week, the couple shared the juicy story of their (not so) meet-cute.

Nicole and Larry were both attending a mutual friend’s birthday party in Los Angeles.

“I was a young adult having a good time,” Larry explained. “Funny enough, I had met someone that night, right before Nicole showed up. The moment she walked in, I knew I had made a bad selection. And so I felt a little bit stuck.”

Fortunately another mutual friend connected the two of them after the party.

“I guess the rest is history,” Larry added with a smile. “Because we’ve been inseparable ever since. It has been 11 years.”

Nicole and Larry were married in a gorgeous Laguna Beach wedding in 2017. That birthday party was the first time Larry had spotted Nicole, but it wasn’t the only time they were in the same room together.

The soon-to-be parents were at the same club about a week before.

“My girlfriend was trying to find me a boyfriend because I had gotten over a bad relationship just recently,” Nicole recalled. “And she was like, ‘Oh my God, look at that guy all the way over there on a white t shirt’ and so I looked and it was him.”

The model later recognized the former NFL linebacker at the birthday party. “We locked eyes, but he was with another girl,” she finished.

Nicole will be making her SI Swimsuit Issue debut as a 2023 rookie. She was overjoyed when she got the call with the exciting news and, of course, Larry was there to support and celebrate.

“I feel like I’m going to wake up and it’s going to be such a cruel way to find out this wasn’t real,” English said.“I can’t believe it because this has been a dream of mine for over 20 years. I just couldn’t stop crying. It was just such an emotional day.”

The Nia Lynn designer added that the couple—whose baby girl will soon be arriving—then went for a walk and “just couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces.”