Evan Agostini/AP
Serena Williams, left, and her husband, Alexis Ohanian
- During an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian on Monday described the moment he fell for his wife, Serena Williams.
- The magic moment happened while the pair was watching a leopard at the Paris zoo ravage the dead bunny it had been given for its dinner.
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian just gave us yet another reason to love his romance with tennis champion Serena Williams.
In an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Monday, Ohanian was coaxed by the talk show host into telling the story of how he met his wife, with whom he now has an 8-month-old daughter.
"How does a self-described, unequivocal nerd end up with one of the greatest athletes in recorded history?" Colbert jokingly asked Ohanian. "How does that come about? That's not a natural match."
"I would beg to differ on one hand because she's actually a total nerd," Ohanian said.
He then revealed that the two met completely by chance. Ohanian was at a conference in Rome during the same time that Williams was playing a tournament there. While Ohanian was drinking coffee at the hotel he was staying at, an Australian man - who turned out to be Williams' assistant - tried to get him to leave by telling him there was a rat by his table.
"I told him thank you, but I'm from Brooklyn; I see rats all the time. It's really not a big deal," Ohanian said.
A disturbing day at the zoo leads
His indifference got the attention of Williams, who turned around and asked him if he really wasn't freaked out by rats. They started talking, and she asked what he did for a living. When he told her he helped create Reddit, she responded that she had never heard of the site.
Before parting, they traded contact information, and Williams invited Ohanian to see her play at the French Open in Paris shortly after. Although she offered the invitation only half-heartedly, he accepted it without reservation, flying to Paris just to watch her. He told her he wanted to spend some time together, but he played coy, telling her he was really busy.
The pair eventually spent a day together and visited the Paris zoo. While there they happened upon a leopard's enclosure at its feeding time. The two watched as the ravenous big cat feasted on a dead bunny that had been flung at it for its meal.
"It was a show," Ohanian said. "I mean this leopard just went in, and blood is going everywhere."
Williams was visibly disturbed by the scene, so Ohanian held and comforted her. He sensed the connection right then and there.
"In that moment, thanks to that poor, poor rabbit, I found love," Ohanian said. "Despite everything else."
Watch the full clip below.