Olympian Noah Lyles Criticized For His Reaction To Wife's Wedding Dress First Look, But She Says It’s ‘Exactly What She Needed’
Victor Velter | ShutterstockFellow Olympic track and field stars Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield tied the knot in a ceremony earlier this month that the bride described as “magical,” but people weren’t thrilled with Lyles’ reaction to seeing Bromfield’s wedding dress for the first time.
The rise of the “first look” trend has been silencing naysayers who think a couple shouldn’t see each other on their wedding day before the ceremony, with videos of grooms bursting into tears at the sight of their beautiful brides. Lyles’ reaction was so far from the stereotypical overly emotional one people have come to expect that they didn’t quite know how to take it.
Lyles didn’t have an over-the-top reaction to seeing Bromfield in their first look, which rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
Their wedding photographer shared a video of the first look on social media, and it went viral for all the wrong reasons. As is traditional for a first look, Bromfield approached Lyles from behind and then tapped him on the shoulder to let him know she was ready. Before he even turned around, Lyles burst out laughing.
“Oh wow, OK!” he exclaimed once he turned and saw his soon-to-be wife. He stepped back a few paces to take the full look in, adding, “I didn’t think you would go with the princess dress.”
Lyles continued examining the dress in a manner that was, admittedly, a tad awkward. “Dang, that’s a train!” he said. “And we’re supposed to spin in this?” Eventually, Bromfield took his hands and admitted she was nervous, and he offered some words of encouragement along with a hug, but not before he laughed again.
People who saw the video on TikTok were utterly confused. “This wouldn’t even be an acceptable reaction from a friend,” one commented. Another added, “It’s always OK to call off the wedding, ladies.” A third person simply said, “This reaction sucks.”
Bromfield addressed the backlash her now-husband received and insisted his behavior was perfect for her at that time.
In her own TikTok video, Bromfield came to Lyles’ defense. “Let me paint the picture for what you guys did not see in that one-minute video,” she said. Apparently, the couple married in Georgia, but Bromfield is from Jamaica, and several friends and family members were denied visas to enter the country for the big day, which took an emotional toll.
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And the bad news just kept coming. On the day of the wedding, someone close to the couple who was supposed to deliver the first speech at the reception wasn’t able to be there. Bromfield was told five minutes before the first look and walked into the iconic moment “basically holding back tears” and “overstimulated,” so Lyles was just trying to cheer her up.
“In that moment, that reaction that I got from Noah was exactly what I needed, because he tried to make me happy,” she insisted. Bromfield also clarified that Lyles only commented on the style of the dress because it “surprised” him since she prefers form-fitting looks and told him she would be wearing a mermaid-style wedding dress.
Even with Bromfield speaking out on behalf of her husband, many people still weren’t satisfied.
Another TikTok user named Milly posted a video that has racked up almost 4 million views, in which she insisted that “he hates her!” Multiple women left photos from their own first looks in the comments, showing their husbands welling up with emotion upon seeing them.
Anna Tarazevich | Pexels
This serves as a reminder that while all celebrities, including athletes, have quite a few fans, they also have plenty of haters. Media psychology professor Pamela Rutledge, PhD, argued that there is no difference between a hater and a bully, and that social media has just made this behavior worse.
No two people are the same, so they’re not going to have identical reactions. Some don’t show emotion as readily as others, but that doesn’t mean they don’t feel it. It’s not fair for a bunch of strangers to judge Lyles’ reaction and, by extension, his dynamic with his wife, based on the little information they know about him.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
