Dreams come true when you set your mind to it. Just ask Simone Biles.
Years before she stuck a perfect landing on the front of a Wheaties box, the four-time Olympic gold medalist actually kept a homemade version that had her face on it in her childhood bedroom. In an exclusive interview with E! News' Francesca Amiker, Simone—who is now an actual partner of Wheaties and Friends of the Children, a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to the ongoing mentorship of youth—looked back at how she manifested the collaboration.
"It was my first world championship: I was 16, I had just won it and my teammates made a fake Wheaties box for me and put my picture on it," she recalled. "That was actually in my childhood room—and it's still there! I just think that's the cutest thing, to just have that to look up [to] every day."
So, when Simone learned that the iconic cereal brand will be releasing a new limited edition box featuring her visage and life story, it was a complete full circle moment.
"I was like, 'Yes! That is my lifelong dream,'" the 25-year-old said. "As a sports athlete, you want to be the greatest. You want to be the best. You want to be able to put your name out there and be proud of everything that you've accomplished."
What's more, Simone loves how her Wheaties box highlights her work with foster kids. As someone who was in and out of foster care until she was adopted by her maternal grandfather Ronald and his wife Nellie in 2000, the gymnast believes it's important to show the community that there's "somebody to hold their hand and say, 'Hey, you guys can do this. I believe in you.'"
"This box is really special," explained Simone, who first appeared on a Wheaties box back in June 2022. "This is a little bit of a deeper dive into what I'm passionate about and why I do the things that I do."
She continued, "As a young girl growing up in foster care, I always wanted to make an impact, but I didn't know how impactful or big I could become just by speaking out."
And by sharing her own journey, the athlete hopes to "make a huge impact on those kids like, 'Wow, look how far Simone's made it. Look at the work that she does.'"
As Simone quipped, "How much more impactful can be if it was on a Wheaties box?"