Married at First Sight alum Rachel Gordillo has revealed the breaking point in her marriage to Jose San Miguel Jr. and how their relationship ended on bad terms.
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Rachel and Jose were the only Married at First Sight Season 13 couple who stayed together on "Decision Day," which aired in November 2021, but they ultimately filed for divorce in December 2021.
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The pair initially seemed like a perfect match and couldn't keep their hands off each other during the honeymoon phase of the experiment, but Rachel and Jose discovered major differences once they began living together.
Rachel and Jose's biggest argument of the season was when Rachel accidentally called Jose by their co-star's name, Johnny, and he yelled at her to leave their apartment.
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Jose, who was clearly furious, proceeded to lock his wife out of their apartment that evening. Jose claimed the lock-out was an accident, but Rachel didn't believe him and lost her sense of security in their marriage.
During the Married at First Sight: Former Cast Tell-All special that aired April 3 on Lifetime, Rachel admitted that watching that big fight back on TV was actually the straw that broke the camel's back in her marriage, resulting in the former couple's divorce filing several weeks later.
"The security-camera fight, obviously I was there, but I don't remember it being that bad," Rachel recalled of Jose telling her to pack her bags and get out.
Rachel said, "The whole world was like, 'I would've left right then and there' [due to] being locked out and being yelled at like that... But it was the day after [that was worse], him not apologizing."
Rachel said she and Jose watched that scene unfold together on the night it aired on Lifetime.
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"We watched it together the day it aired; we were still a couple," Rachel said.
"And that kind of led to the falling out and then our complete breakup... I don't think he ever fully understood how wrong that was, and maybe it was because I remained so calm [in the moment]."
Rachel recalled of that episode viewing, "I told him, 'We're going to watch it together. I'm going to feel a certain way, so get ready to apologize again.' That's what I told him. I gave him the manual of how to handle the situation."
"We watch it, and I'm like, 'I don't remember you saying that!'" Rachel confessed.
"I was like, 'Oh, this is worse!' A co-worker texted him and was like, 'You're so lucky she forgave you for that; you should apologize again.' And he goes, 'Ugh!' Can you believe it?! He was very concerned of his image vs. [thinking], 'I really messed up.'"
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Rachel claimed Jose "couldn't give her" what she needed after watching that distressing footage back on Lifetime.
"I need someone who's going to take care of my heart," Rachel explained. "At the end of the day, you need to be with somebody that respects you and speaks to you in a respectful way. And that's when I realized it, that he's not that person."
Rachel shared that she and Jose had a trip scheduled to travel to Cancun, Mexico the very next day.
"And it just went downhill... [I need] a good travel partner, and when you can't even do that, I told him, 'We're done,'" Rachel said.
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Rachel said after the breakup, she and Jose were supposed to do their final counseling session.
"He never showed up, and then I was blocked," Rachel revealed. "So then I was like, 'Okay, let's get these divorce papers done.' And then it was signature, signature, [finished]."
During the Married at First Sight season, Jose and Rachel fought primarily about finances. Rachel, embracing her independence, wanted separate accounts and sometimes felt like Jose would prefer being married to a "kept" woman.
Rachel also told her husband that she wanted new experiences and to travel frequently, especially internationally. Jose, on the other hand, was focused on saving money and welcoming children in the near future. His idea of a vacation was going skiing in the U.S.
But the larger issue appeared to be Jose's temper and alleged controlling nature.
However, with love at the core of their relationship, Rachel and Jose chose to stay married on "Decision Day."
But then Rachel revealed during the mid-November reunion special that she and Jose had split only three or four weeks after filming Decision Day.
"He got a little impatient with me when it came to moving in my stuff, so I didn't feel like it was our home. I was like, 'You know what? I don't want this to be my marriage,' and so I decided to leave," Rachel revealed.
But Jose wasn't ready to give up on his dream partner. He was actively wooing and trying to win her back at the time.
Rachel called the turn of events a "reset" for her marriage, but she noted that Jose needed to change and stop being "mean" and "passive aggressive." She also didn't appreciate his "condescending tone."
Rachel was planning to take it slow and revealed that she and Jose had already been talking on the phone for hours every night. But she had no desire to rush back into living with him.
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During the Married at First Sight: Where Are They Now? special that aired on Lifetime in late November 2021, Rachel and Jose were fully back in their relationship and Rachel had moved in with her husband again.
However, the pair announced the end of their relationship one month after the special aired in a statement to People.
"After much thought, we have decided that we are better off going our separate ways," Rachel and Jose told the magazine in a joint December 2021 statement.
"It's a decision we do not make lightly, but after some back and fourth and trying to make this marriage work we know this decision best serves our future."
The pair added, "The MAFS journey taught us a lot about ourselves and what we both need in a partner. We are grateful to all those who stood by us throughout the last eight-plus months."
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