The Bachelorette alum Rachel Lindsay has revealed that she wanted a prenuptial agreement with Bryan Abasolo prior to their wedding but he wasn't on the same page.
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"The reason I didn't [get one] is because the place I'm in now, you know, financially or however you want to define it, is totally different than when I got married," Rachel, 39, said on the June 9 episode of the "Hidden Gems With Natasha Parker" podcast.
"We were more level and I wasn't living in California."
Rachel and Bryan got engaged on The Bachelorette's thirteenth season, which aired 2017, and then they got married in August 2019. At that time, Rachel was an attorney from Texas and Bryan, 44, was working as a chiropractor in Miami, FL.
Rachel explained that when she and Bryan tied the knot, it was simply "a different time" in her life.
"We weren't on the same page with prenups. I didn't want it to be a bigger issue, so we didn't have one," Rachel admitted.
"Hindsight is 20/20, I would have done it [looking back now]. I always wanted to do it, but, again, we weren't on the same page when it came to that.
After more than four years of marriage, Bryan filed for divorce from Rachel in January. He's now asking for spousal support and $75,000 to cover his legal fees.
According to court documents pertaining to Rachel and Bryan's divorce, Rachel is footing most of the bills while she and Bryan continue to live together in the same North Hollywood house post-split, Us Weekly reported last month.
Given Rachel had worked as a lawyer before transitioning into the entertainment industry, she has received a lot of flack from fans for not making Bryan sign a prenup five years ago.
"I'm hearing all these conversations about how marriage is a business and it's contractual, but when go into it, you really don't think of it that way because of the love you have for that person," Rachel explained.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"And it's hard to say, 'I'm going to go in and treat this like it's a business,' because that's how I functioned in all of my relationships before, and I wasn't successful. So I was trying to lead with love and not going into it thinking logically."
Now that Rachel has experience with divorce, she insisted that everybody should sign a prenup before exchanging vows, no matter one's pre-marriage financial situation.
"I'm not the same person that I was when I got married," Rachel said.
"You're just not. And that's why a prenup is necessary because you're dealing with dissolving a marriage, and you're two different people. My mistake is expecting that the people will be handle it in the same way."
The Season 13 The Bachelorette star elaborated of her advice to future spouses, "I think every person should have a prenup because I could have never predicted that in 2024, I would be getting a divorce. You just never know what life's going to throw at you, what's going to happen."
Rachel pointed out how prenups have a negative connotation, which steers many couples away from signing one.
"It's not unsexy and it doesn't mean you're planning for divorce. It's just smart," she insisted.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
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"I came off The Bachelorette, I had a successful relationship. Everybody loved that it was successful and now it's not," Rachel told Natasha.
"It doesn't mean that it wasn't at times, it just didn't end that way -- it didn't have a happy ending. So I think people will look at me in a different way because it didn't work.
Rachel shared how she's now focused on what will make her happy and fulfilled.
"It is a happy ending in the sense that I'm doing what's best for me, and with divorce -- even if it's mutual -- there's a bit of a selfish decision in it, but I'm doing what's best for me and that's a happy ending," Rachel noted.
"Right now as I'm going through it. No, it's not happy, it's messy -- unnecessarily messy -- but when I get through it I'm going to have to rebuild and I'm going to have to restructure, but it's a happy ending because it's what I want."
After Bryan and Rachel's August 2019 wedding, Rachel briefly moved to Miami to be with Bryan. Rachel then relocated to California for a job at Extra, resulting in the pair trying to make a long-distance marriage work.
Bryan, apparently believing he and Rachel were a team, subsequently moved from Florida to Los Angeles, CA, for the sake of Rachel's entertainment career, which now includes multiple podcasts and two books. (Rachel no longer works for Extra).
"I placed my career as a chiropractor on hold to move twice for Rachel's career. These moves were detrimental to my chiropractic business, while Rachel's income and success as a media personality skyrocketed," Bryan wrote in an early May court filing amid the divorce, according to Us.
Bryan also wrote, "I want to move out of our Family Residence as soon as possible, but maintaining our standard of living is not financially feasible at this time... [And she is] refusing to give me access to any of our community property funds to pay my divorce lawyer, my forensic accountant, or any of my personal expenses."
Rachel's legal team stated in paperwork filed on May 10, "Rachel has expressed her desire to resolve this matter quietly, without court intervention, by way of a global settlement, which is forthcoming," according to Us.
"In the meantime, Bryan continues to reside in Rachel's home, for which Rachel pays 90 percent of all expenses."
Rachel also asked the court to seal her financial details from the public eye, claiming that filing them could "potentially cause irreparable harm," as well as seal redacted portions of Bryan's request for spousal support and attorney's fees filed on May 1.
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"I didn't think I was going to get emotional," Rachel said through tears.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
After thanking family and friends for their support, she said she was "obviously" going through "a difficult time."
The Season 13 The Bachelorette star continued, "And you're probably wondering why I would even work. But to be honest with you, I need to distract myself from myself, and the best way to do that is to do something that I love -- and I love 'Higher Learning' -- and so I am going to try my best to get through this podcast."
The former attorney, however, told her listeners of her divorce, "But I'm not going to talk about it."
"I will eventually," Rachel clarified, "but now is not the time. I'm just trying to take it day by day."
When Bryan announced his divorce filing in January, he wrote on Instagram, "If you've been following me for a while, you know I don't like to put my personal affairs on social media and like to keep a safe space for our family."
"Many of you know me as a chiropractor," he elaborated, "and also as a husband, my proudest role so far. After more than 4 years of marriage, Rachel and I have made the difficult decision to part ways and start anew."
The chiropractor continued, "My parents have been married forever and I'm a family man, but sometimes loving yourself and your partner means you must let go."
Bryan wrote how he wanted fans to "hear it from the source" before reading about his breakup with Rachel in "the blogs," allowing people to make up "their own reality."
Bryan concluded of his 38-year-old estranged wife, "Please respect the spaces of our family and friends as we figure out our next steps. Respectfully, Bryan."
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Rachel told Nick Viall on the December 21 episode of "The Viall Files" podcast that she and Bryan were living "totally different lives" and didn't "work well together."
But Rachel shared in May 2022 that she and the former "Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation" podcast host had been "already taking steps" to have their first child together.
Bryan added at the time, "I'll be ready when it happens. That's the attitude you've got to have. I don't think anyone is ever ready for it; they just do it. And baby after baby, maybe it gets easier."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
