Selling Sunset's Mary Fitzgerald and Romain Bonnet secretly married a year before TV wedding
Neither the couple’s friends and family or viewers knew that the reality couple were already married when their TV ceremony took place, according to a representative
![[Rex Features]](https://static.the-independent.com/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2020/08/24/10/shutterstock-editorial-10232185bo.jpg)
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Now in its third season on Netflix, the real estate reality show Selling Sunset has attracted viral levels of attention.
However, the fact that the series’ longest standing on-screen couple Romain Bonnet and Mary Fitzgerald were already married when their nuptials were filmed for the series had remained a secret until now.
The couple’s backyard ceremony featured in the finale of series two of the show.
However, Fitzgerald’s representative has now revealed that the couple had a civil union in 2018 - 19 months before their on-screen wedding was filmed in October 2019.
"Mary and Romain had a civil union a couple of months before the show began filming in June of 2018, but they chose not to tell any of their friends or family”, the rep told People.
“They were still trying to see if their relationship would work out in the long term.
“In their minds, they weren’t properly married until the wedding that was filmed during the show”, Fitzgerald's rep added.
This week a license was obtained by TMZ from the Ventura Courthouse in California, which confirms that the ceremony took place on 9 March 2018.
In the wedding which aired on television, the couple had an outdoor ceremony at one of the homes which Fitzgerald was trying to sell.
The 39-year-old was given away by her father and son, 22-year-old Austin Babbitt.
Fitzgerald was even filmed showing a prospective client around the property on her wedding day.
The union between the couple was a major focus of the second series and caused friction between female staff at their workplace, The Oppenheim Group, after 27-year-old Bonnet refused to allow Fitzgerald’s fellow realtor Davina Potratz to attend.
The French chef and model claimed that Potratz was disrespectful about his choice of engagement ring for his then fiancée.
Series three also features a wedding, with agent Christine Quinn marrying retired tech millionaire Christian Richard in a ceremony planned in just a few months.
It hit headlines this week as it was revealed Quinn's two wedding gowns cost $50,000 (£38,000).
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments