25 Shocking Reveals from the ‘The Ultimatum’ Reunion

Netflix’s The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On never suffered from a shortage of surprises. The premise alone was enough to make jaws drop — and you’re mistaken if you think I’m going to even attempt to summarize this show’s concept. If you’re here, then you’ve already watched all of Season 1 and you’re very much aware of the chaos that this show rained down upon six couples. They thought they knew what they were signing up for, but they really had no idea.

As with any scandalous Netflix reality romance series, the journey is not complete until the cast members sit down with hosts Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey and look back at all of the decisions they made in front of millions of subscribers. It’s been a while since all of these pairs either broke up or got engaged and a lot has happened over the past few months. Now that everyone’s had a chance to watch the show and reflect upon their actions and the consequences, it’s time to get them all back in a room together and see what happens.

SPOILERS ahead if you haven’t watched the reunion yet. And if you have, here are 25 shocking facts from this wild hour of television.

1. Madlyn and Colby are expecting a baby girl.

Colby is so proud of this, almost creepily so, like he’s not sure if everyone else onstage gets where babies come from. Then Madlyn says, “It wasn’t trying to get pregnant, but trying not for him to get me pregnant.” So… yeah. Anyway — the Lacheys give the first Ultimatum baby (which sounds like the kinda thing you’d only find in a Marvel comic) her very own silver goblet sippy cup.

2. Through going to therapy, Lauren and Nate have agreed to have one (1) baby for now.

First, congratulations to Lauren and Nate for doing the completely normal thing of seeing a therapist. That’s much less convoluted than applying for and getting on a Netflix reality romance show! Second, the way Lauren holds up a finger when she smiles and says they’ve agreed to have precisely one baby is a good indicator that she’s ready to teach a baby about numbers.

3. Hunter and Alexis are getting married in June 2022 — and Hunter’s mom is the wedding planner.

Seriously, that’s saving them about $25,000! Which — wedding planners cost $25,000??? Everything about straight marriage culture is wild.

4. If April’s pregnancy scare had turned out to be for real, Jake would have been there for her and the baby.

Whatever doubt he had about his relationship with April, there was no doubt in his mind about this.

5. Nick and Vanessa Lachey have both snuck a peek at each other’s phones before.

Vanessa was shocked that Nick figured out her password! After this, thought, the couple saw a therapist who told them that that level of distrust ain’t healthy. Therapy — what a concept!

6. Jake is still single.

As will be elaborated upon later, Jake and Rae are not together. In fact, Jake has spent the six months since the end of The Ultimatum focusing on himself.

7. April felt disrespected by Jake’s connection with Rae.

“Watching it unfold, I could tell immediately when Jake and I moved in that he wanted to be back with Rae.” April says this was her lowest point in the entire experience, and watching Jake instead check in on Rae rather than with her made her feel very disrespected.

8. April and Jake lived together for months after filming wrapped.

April says she stayed at Jake’s place for months even though they were broken up. “It was just routine,” she said.

9. Now April lives with her new boyfriend.

It’s not discussed who April’s new dude is, but she says she’s in a serious relationship with someone who apparently will never stop talking about getting married to her. They live together and she’s sure that if she did The Ultimatum with him, they’d end up married. Hopefully she won’t have to, though! Seems like he’s ready!

10. Rae and Jake did not go on a trip together after filming — and Rae and Zay have different explanations as to why.

Rae says that both she and Jake needed time to heal after the whole splitting-with-your-longterm-partner-on-a-Netflix-reality-show thing. She says it would have been insensitive to Zay and April — but Zay says that the trip didn’t happen because he was still with Rae. Zay seems to think that he and Rae didn’t split up during the show for some reason. I mean, we saw what we saw and the edit made it seem pretty clear!

11. Zay has an excuse and an alibi for his M.I.A. night.

According to Zay, his phone died (which is why he didn’t respond to Rae’s texts) and then he passed out at a friend’s house. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it! And Rae doesn’t seem too picky about the particulars. She’s just mad that Zay did not come home until 8 a.m.

12. Zay and Rae: Relationship Status

Zay is single. Rae is openly exploring/expressing her bisexuality and is in what sounds like a very positive relationship with a woman. Hopefully Rae and her GF are in a great place and not on the upcoming all-queer season of The Ultimatum — !

13. Shanique had a very different idea of what The Ultimatum would be — and she felt betrayed.

From her POV, she saw Randall “fully immersing himself in his relationship with Madlyn” and that made her feel betrayed. Even though she knew what the show was about, she was “jealous” of Madlyn. And when Shanique did give into her physical attraction to Zay, that just made her realize that Randall was — take a shot every time someone says this — her person.

14. Rae is still very angry that Zay did not tell her about him hooking up with Shanique.

Shanique told Randall about it, but Zay never told Rae. This righteously pissed Rae off because apparently Zae kept accusing Rae of going further with Jake than she ever did. Zay actually did all of the things that he accused Rae of doing. This argument gets very heated when Zay interrupts Rae to apologize (at least he says that’s what he was going to do). Vanessa has to press the STOP button this whole thing because it’s taking up so much time!

15. Shanique and Randall broke up for six months.

The engagement you saw in the finale didn’t stick, even though Shanique knew that it was sincere. Something still wasn’t clicking with them as a couple, so they took a break. They took a long break. Six months is a while! Shanique dated a little during that time, but Randall couldn’t. Absence made the heart grow fonder and time apart helped them realize how much they meant to each other. Now they’re back together and happier than ever. It’s like they did The Ultimatum but for real this time.

16. Madlyn and Colby’s marriage is just incredible.

Colby’s constantly impressed by how easy Madlyn’s pregancy is for him. He says she “has no problems, no aches, no nothing. She is just like an absolute champ about it.” Madlyn says they don’t fight anymore because now that they’re married, it’s not Madlyn vs. Colby anymore — it’s Madlyn and Colby vs. a problem.

17. Madlyn’s dad was a bit shocked by her sudden marriage.

Do you blame him? His daughter disappears and comes back home married to a guy that she almost dumped at least twice during the course of filming. Dad’s come around, though, and her mom approved immediately.

18. Madlyn’s friends are now #TeamColby.

Okay, there’s not a hashtag (please god don’t let there be a hashtag), but all of Madlyn’s friends who saw Colby’s temper tantrum now totally support him. According to Madlyn, they only talked shit about him behind his back because they knew Madlyn was angry with him. But now that they’re married? They love the guy! Absolutely none of them are putting on a smile and biting their tongues every time Colby comes around.

19. Colby admits that hooking up with a woman outside of The Ultimatum, acting like he did that for Madlyn, and then refusing to accept any blame at all was wrong and very dumb.

That’s what she was trying to tell you for multiple episodes!

20. Alexis needs Hunter to know that if he had done what Colby did, the $25,000 they’re saving on a wedding planner would go towards a funeral.

21. Somehow Colby is now the #1 stud of The Ultimatum.

When asked who they would chose to partner up with if they had to do it over again, Colby and April picked each other (remember, those two were leftovers who got stuck together). Shanique also picked Colby! Somehow Colby has recruited Shanique, April, and Madlyn to #TeamColby. Alexis does not seem to be impressed.

22. Hunter says that Nate learned the least from this experience.

The guy who never talked said this about the guy who only talked about babies, and then April pre-empts any reaction from Nate by joking that Nate didn’t learn much because he left early.

23. Shanique learned that olive oil can be used as lube.

Oh my god.

24. Colby and Vanessa also agree that coconut oil can be used as lube.

Make this stop.

25. After enduring all of this, which cast members are for giving your partner an ultimatum?

Alexis is in favor because she got engaged. Colby and Madlyn are for it because they are now bonded for life by a growing baby who will soon be their person. And April is pro-ultimatum because the experience ended her relationship with Jake and now she’s with someone who will not stop talking about marriage.

Stream The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On on Netflix