90 Day Fiance couple Chantel Everett and Pedro Jimeno appear to fight more than they love each other on The Family Chantel, so did their marriage survive their sparring families -- and are they still together or have they split?
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Chantel met Pedro online over four years ago when she was looking to learn Spanish and a friend connected her with Pedro, who was also hoping to better his English.
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Chantel and Pedro first appeared on Season 4 of TLC's 90 Day Fiance and then starred on Seasons 2, 3 and 4 of its Happily Ever After? spinoff.
After communicating over the phone and video chat, Chantel decided to travel to the Dominican Republic so she could meet Pedro face to face.
It didn't take long for the couple to fall in love, although a friend of Pedro's family, Obed, claims Pedro meeting Chantel was a setup by his sister Nicole and mother Lidia.
After Chantel visited Pedro in the Dominican Republic a couple more times, Pedro proposed marriage and she accepted. Pedro then moved to the United States on his K-1 visa when he was 24 years old.
The pair got engaged, but Chantel decided to downplay the significance of their relationship in fear of how her family would react or what they might think.
Chantel, who was 25 at the time, therefore told her loved ones that Pedro was just visiting on a student visa.
Chantel's family was definitely suspicious of Pedro and his motives once they finally learned she and Pedro would be getting married. They worried he just wanted Chantel's money and/or a Green Card.
As a result, Chantel's parents demanded Chantel and Pedro sign a prenuptial agreement in order to protect Chantel's financial interests before their wedding. They also hired a private investigator to research Pedro's family background and determine if he already had a wife or any children back in his native country.
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RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOWChantel's family thought it was strange Pedro was constantly sending money home to his mother and sister in the Dominican Republic and wondered if he was hiding something.
Pedro hated that Chantel's family didn't trust him, and Chantel found herself in the middle of her relatives and the man she loved.
As fans may recall, Season 3 of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? concluded with Pedro getting into a blowout fight with Chantel's family at the dinner table.
When a conversation at the table got heated, Pedro apparently told someone to be quiet and then River yelled at Pedro for being disrespectful.
Pedro then ran across the table and seemingly tried to hit River, which resulted in a broken light and food scattered about. Tempers flared, weaves were pulled off, and the scene culminated into Chantel crying in a chair.
Chantel subsequently revealed she was not ready to try for a baby and expand their family due to all the chaos and family tension.
Chantel believed Pedro was out of line, regardless of who had started the fight, and she was angry he refused to apologize to her family and take some responsibility. Pedro, however, was waiting for Chantel's brother to say sorry and for Chantel to stand by him.
Pedro also wanted Chantel to fix her relationship with his sister and mother.
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As shown on 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?'s fourth season, the couple met with an immigration attorney to discuss the renewal of Pedro's U.S. Green Card, and Pedro mentioned potentially opening a business in his home country while continuing to live in the United States.
"Was this your plan all along? To come here and marry me just for a green card so you can leave me, use me and start your business?" Chantel vented to cameras.
Pedro then hopped on a flight to the Dominican Republic to visit his family with a heavy and confused heart. He didn't know whether his marriage was going to make it or not.
Chantel -- who worried her marriage was "doomed" when she dropped Pedro off at the airport -- told the cameras at the time, "Right now, I feel like my marriage could be lost."
While in the Dominican Republic, Pedro's mom Lidia and sister Nicole tried to convince Pedro to end his relationship with Chantel. One of Nicole's friends, Coraima, also flirted with Pedro and danced with him one night to try to get him to loosen up and have fun.
Chantel eventually crashed Pedro's trip -- against Pedro's wishes -- and found out Coraima had given Pedro a lap dance.
The trip also included many awkward and heated meetings for Chantel and Pedro's loved ones, but no solution was ever reached and neither side apologized for their ongoing problems.
"You're the cause of all of this. You don't deserve Pedro," Nicole told Chantel.
Chantel vented her "marriage [was] over" and "it's done." She accused Pedro of acting like "a little b-tch" around his family.
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Pedro said he felt stuck in the middle of Chantel and his loved ones, but then Chantel noted she felt the same exact way in Atlanta, GA.
Chantel later learned from her friend Obed that her marriage might have been a setup.
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Ironically, Chantel's mother previously accused Lidia of running an operation to help women from the Dominican Republic find American men -- a financial venture Pedro had denied.
Chantel was upset because she thought her relationship with Pedro had been a fairy tale.
"So you think Pedro was only a means for them to move up in the social status here?" Chantel asked Obed. "And that he fell in love with me, and because I'm the woman in his life now, they're jealous of me or something?"
"Yeah," Obed said.
Chantel wanted to believe she and Pedro genuinely fell in love despite the "conniving, evil, malicious" beginnings of everything.
Pedro later apologized to Chantel for behaving recklessly that one night out and for betraying her trust. He also insisted he was never involved with a marriage scheme as Obed had suggested.
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"You need to believe me... I am going to do everything to make you happy... Nobody loves you the way that I love you," Pedro told his wife.
Chantel seemed to buy what Pedro was selling, but she still didn't trust Nicole and Lidia.
Chantel then asked Pedro to come home with her to the United States, and he said he would to make her happy. Pedro admitted in that moment his wife came before family and he was out to prove she was more important to him than anyone else.
Before leaving for the United States, Chantel refused to say goodbye to Pedro's family, which really disappointed and upset him.
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After a few days, Chantel realized Pedro had resorted back to his old ways. She accused him of playing video games constantly and not being present in their relationship.
But Pedro felt he had given up everything for Chantel and she didn't appreciate all that he did for her.
Pedro was tired of getting asked the same questions all the time about his love, so he told Chantel to go find another man if she's not happy with him.
Chantel screamed at Pedro for talking to her like a dog, and then Pedro accused Chantel of causing drama.
"Sometimes I want this thing over, you know? Damn!" Pedro vented, as Chantel cried alone in their bedroom.
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During the Part 1 of the Tell-All special for 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?'s fourth season, Chantel admitted there was "a lot of friction" between herself and her husband.
Chantel then watched footage of Pedro taking off his wedding ring, partying and dancing with his sister Nicole's friend Coraima. Chantel immediately broke down into tears, accusing Pedro of wanting to "hang out with hoes."
"I never cheated on you," Pedro insisted to Chantel, although he said during the footage that Coraima looked good that night. "I've said 'sorry' so many times for what happened that night -- and it's never going to happen again."
Pedro said he had been in depression over the past couple of months and felt "really down" because his wife never took his side. He and Chantel weren't sure whether their relationship could bounce back from all of this drama and family tension.
"I don't know whether to stay in this marriage and stay here with my wife... or f-ck off," Pedro admitted.
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During Part 2 of the Tell-All special, Chantel was feeling "pretty hopeless" about her marriage. She didn't know whether she could trust Pedro, especially because he had taken his ring off and put it in a drink during his vacation in the Dominican Republic.
Chantel also didn't approve of the fact Pedro had been "loose" with his sister Nicole's girlfriends during his wild night out.
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The pair both left the taping fed up with each other and tired.
Chantel and Pedro are currently starring on The Family Chantel, which premiered on July 22 on TLC.
The Family Chantel stars Pedro, Chantel and their lively in-laws and siblings.
The debut episode of The Family Chantel featured Chantel reuniting with her family following her trip to the Dominican Republic.
Chantel explained Pedro's behavior in the Dominican Republic to her family as well as Obed's claims about her marriage being a setup.
"I basically found out that our whole marriage is a scam," Chantel told her family.
Karen that gloated that she "knew it" and saw that from the beginning.
"It's almost borderline body trafficking," Karen said, referencing how Pedro's family allegedly used Chantel.
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Karen and Thomas felt the need to step in and handle the situation because they believed Chantel's husband had "crossed the line." The pair, along with Chantel's sister Winter, therefore drove to Pedro's place for a confrontation.
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Chantel said her family hadn't been in the same room with Pedro since he physically fought River at the dining table over one year ago.
Pedro was not happy Chantel's family bombarded him with questions -- and a taser -- in his own apartment, but Karen and Thomas demanded answers about his flirtation with other women.
Pedro refused to talk, so then Karen changed the subject and asked about Chantel's marriage being an alleged setup so that Pedro's family could benefit from and have access to the American economy.
"Is this true?" Karen asked in reference to Obed's claims.
Pedro said "yes" just so Chantel's family would hear what they wanted to hear. Pedro insisted the situation wasn't true but he was tired of fighting them and defending himself. It had been about four years of drama at this point.
"You must think my daughter is like a business, like a store. But guess what? Nothing is for sale!" Karen yelled.
Karen told Pedro he needed to transform and grow, but then he and Chantel asked everyone to leave.
"He has lost his mind," Karen told the cameras. "I'm concerned about him, but most of all, I'm concerned about [Chantel]. I do not 100 percent feel Chantel is safe in her marriage, and that upsets me tremendously."
Chantel felt "hopeless" and confessed she "never thought things would get this bad."
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Pedro told Chantel afterwards that her family had no manners and they had no right to tell him how to behave in his marriage.
"Alright, I'm finished," Chantel said in tears, leaving the room.
Chantel's family friend, Bishop Watson, later advised her to attend family counseling.
Although Pedro pushed back on the idea at first, he ultimately agreed to attend counseling sessions with his wife's family because he loved her and wanted to support her.
Pedro was later shown FaceTiming his sister Nicole to share the news of his latest fight with Chantel's family and the fact he'd be going to family counseling.
"You should have called the police!" Nicole said. "Each time they show me how crazy they are, how they have psychological problems."
Nicole was tired of Chantel's family "attacking" Pedro, and she thought the situation was very ugly.
Nicole then dropped a bomb on viewers.
"Did you tell her that mommy and I are coming to live in the United States?" Nicole asked Pedro on the phone.
Pedro revealed he wanted to bring his family over to the United States because it's the American dream.
"But I have not told Chantel yet. I am scared," Pedro told the cameras.
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Pedro was afraid to add to the problems that already existed between Chantel and himself and their two families. He expected Chantel to be "so pissed" with him.
"Listen to me. You have to say to her, 'Either you accept it or if you don't want to continue with me, then leave me. We'll end this. We'll get a divorce.' Period. Get a divorce. Leave her," Nicole told her brother.
In a subsequent episode of The Family Chantel, Pedro was then shown meeting with an immigration lawyer, Erin Elliott, to discuss how he could bring his loved ones over to the United States permanently. Pedro learned he must become a U.S. citizen before he could sponsor them.
Erin revealed Pedro had two years until he could become a U.S. citizen and then the process of bringing his mother over would probably take a year-and-a-half. There was an exception, however, if Pedro was married to and living with a U.S. citizen, which he clearly was.
Pedro needed to show evidence of his marriage and then an interview would be necessary for both Pedro and his wife together.
Pedro didn't think Chantel would cooperate since she didn't get along with his family. Pedro's plan seemed like a longshot, especially because it would cost him about $10,000 to bring both his mother and sister over to America.
Nicole predicted Chantel's family would try to "sabotage" the process of their immigration, and Lidia called Chantel "a phony."
Pedro later broke the news of his plans to Chantel and her family during their first counseling session.
"I feel like nobody's on my side... This here is not my family. That's why I want to bring my mom and my sister living with me in the United States," Pedro announced.
"What did he just say?!" Karen yelled.
"What the hell?" Thomas noted.
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Chantel said she was "so, so furious" Pedro "dropped that bomb in family counseling." She called it "such a betrayal."
Chantel was confused and had no idea about this. It took everything in Chantel not to get up and leave the room, but she didn't want her loved ones to watch them argue during the session.
Pedro said having his loved ones around would make things better for him, and Karen alleged Pedro always had "ulterior motives for marrying Chantel."
Chantel added that Lidia and Nicole coming to America was just going "to make matters worse."
"I don't want them to come here, because all they care about is making my life hell," Chantel said.
Chantel and Pedro later got into an argument over what had transpired during the counseling session, resulting in Pedro stepping out of Chantel's idled car on a busy street.
"You act like you don't trust me. All I want is someone to be honest and open with me... We used to be able to finish each other's sentences. Now, I don't even know who you are," Chantel told her husband.
"So you saying I'm a stranger? Kick me out of the house. This is how you want it," Pedro replied.
So did Chantel and Pedro work through their issues? Did they stay together after filming The Family Chantel?
Rumors recently swirled Chantel and Pedro may have split, and Chantel posted a May 4 comment on Instagram that prompted speculation her relationship is in trouble.When a fan speculated Chantel and Pedro have split, Chantel just replied, "Seriously."
It was unclear at the time whether she meant "seriously" as a question out of disbelief or as a statement confirming it's true.
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But it appears Chantel and Pedro are still together and married after all!
Chantel and Pedro are secretive about their relationship and largely refrain from posting photos and updates of themselves together on social media -- presumably due to their contracts with TLC -- but it seems pretty clear their relationship hasn't ended.
Not only were the couple an item when they recently filmed The Family Chantel, but in July, Chantel said she and Pedro were still trying to fix the problems in their marriage.
"We have our differences that we're still working on. We have our challenges, but that's something that will play out on the show," Chantel told E! News in an interview.
"There is no such thing as a perfect relationship, and we have our flaws."
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Despite their flaws, Chantel also told People in late July if she could go back and do it all over again, she'd still choose to be with Pedro.
"I would still choose to marry him, but I would definitely have more realistic expectations," Chantel said.
Chantel and Pedro wouldn't still be working on issues if they had split and gone their separate ways!
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
