Mary Fitzgerald has had her say after it was revealed she was legally married to her husband Romain Bonnet for almost two years before their televised wedding.
The Selling Sunset star, 39, tied the knot with her husband, 27, during a ceremony filmed on the show in October 2019, but it was recently revealed that the couple have actually been married since March 2018.
Mary has now declared that the wedding which was broadcast on the hit Netflix show was ‘absolutely real’ and not faked for the reality programme.
Speaking out: Mary Fitzgerald has had her say after it was revealed she was legally married to her husband Romain Bonnet for almost two years before their televised wedding
Speaking on Fubar radio on Thursday evening, Mary dismissed speculation that their second ceremony was set up for the cameras as she broke her silence on the first private wedding.
Mary explained: ‘Our wedding was absolutely real. We invited all of our friends and family. We didn’t tell anybody. We just signed the paper for personal reasons and then we wanted to wait until we could have our real wedding.’
She continued: ‘Romain’s never been married before. A wedding didn’t mean that much to me. I was happy to just go on a beach in Bali and I tried very hard to do that actually. No cameras, no anything, just our closest friends.’
Already marrie: The Selling Sunset star, 39, tied the knot with her husband, 27, during a ceremony filmed on the show in October 2019, but it was recently revealed that the couple have actually been married since March 2018
Divulging that the delay was down to logistics, she explained: ‘Two of my really close friends, Nicole who was the officiant and who signed as the witness, she was trying to get pregnant and then one of my other friends were too, and they can’t go…
‘So I was like, I don’t want to do that. And so we just waited until we could plan and do the wedding like we wanted.’
She was clearly bemused as to why this had gained so much attention, noting: ‘It’s not that big of a deal. They’re like, “the show’s fake, this is all fake”.
No way! Mary has now declared that the wedding which was broadcast on the hit Netflix show was ‘absolutely real’ and not faked for the reality programme (pictured in 2019)
‘We’re like, what are you talking about? You see all of our family! How can you fake that? That was our wedding! People sign a certificate all the time before they do their actual wedding.’
Last month it was revealed that the celebrity couple were deceptive about their nuptials, as they were legally married for months before the series began filming its first season, according to documents obtained by TMZ.
The couple’s marriage license and the certificate of marriage show that the two were married at a Ventura courthouse on March 9, 2018.
The real deal: Speaking on Fubar radio on Thursday evening, Mary dismissed speculation that their second ceremony was set up for the cameras as she broke her silence on the first private wedding
Mary wouldn’t begin filming Selling Sunset until June of 2018.
The marriage documents show that a deputy commissioner of civil marriage officiated, while a woman named Nicole Young was listed as the witness.
Despite already being legally married, the first season includes a scene in which Romain, a French model, proposes to his wife.
The updated timeline on their marriage suggests that much of the show devoted to Mary’s relationship and her wedding preparation was staged for the benefit of viewers.
On screen: Last month it was revealed that the celebrity couple were deceptive about their nuptials, as they were legally married for months before the series began filming its first season
A representative for the couple offered up an explanation for the confusing marriage timelines.
‘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, as they were still trying to see if their relationship would work out in the long term,’ they explained to Us Weekly.
‘In their minds, they weren’t properly married until the wedding that was filmed during the show.’
Although their rep referred to their marriage, the third for Mary, as a ‘civil union,’ a marriage-like status that confers the same state benefits but none of the federal benefits of marriage, the certificate posted by TMZ appears to be a marriage certificate, and California doesn’t offer civil unions.
Mary and Romain’s screen time in season one should them getting closer and developing their relationship, and he proposed to her at the end of the season.
The Oppenheim group realtor’s chaotic wedding planning was featured in the seconds season, but she was left scrambling after her wedding venue fell through with only a week before the planned ceremony in October 2019.
The day was saved after one of her wealthy clients offered her the use of his opulent home for her second round of nuptials.
Mary also noted that despite the real estate show’s huge success a fourth series is yet to be green lit by Netflix.
She said: ‘Netflix, they have their own way of doing everything and they have to see ratings, it takes them a certain amount of time and even if we’re all very confident that it’s going to get picked up, it’s done so much better than season one and two, so we’re pretty certain it’s going to but we don’t have the green light just yet.’
She continued: ‘I think season four will be really good if we get picked up.’
Mary explained: ‘Our wedding was absolutely real. We invited all of our friends and family. We didn’t tell anybody. We just signed the paper for personal reasons and then we wanted to wait until we could have our real wedding’ (pictured in May 2019)