Chantel Jimeno is, by far, one of the most explosive and downright captivating characters
to ever grace TLC's 90 Day Fiancé. You may think you know everything about her, but
when it comes to shockers and plot twists, this reality stunner is all about shaking things up!
"Y'all ready?" Fans were quick to notice a major
difference between Chantel and her siblings. Her brother and sister, River and Winter,
seemed to have names that followed a nature theme. And Chantel, clearly, did not. But
rumor has it that Chantel isn't the reality star's birth name at all. Several fans and outlets have
suggested that Chantel's real name — CeAir — is more in line with the family naming convention.
If CeAir is her birth name, it's not clear exactly why Chantel changed her name for the series.
Fans have floated several theories, ranging from a desire to maintain a degree of privacy
to pressure from the network to choose a more so-called "normal" name.
But while viewers may continue to speculate as to what her real name is,
only Chantel knows the true story. Before she became one of 90 Day Fiancé's
most popular stars, Chantel was a fan of the series herself. She revealed to E!,
"I used to watch 90 Day Fiancé while Pedro and I were dating. I really wanted to be a part of
the show because I wanted to show everybody how perfect I thought my relationship was."
"You know we have, like, a little bit of problem with […] the marriage."
"A lot of problems."
Despite her enthusiasm, Chantel was not prepared for the struggles she faced
in her own engagement and marriage. She shared with the Chicago Tribune,
"Before [when] I would watch the show and look at the situations the couples were going through,
I'd think, 'Oh, we're nothing like that. Our love is perfect. We're going to have a fantasy
life.' Once I got on the show, I realized no relationship is perfect. We have our
flaws. A lot of them too. […] It's hard to watch during those difficult moments of your life."
Many 90 Day couples meet on the internet, but Chantel and Pedro's meet-cute had a
real life connection, too. According to TLC, Chantel's Spanish tutor inadvertently played
cupid when they connected the future couple to be language learning buddies. The network noted,
"Chantel and Pedro met when Chantel's former Spanish teacher introduced her
to Pedro via Facebook to help her learn the language. Upon meeting,
they fell in love quickly and Pedro proposed to Chantel and moved to the U.S. for her."
"Pedro has the perfect body. He has a nice smile.
He's just…just…I don't know, I love me some Pedro."
When the couple landed on the show for Season 4, Chantel explained to audiences,
"The idea was for me to learn Spanish and for Pedro to learn English. But when I first saw
him online, I was attracted to him right away. So I decided to visit him in the Dominican Republic.
I thought that I was just going to have a little fun on vacation, but I fell in love.
On the third trip, he proposed." Like most couples on the show,
Chantel first brought her now-husband Pedro to the States on a K-1 visa. As fans know,
the visa allows a foreign fiancé to be with their U.S. citizen partner in the States
once they've declared their intention to marry. But the catch is, the pair has to wed within 90
days, or the non-citizen has to leave the country. According to U.S. Immigration,
"If your fiancé marries you within 90 days of
being admitted to the United States as a K-1 nonimmigrant,
he or she may apply for lawful permanent resident status in the United States (a Green Card)."
This meant that as soon as Pedro landed on American soil, he and Chantel had just three
months to tie the knot — which, of course, caused a whole lot of drama with her family.
"Now that he's here, it's gonna be so hard to hide this secret that we're engaged."
The Everett family — perhaps better known to fans as "The
Family Chantel" — has never fully trusted Pedro Jimeno. The roots of the in-laws'
trust issues go way back to the beginning of Pedro's 90 days in the States. Basically,
Chantel, who was just 25 when she and 24-year-old Pedro began their K-1 journey,
initially lied to her family, telling them that Pedro was in the country on a student visa.
Although the couple intended to tell the Everett family the
truth shortly after his arrival, the moment just never felt right,
and they ended up concealing the truth until just days before their Georgia wedding.
"He's actually here on a K-1 Visa."
"We have to get married on Thursday."
The lie planted deep seeds of distrust that Chantel's
family has never been able to fully shake. Even TLC noted,
"Now that they are married, they are struggling to start a life together
because Chantel's family doesn't trust Pedro after they lied about their engagement."
After their initial appearance on the show, Chantel and Pedro appeared on the spin-off series,
90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After. There, the couple invited viewers along for the
ride for their second wedding ceremony slash vow renewal in the Dominican Republic. TLC shared,
"In an effort to bring their families closer together, Chantel and Pedro have decided to
take her entire family to the Dominican Republic for a second wedding. However,
their good deed could further drive a wedge between the people that matter to them most."
"Both of our families were actually getting along.
It meant the world when I saw my parents and Pedro's mom dancing together."
But instead of finally mending Pedro's relationship with Chantel's family,
the event ultimately destroyed Chantel's relationship with Pedro's family.
By the end of the visit, both parties seemed more than happy to go their separate ways.
The drama between the Family Chantel and the Family Pedro might make for gripping reality TV,
but it doesn't make for the healthiest marriage. That's why the couple are committed to working to
fix the feuds between their families. Chantel told Hollywood Life in 2019,
"Since our families are a big problem that's affecting our relationship,
we will be attending family counseling. […] We are still working on trying to keep
things between Pedro and I and not letting the outside world affect us especially when it comes
to our families and people who love us and have strong opinions about what we should be doing."
"Tonight may be the last night to finally make things right between our families.
And leave the old negativity in the past and forget about it."
Pedro agrees that counseling has actually improved his and Chantel's
relationships — both with each other and with their in-laws. He told the AP in 2020,
"I believe that now, with the counseling, our marriage and the relationship between
me and Chantel, and between the families, [has] been improving a
little more. […] They accept me the way that I am. I accept them the way that they are.
Some days with their family we have problems, and we can sit down and talk, better than before."
In 2019, Chantel and Pedro made 90 Day Fiancé
history when TLC announced that the couple would star in their own spin-off series,
The Family Chantel. Network president, Howard Lee, said in a press release,
"This is an awesome moment for TLC, as we create a family show based on
one of our most popular 90 Day couples. […] Our fans can't get enough of Pedro,
Chantel and their larger-than-life families. For a brand known as THE destination for love,
relationships and family shows, THE FAMILY CHANTEL hits the bullseye."
"This go a little bit terrible right now."
"Your family is horrible."
The first season of the show featured the couple, as well as Chantel's parents, Karen and Thomas,
and her siblings, River and Winter. But, since the larger family now includes the in-laws, Pedro's
mother, Lidia, and his sister, Nicole, were also central to the storyline. The series was renewed
for a second season that launched in Fall 2020. Chantel and Pedro made it official during their
90-day window. But by 2020, their drama was going at least as strong as their love.
"I can't believe you're gonna embarrass me like that. You wanna play games with me?"
The couple has struggled with several issues since the beginning of their relationship — or
since the televised portion of it, anyway. Along with alienating Chantel's family by lying about
their engagement, Chantel has accused Pedro of being less-than-faithful during their union.
In a 2019 tell-all special for Happily Ever After, Chantel went off on Pedro for dancing
inappropriately with other women during his solo trip to the D.R. She said on the show,
"You went over there to hang out with h---. It just shows
that he really doesn't respect me or our relationship at all."
The dust-up even had Pedro questioning whether he wanted to stay with Chantel.
"We all know how things happen when you get around your friends."
"Sorry about that. I tell you sorry." In the trailer for Season 2 of The Family Chantel,
viewers were introduced to a previously unseen member of the Everett family: Chantel's brother,
Royal. His return to Atlanta shocked everyone when he introduced them to his fiancée,
Angenette , a woman from the Philippines who he met on Facebook when she friended him out
of the blue. Unsurprisingly, given their history with Pedro and the K-1 visa process, the entire
Everett family was immediately suspicious of the relationship — even Pedro and Chantel.
"I feel like maybe Royal doesn't trust you enough or something."
Later, during a trip to the Philippines to meet Angenette's family,
Chantel announced to her potential in-laws,
"We believe that she was fishing for an American guy."
But regardless of what the real story might be, the family was all on hand
for Royal and Angenette's wedding in 2020. Despite their drama, the couple appeared to be
in it for the long haul in 2019 when they launched their own company, Pedro & Chantel LLC, according
to InTouch. Not much is known about the business, but according to public records their focus
appears to be somewhere within the entertainment industry, perhaps as on-screen talent.
"That's between Pedro and me. If he wants to have a business, we're going to
plan before we start anything."
Still, this isn't the first time 90 Day fans have heard about a professional venture from the pair.
For several seasons, Pedro's plans to start a mysterious business in the Dominican Republic —
along with his mother and sister — had been a source of drama for the couple, and only served
to fuel the Everett family's suspicions that Pedro entered the marriage with an ulterior motive.
In addition to the work Chantel and Pedro might ultimately do through their company, Chantel is
building a personal brand as a social media influencer. On Instagram, she regularly posts
sponsored content ads for brands including Garma Guard, Jaanuu Scrubs, Allyson Rubin Cosmetics, and
what has almost become the unofficial TLC reality star detox tea on social media, Teami Blends.
But of all her partnerships, Chantel appears to be most closely aligned with
Teami Blends, for which she's posted multiple testimonials on Instagram. She wrote in 2019,
"I spend so much time in school and in the field that I don't always make the healthiest dinners
or I eat WAY too late. Without my Teami Blends detox I usually always go to bed with a stomach
ache and feeling so bloated afterwards. It's important to fuel your body and understand
how gut health affects you, which is why I love and continue to use this program."
While other celebs have been blasted for peddling Teami tea while pregnant — or
without acknowledging various other health considerations for fans — it's
possible Chantel just may one day step into that controversial arena with her brand partnership.
Even though they've had their ups and downs — all in front of a national audience — Chantel
has made it clear that she's ready to start a family with Pedro. In a 2019 video on Facebook,
the couple answered fan mail — and the subject of their next steps together came up almost
immediately. In the video, Chantel asked Pedro what he thinks the future holds for the couple,
suggesting a house or possibly even kids. But Pedro was less-than-enthusiastic
about the baby idea, prompting Chantel to point out the obvious.
"I don't feel ready now for the baby."
"You're never truly ready, and we're not getting any younger."
Pedro doubled down on his reluctance to start a family at the time, telling E! in 2019,
"The factory is closed right now, you know, because we have too many problems
with our families right now. […] If we have children that could affect them."
The buzz certainly never ceases with these two,
and wherever the future takes them, we can't wait to see what's next!
"We gotta keep proving the haters wrong, baby."
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