Faithful fans of the highly successful and controversial reality TV series “90 Day Fiancé”, and its spin-off “The Family Chantel”, were caught by surprise when Pedro Jimeno was seen dating a completely different woman, mere months after filing for divorce from Chantel Everett in 2022. The news came amid a rather dramatic split between the two stars, fraught with polarization of the two camps, and allegations of adultery.

The mysterious new brunette was posted in various selfies on Pedro’s Instagram stories, all of which have since expired and can’t be pointed to. While the ex-husband himself has remained mum on the topic, many members of the show’s vast audience continue to demand answers as to the extent of his romantic involvement with the woman in question.

As a result, it can’t be confirmed whether Pedro was indeed in a new relationship upon posting the now infamous selfies, but most have already come to their own conclusions. It’s noteworthy that Everett herself had nothing nice to say on the matter, but also refrained from jumping to conclusions about her former partner’s love life.

Some have theorized that Chantel has already said enough, referring to the fact that a potential lawsuit might be brewing in the office of Pedro’s attorneys, considering the various accusations against him that she seems to perpetuate in public. Although nothing can be said for certain until being proved in the court of law, there are indeed verified bits and pieces of the couple’s history that could hint towards the truth of the matter.

That said, Pedro seems to be doing well for himself financially, with his previous TV presence garnering a significant audience, among whom is a slew of potential customers to Jimeno’s lucrative real estate business that looks to be going stronger than ever. His newfound wealth has also become a hot topic in the media, leading some to wonder whether financial success was his only real reason for marrying Chantel in the first place.

Digging through the dirt

It’s vital to take a peek at the skeletons in the “90 Day Fiancé” and “The Family Chantel” closets, in the process of determining whether any of the cheating allegations hold merit, as the history of Pedro and Everett contains relevant information regarding their habits and morals. It’s perhaps best to first mention that, for a lot of people in situations similar to Jimeno and Chantel’s, show business comes before love.

Questions about the authenticity of their relationship abounded from the get-go, with many viewers speculating that the couple’s union was motivated more by a desire for fame and fortune than by genuine affection for one another. Almost as if in perfect alignment with what keeps a show relevant, the two’s relationship became increasingly more dramatic as time went on, but drawing in ever more viewers.

Their story started in season four of “90 Day Fiancé,” in which Pedro, a gamer from the Dominican Republic, fell in love with Chantel, a nursing student from Georgia USA, whom he met on a language website. Their encounter would’ve remained out of the limelight if not for the fact that they got serious rather quickly, becoming engaged just a short while following the outburst of chemistry.

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Becoming a legal immigrant

The couple were thrust into “90 Day Fiancé” immediately after Pedro received what the premise of the entire series is based on – the K-1 visa. While there are normally a number of pre-requisites for granting any non-US citizen the right to live in the country for a while, the K-1 visa pretty much skips most of them.

The history of the K-1 visa dates back to the Immigration Act of 1924, which established the requirement for a visa for foreign nationals seeking to enter the US for the purpose of marriage. The specific document in question was created in 1970 as part of the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments. The K-1 visa is designed for foreign fiancé(e)s of US citizens who wish to enter the country for the purpose of marrying.

It allows foreign nationals to come to the US for up to 90 days, during which time they must wed their citizen fiancé(e). Once in matrimony, the foreign national can then apply for a marriage-based green card, which will allow them to remain in the country permanently. The K-1 visa is an important option for couples who wish to be together in the US, as it provides a way for them to legally enter and reside in the country.

Exclusive: Pedro Jimeno and Chantel Everett are bringing the drama on #TheFamilyChantel.https://t.co/LtRI7P7hvW

— Us Weekly (@usweekly) October 3, 2020

The document was actually designed by the US government to pacify numerous angry US military personnel following their service in the Vietnam War, after which inevitably some also had future spouses to bring ‘home’, ie the US.

Immigration laws at the time didn’t provide a lot of opportunities for couples of this type, as the Vietnamese citizen had to acquire an exit visa from the Vietnamese government, as well as an immigration visa from the US embassy. This was a time-consuming process that depended on detailed medical and police records guaranteeing clearance to the immigrant, as well as notarized US embassy certificates.

The government was subsequently inundated with requests from over 100 angered veterans, who were doing anything in their power to bring their partner over from Asia. Congress thus passed Public Law 91-225 on 7 April 1970, which altered the Immigration and Nationality Act from 1952, thus birthing the K-1 visa.

From out of state to the big screen

The popularity of this particular document has increased in recent years, due to its portrayal in the reality TV show “90 Day Fiancé.” The show follows couples who have applied for the K-1 visa, and have 90 days to marry before it expires. The show has become a cultural phenomenon, with spin-offs and merchandise, making the document itself a well-known concept in popular culture.

As is the case with any reality TV series, it has also faced significant backlash and criticism over the years, although some would argue that’s exactly what helped it grow an audience. Naysayers blame the show for its premise and the way it portrays the legal process, opening many foreigners to the idea of exploiting a US citizen romantically in order to skip the green card application procedure.

However, as anyone with such intentions would quickly find out, obtaining this document is no simple task either. The K-1 visa process can be a lengthy and complicated one, as US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must first approve the petition filed by the citizen. The foreigner must then apply for the K-1 visa at a US embassy or consulate in their home country, which entails a medical exam, an interview, and extensive documentation to prove the legitimacy of the relationship.

Once the K-1 visa is issued, the foreign fiancé(e) can travel to the US, then and wed within the 90-day period. After the marriage takes place, the foreign national can apply for a marriage-based green card. The process can take several months to complete, and there are many potential pitfalls along the way.

Those in support of Chantel have made it clear that they believe Pedro simply took advantage of her US citizenship, using this complex loophole to gain permanent citizenship a lot faster than it would normally take. If this is to be believed, it becomes rather logical that fidelity in the relationship hung pretty low on his list of concerns.

In fact, it could be that Jimeno simply waited for the most opportune moment to end the marriage, giving Chantel increasingly more reasons over the years to become emotionally unstable and disruptive in their union. This newfound toxicity in his partner’s behavior would then give Pedro a perfectly sound reason for ending the marriage, which supposedly just ran out of love.

Off on wrong feet

As if the potential benefits for Pedro and his future in the US didn’t cast enough doubt and strain on the relationship, it was also obvious that the Everetts and the Jimenos really didn’t like each other, with the exception of Pedro and Chantel. Strangely, it was siblings and not parents, on both sides who least approved of the relationship.

Chantel’s brother River had no nice words to say about Pedro, and Jimeno’s sister Nicole was more than happy to be rid of Chantel’s presence whenever the two would wind up in the same room. It wasn’t exactly clear why there was such animosity, since the couple themselves had virtually no issues at the time.

The rampant disdain became rather apparent as “The Family Chantel” progressed, leading to more than a verbal altercation during one of the show’s key moments. This event was immortalized on TLC UK’s YouTube channel, in the video entitled “Physical Fight Breaks Out At Chantel’s Family Dinner | 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?”, which garnered over 6.5 million views from its release on 1 August 2018.

It shows the Everetts preparing for a classy and extravagant dinner, which Pedro and his sister are also supposed to attend. The event starts off sourly though, since they still hadn’t shown up 15 minutes after the agreed time. River is already agitated at that point, making it clear that he doesn’t intend to wait for them before he starts eating.

Meanwhile, Chantel tells her mother about a disturbing event that occurred earlier that morning, explaining that Pedro’s sister thanked God and began clapping right as the bride-to-be closed the door and departed for school. Karen Everett really didn’t appreciate hearing about this rude gesture, and made it her mission to confront Nicole at dinner.

The Jimeno sister presents herself very amicably right through the door, giving the viewers no reason to believe that she has any dislike for the Everetts. After some compulsory complimenting of the food and appearances, Chantel’s mother gets down to business and pre-emptively asks Nicole whether she enjoys spending time with her daughter.

In spite of the sister’s warm response and assurance that she’s rather happy in the current conditions, Karen pushed on with the questioning, eventually re-telling the entire event that she heard from Chantel. Tensions immediately went through the roof, with Pedro inadvertently confirming the story by asking his fiancée why she told her family about it.

He then denied it, however, right in Chantel’s face, while Nicole seemed to be outraged at the accusation, and shocked that anyone could think that of her. In spite of mild yelling and finger pointing, the conversation remained civil for the most part. That is until River spoke out with plain frustration, uttering various curse words at Nicole.

Pedro then stood up from the table and challenged River to repeat his insults, to which the energetic Everett slapped the chandelier in Pedro’s face, and a fist fight broke out. TLC’s crew had to step in and break up the altercation, causing Pedro to kick various plates of food off the table in a last-ditch effort to inflict some sort of discomfort on River. Chantel then broke down in tears, and the Jimenos were led off the Everett property.

The potential new girlfriend, and brand-new business

As the years went by and the couple drifted further and further apart, it became clear that the union was no longer sustainable. Chantel was the first to suggest that divorce was their only option, and Pedro agreed shortly afterwards. He was subsequently seen taking a selfie with a certain Coraima Morla – his sister’s best friend.

This isn’t the first time that the two were linked in a morally dubious situation, as Coraima was previously accused of dancing inappropriately on Pedro’s lap during a party in the Dominican Republic, while he was married to Chantel. She also expressed on numerous occasions how Nicole’s brother should be with a Dominican woman instead, as he’s likely to be misunderstood by those unfamiliar with his language and culture.

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Although there isn’t much else to go on, fans believe that Pedro posting a selfie with Coraima on his Instagram account is a sign of much more than friendship, believing that it has been a long time coming. Still, without further confirmation by either of the reality TV stars, nothing can be said for certain about Jimeno’s current love life.

What is very easy to see, however, is the fact that Pedro has successfully penetrated the real estate market, running his own realty company for numerous homes in the state of Georgia, especially around Lawrenceville, Buford, and Norcross. His net worth in mid-2023 is estimated at up to $5 million, virtually all from his efforts in the real estate market..

There’s no such a thing as an impossible dream, and Marcelito Pomoy is living proof of that. Despite the difficult and enduring times he faced during his childhood, and the fact that his ability was overlooked by many, Marcelito ultimately overcame all difficulties with his talent and charisma.

Though winning “Pilipinas Got Talent” was only the first step in accomplishing that, he would gain worldwide fame with his performances in “America’s Got Talent”, leaving audiences equally amazed and shocked at hearing his operatic voice and unmatched ability to sing with female and male voices.

Marcelito’s talent is memorable on its own, making it no wonder that there are many people not only interested in his current whereabouts and future problems but also in his life, history, and other professional endeavors.

So who is Marcelito Pomoy? Read on to learn all!

Who Is Marcelito Pomoy?

The words dazzled and impressed wouldn’t be enough to describe the reaction that audiences had at hearing Marcelito Pomoy sing on the stage of the second season of “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” in 2020.

Nonetheless, before setting foot in America, Marcelito was already well known in his native Philippines for his unbelievable talent, which includes switching from a tenor voice to female sounding soprano. That being said, Marcelito’s singing prowess wasn’t the only thing to take audiences by storm, as his sad but incredibly inspiring back story not only gained him the hearts of everyone who came upon it, but also led to him encountering his long-lost family again.

Marcelito’s vocal skills and unmatched charisma won him “Pilipinas Got Talent” in 2011, so quickly becoming a celebrity, and finally turning his long dream of releasing music into a reality.

Years later, Marcelito debuted in “The Champions” and took the American audiences by surprise, but despite not winning that competition, it wasn’t the end for Marcelito. From then on, he turned into an international singing sensation by touring the US and expanding his reach to other Asian countries besides the Philippines.

All in all, Marcelito is one of the most impressive talents to ever come out of the Got Talent franchise, but he’s also worked hard to be where is today.

His Current Projects & Life

Thanks to his unbelievable talent and hard-working ethic, Marcelito Pomoy has remained relevant in the music industry by making constant appearances in TV shows, staging live concerts, and joining charity events.

As seen on his social media accounts, Marcelito has been very busy headlining shows both in Asia and the US, on top of taking care of his Philippines-based businesses. As well, in April 2023, Marcelito was awarded a Metro Excellence Leadership Award in the category of Outstanding Male Performer of the Year. This recognition came only a couple of months after receiving a 2022 Asia Music Icon Award for his excellence as a world-class Filipino artist.

While Marcelito’s recent career accomplishments are great on his own, in early 2023 he faced some mildly serious health issues when he was diagnosed with kidney stones. Though the condition isn’t serious and he was undergoing a non-invasive treatment to cure it, ill-intended assumptions about his health were soon to be spread before he revealed the entire truth to his followers, asking them not to ‘believe fake news’ through a Facebook post.

Overall, everything seems to be going great with Marcelito’s life, as seen in the regular updates about his family, vacations, and everyday life that he shares on social media.

Beginnings

Though Marcelito Pomoy nowadays enjoys international fame and the recognition of his fellow singers and musicians, the years before he rose to popularity weren’t pleasant at all.

As Marcelito has revealed since his beginnings, his early life in the province of Cavite was full of enduring situations such as the abandonment by his parents and poverty. At only six months old, his mother abandoned him and his three older siblings to his father, who had been incarcerated not long before. Having no other place to go, Marcelito and his siblings lived in their father’s prison cell. and for some time struggled to feed themselves. The grueling situation came to an end when a police officer adopted Marcelito and his siblings, finally allowing them to find shelter and a family for some time.

With barely any memories of his early childhood, years later Marcelito left his adopted family to look for his real father, but the son and father encounter didn’t last long, as the man already had a new family with whom Marcelito didn’t quite get along.

Taking once again another hard decision at an early age, a teenage Marcelito left his father’s home and sustained himself with several odd jobs, going from selling local farm products to working at a bawling shop.

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Rise To Fame

Although Marcelito Pomoy’s situation still wasn’t the easiest one, the young man found solace in singing for himself. It was during the time he worked at a poultry farm that Marcelito passed from having chickens as his first audience to attracting the attention of his co-workers, who complimented his skills despite Marcelito’s disbelief about having an uncommon ability.

While Marcelito was convinced that everyone could sing, he eventually tried his luck when he entered several local competitions, regardless of the fact that he didn’t always have any luck. His first TV appearance was in the local talent show “Talentadong Pinoy”, and he didn’t make it to the end, but the experience inspired him to audition for “Pilipinas Got Talent” at 25 years old.

It didn’t take long for Marcelito to equally captivate and surprise “Pilipinas Got Talent” audiences, securing a spot in the semifinals after receiving standing ovations and approval from the judges. His following performances in the show only served to cement his popularity, and spread the word about his talent, eventually winning not only the competition but also being able to reconnect with his mother through the show.

Marcelito’s prizes from the competition included two million Philippine pesos, and the release of his debut album “Duet Yourself” in 2011.

Career & “America’s Got Talent”

During his time in “Pilipinas Got Talent”, Marcelito Pomoy sang the English-Italian song “The Prayer” by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion. That one performance led to his win, and also encouraged him to incorporate female and male voices further into his repertoire.

After a couple of years touring the Philippines and enjoying the newly found fame that his victory brought him, in 2013 Marcelito released his second album “Split” under the label Star Records. Nonetheless, at that point, he felt his career had stagnated and he didn’t release any further albums.

However, in 2018, one of his performances at the local radio station Metro Manila became viral, attracting the attention of Ellen DeGeneres, who quickly invited him onto her show. That one appearance opened many opportunities for Marcelito, who despite being skeptical about joining “America’s Got Talent” for his fear of losing, in 2019 auditioned with the song “The Prayer”, instantly gaining standing ovations from American audiences.

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Marcelito’s following performances in the show were all female and male duets, such as “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, and “Beauty and the Beast” by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. In the end, he was placed fourth in the overall competition, but the mark Marcelito left in the show is unerasable.

Business and Charity

Using the money from his “Pilipinas Got Talent” prize, in 2012 Marcelito Pomoy started his business in the province of Rizal. Named Pomoy’s Commercial Hardware, his small company expanded quickly, and a second location was opened in 2013.

Despite his status as an international celebrity, Marcelito and his family manage the business themselves, and also pay lots of attention to the needs of their workers. As seen in early 2023, Marcelito started a basketball team with his employees, joining them in local championships in which they faced teams from other businesses. This project was started by Marcelito following his own experience as a former hard-working employee, insisting it could help them to motivate themselves, and make the work environment an ‘enjoyable one’.

Knowing how difficult it is to grow from the ground, Marcelito also supports local charities and people in need, even going as far as entirely building houses for elderly people in his community, undoubtedly changing their life forever.

Personal Life & Future Projects

Although Marcelito Pomoy’s early life was an enduring one, these days he’s not only proud about reconnecting with his family, but also creating one of his own. In 2014, Marcelito tied the knot with his girlfriend Joan Paraiso, with whom he welcomed daughters Marcella Janiah in 2015, and Marchesa Janoah in 2022.

Regarding his mother and siblings, Marcelito is in contact with them, even sharing their special moments together through social media, such as the birthday of his mother Anecita in April 2023.

'America’s Got Talent' Filipino star Marcelito Pomoy is currently recovering from a recent kidney medical procedure.

Marcelito shared updates on his health on Facebook and thanked his followers for their concerned messages.

READ: https://t.co/HTQrpTat70 pic.twitter.com/XysA2M7GZB

— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) April 7, 2023

What does the future have in store for Marcelito professionally? It seems that Marcelito’s career schedule will keep him quite busy for a while with international shows. He’s also constantly uploading videos of his most recent performances onto his YouTube channel, gaining quite a huge audience on the platform with over 400,000 subscribers to date.

All in all, from Marcelito’s humble beginnings and the difficult times he and his siblings endured, to being adopted and joining the workforce at a young age, before finally becoming a recognized singer, there’s a lot to learn from Marcelito’s inspiring story.

One of the greatest things about the internet is being able to connect with people who have similar interests and passions, regardless of how niche these might be. YouTube is one of the platforms which have made it possible for channels such as Fab Rats could find their right audience, also putting their stars under the internet’s stardom.

While everyone in the Fab Rats team makes what happens on screen possible, there’s no discussion about Paul being the show’s lead man. His hands-on and hard-working attitude make him the right one to convey Fab Rats’ mission, by turning every concept into real fabrication projects.

So who is Paul, and what is the story behind his channel? Stay here to know all about him and everything he does to make FabRats possible. 

Who Is Paul?

Ever since Fab Rats started sharing videos on YouTube in 2019, the channel has become wildly popular for people who want some entertaining but also educational insights into car building, restorations, and a fair share of adrenaline-inducing burnouts in the American style.

In front of the cameras, you can find Paul Cox, though he mostly introduces himself by his name alone. Based in Glendale, Utah, Paul turned his house’s garage into his workshop, and the rest of his property’s free space is used for automotive storage. Working at home also means that Paul is more than just a guy on his YouTube channel, as his family and friends are deeply involved with much of the work done at the garage, turning Fab Rats into more than just a regular channel.

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That being said, Paul is one YouTuber of a kind as well. By stepping away from the usual scripted content and too-polished looks for the camera, Paul’s videos have fully conveyed simple and homely feelings which have only served him to connect further with his viewers.

His Beginnings

Given how vastly talented and knowledgeable Paul is in trades, it’s surprising to find out that he doesn’t have any type of certification or official training in the field. For starters, Paul was inspired to learn his craft by his father Sherman, who knew how to do ‘everything’, and passed down that knowledge to his son.

As Paul affirmed in a question and answer season on his channel, he progressively became knowledgeable with tool and machine usage throughout his childhood and teens, but welding was specifically a skill he learned just because he wanted to: ‘(it has) been just self-taught. I just wanted to weld so I started welding then’, he said, recalling that he was around nine years old the first time he used a welding machine.

While part of his knowledge also came from some school courses he attended, the experience he got by working at a machine shop from the time he was 15 years old clearly served him well in learning everything he knows nowadays. All in all, Paul’s story is impressive and inspiring, making it not a wonder why his audience feels so compelled to follow in his steps.

How Did He Start The Channel?

Building an audience while also creating interesting and content worth watching is no easy task, yet Fab Rats was able to achieve that in only a couple of years without even planning to.

To talk about Fab Rats’ beginnings, it’s necessary to talk about Paul’s passion for demolition derby and his long-standing friendship with Matt Wetzel, better known for his YouTube channel Matt’s Off Road Recovery.

As Paul said in an interview with Decent Garage on YouTube, he met Matt at a Washington County Fair competition many years ago, though it was a tense encounter in which Paul was placed second to Matt, and that stopped them from becoming friends right away. Later, they met at a demolition derby field again, but this time Paul crashed against Matt’s side so badly that he regrettably thought he had fatally hurt him. Luckily, that incident fortunately didn’t take Matt’s life, and the two and their families became good friends afterwards.

It was that same friendship which led Matt to hire Paul’s wife Michelle as his video editor when he started his channel Matt’s Off-Road Recovery in early 2019. After noticing how greatly talented Michelle was at making Matt’s content shine, and knowing how good Paul was at what he did, Matt advised the couple to start their own channel as well.

Though it took Paul and Michelle several months to follow Matt’s advice, they can now thank him for giving them such a great idea.

What Did Paul Do For A Living?

While Paul is nowadays known for his amazing welding, restoring, and everything-automotive related, things were quite different for him before Fab Rats became as popular as it is today.

For over two decades, Paul was a construction worker at a telephone company, a job which took him away from home for around four or five days a week, but that he kept even after starting Fab Rats and gaining thousands of followers, using as much free time he had at the time to work on his projects.

It wasn’t the most comfortable situation, but the goal of leaving his nine-to-five job to have more time to share with his family and work on his content was clear in Paul’s mind, finally becoming a reality between late 2021 and early 2022, when Paul resigned from his job: ‘For me, it wasn’t a hard decision. I’d done that other job for 20 years, I was done with it, the challenge was done’, he said in an interview with Decent Garage in 2022, also admitting that his wife Michelle was nervous about the decision.

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Despite how risky it was to leave a stable job to live the YouTube dream of creating content for a living, these days Paul can pride himself on having a job which allows him to do what he loves, and spend time at home with his family.

His Family, Friends & The Channel

Any good fan of Fab Rats knows well that Paul’s content not only focuses on his trade and projects, but shows a lot of what his everyday life and family are like. For starters, his wife Michelle is in charge of the production aspects of the show, on top of also appearing regularly in Fab Rats’ videos, either taking part in some projects, as an interviewer, or simply having fun.

Other regular family members in Paul’s videos are his four kids, brother, mother, and his father Sherman, who unfortunately passed away in late November 2022. While the family usually keeps the most private aspects of their life away from cameras, Paul didn’t shy away from paying his late father a tribute by sharing the fixing process of his old truck in his channel, though not before confessing to his audience about losing his ‘best friend’.

Besides his family, it’s not unusual to see Paul’s friends in his videos, either lending him a helping hand or learning from him. All of it makes it clear that Fab Rats is about so much more than just entertaining videos and gearhead passion, but is also about learning and spending precious time with our loved ones.