Kriti Mehrotra
Pushing the romance and relationships of already established couples to extreme levels, Netflix’s ‘The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On‘ is a dating reality series that breaks all bounds. That’s because its entire concept urges the entering duos — one of whom is ready for the next step, whereas the other is not — to experience their possible futures first-hand at an accelerated pace over eight weeks. April Marie and Jake Cunningham appeared on the first season of the show and treated viewers to unadulterated relationship drama. If you wish to learn more about their bond as well as their current standing, here’s everything we know.
April and Jake’s The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On Journey
April Marie issued the ultimatum to her boyfriend of over two years, Jake Cunningham, owing to the very simple reason of wanting a ring and a baby with him as quickly as possible. It’s not like he was against the idea of either — considering how she opened up about their sexual/medical history and almost elopement — but it was just a matter of time. After all, the then-26-year-old had gotten out of the military following a 5-year stint a year prior, so he wished to travel, become more financially stable, and even settle into who he really is before promising his girlfriend forever.
Therefore, Jake was entirely against appearing in the Netflix original. However, the then-23-year-old Florida-based model was confident in their love connection and convinced him, only for it to backfire. Once they separated and started to date amongst the other individuals, Jake immediately found a spark with Rae Williams, who checked every single one of his boxes. He didn’t stop feeling guilty or loving April, though, and was honest to both his original and new partner at almost every step of the way. But, of course, it hurt April to see him happy with someone who wasn’t her, even if she was with Colby.
When the original couple eventually reunited, it was tense, to say the least, especially considering what Jake had learned about himself as well as relationships in general from Rae, along with April’s behavior. The latter actually involved not just how selfish (in his eyes) she was throughout their association but also her recent communication with men outside of the experiment. As if that wasn’t enough, April then went through Jake’s phone without asking, breaking his trust to such an extent that it almost seemed like they were genuinely done, yet things soon changed for the better.
Are April and Jake Still Together?
Both April and Jake sincerely apologized for their actions at different points near the end of eight weeks, following which the former Marine Corps officer also went from being unaffectionate to his usual self. It appeared as if they’d just remembered why they’d decided to step into such a situation in the first place and chose to fight for it — instead of against it — once again. There’s no denying that they wished to continue pursuing their connection because even April’s late monthly cycle supposedly didn’t scare the duo, yet that did get a little rocky when Rae became single for good.
On ultimatum day, Jake Cunningham admitted to April Marie that even though he still has love for her, he wasn’t ready to get married, resulting in them parting ways for good. He then chose to leave the series with Rae Williams through a proposal for them to travel together, only to never go through with it owing to worries about being disrespectful towards their original partners. Thus, from what we can tell, while the Austin-based public personality is single, his ex currently seems to be in a happy and healthy relationship, reportedly with broker/entrepreneur Cody Cooper.
While talking about her new, elder boyfriend on the reunion special of ‘The Ultimatum,’ April said, “I’ve already moved in… This is someone who wakes up every single day with me and says, ‘I love you, I can’t wait to marry you.’… It’s like — it doesn’t feel real.” We should also mention that she’d returned the SUV Jake had bought her during the show’s filming itself, as clarified below.
Read More: Are Madlyn and Colby From The Ultimatum Still Together?
