Warning: This post contains spoilers for “The Ultimatum” on Netflix.
If you were rooting for Jake Cunningham and Rae Williams to stay together on “The Ultimatum,” you weren’t alone. Throughout the show, their cast mates took note of their obvious connection.
But do they stay together, along with the show’s other couples? The series finale and reunion special, which dropped the same day on April 13, gave us an answer as to the couple’s fate (and all of the others).
And, like most things related to “The Ultimatum,” the answer is complicated.
Rae and Jake appear to end up together in the finale
To catch you up, both Jake and Rae came onto the show to test their relationships with their partners. Jake was dating April Marie, and Rae was with Zay Wilson. To see if they were ready for marriage, the couples split up and dated other people.
After hitting it off quickly — bonding over things like their close relationships with their mothers and their heritages — Jake and Rae decide to move in together in a three week-long “trial marriage.”
Speaking to Us Weekly, Jake addresses the degree of intimacy they had during their time together. “Me and Rae were very respectful doing the whole situation. No matter how it looks, we did not have sex. The only thing we did was kiss. I slept in a separate bed for the first five days on the show,” he said.
Their relationship appears to thrive, to the point that they decide to invest in each other, rather than their past relationships. In the season finale, both of them break up with their previous partners — after all that, Jake turns down April’s marriage ultimatum.
Rae and Jake reunite. Instead of presenting Rae with a ring, Jake gives her a ticket for anywhere around the world.
But Jake and Rae never take the trip, and their relationship changes in the reunion
During the reunion, Jake and Rae reveal that they never took the trip. “We came to a consensus that everybody needed more time to heal,” Rae said.
Instead, Rae tried to make things work with her ex, Zay. “Zay and I did try to fix things. And ultimately, that didn’t work out, but we did give it a shot,” Rae explained. “I tried to be more expressive with him and he became a better communicator after the show.”
While rehashing the events of the show, Zay and Rae argue about the exact details of what “making it work” meant. Zay said that Rae was with him the moment the show ended.
Rae denied that their previous partners “held them back” from pursuing a new connection. Instead, they both made the “conscious choice” for deciding to “backtrack.”
Rae has dated another person since ‘The Ultimatum’
Since splitting up with Zay and Jake, Rae reveals she’s been with one person, a woman whom she describes as being “amazing.”
“I had a good connection with her, but we kept it casual. But I’m figuring out myself,” Rae said.
Through this announcement, Rae came out as bisexual to the cast. “I was very uncomfortable with being bi for a long time. I’ve been with one girl and that’s been great, honestly,” Rae said. Vanessa said she was “glowing,” and the cast applauded.
Zay said he’s been trying to figure out what he actually wants. “I thought I knew, but I’m taking my time,” Zay said.
