It’s one thing to give an Ultimatum, and it’s another thing to watch the consequences back. Shanique Imari and Randall Griffin got real about filming the Netflix reality series during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.
“I’m the one who gave Randall the Ultimatum and ultimately, you know, it just came down to the fact that we were having a lot of conversations about what we could potentially be,” she exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Wednesday, April 6, premiere. “I [wanted to] see some intention behind it on Randall’s part. I thought giving him an ultimatum would be the best way to kind of jumpstart that.”
After joining the Netflix show, Shanique lived with Zay Wilson for three weeks while Randall moved in with Madlyn Ballatori. At the end of their trial marriages, the original couples reunite.
“I was really shocked at how easy it was for Randall to date someone else,” Shanique told Us. “Obviously, I’ve never seen him date anyone else besides me, but even then, I mean, we started as friends, so it was a very, kind of, slow progression to things getting romantic. … Or as he said, like, really being vulnerable and emotional about certain things.”
She added that she was “very surprised” to watch the show back and see his connection with Madlyn, who joined the show with boyfriend Colby Kissinger.
“I was like, ‘Wow,’ [at how] instantly they just kind of were able to open up to each other,” Shanique continued. “And I think that, in part, that has to do with how the experience is structured.”
Randall added that the hardest part for him was watching Shanique with Zay from afar in real time.
“Every day we all had different talking points — what we want to talk about, things that we could work on within ourselves, as well as our relationship, in order for whoever that person ends up with to be their better selves,” he said. “So just seeing Shanique and Zay together, obviously, the jealous bone kicks in. … I think that was just the hardest part is seeing her laugh and smiling, [like], ‘What you smiling [about] over there? That was just the hardest thing, just to see her enjoy self with somebody else because you don’t want to think about that.”
Season 1 of The Ultimatum is streaming on Netflix. Fans will have to tune into the finale and reunion to see where Shanique and Randall stand now.
