Gil Cuero Talks Married At First Sight Season 13 & Newfound Fame - Exclusive Interview

The truth about "Married at First Sight" marriages is that they're not easy to maintain because the couples don't know each other before getting hitched. This experience can prove heartbreaking, but it can also prove joyous if the relationship works out. Each season of the Lifetime series sees several couples taking the leap into newfound love, and the series isn't slowing down any time soon.

Season 13 of "Married at First Sight" introduced the world to Gil Cuero, a firefighter from Texas who wanted to find love. Cuero was matched with Myrla Feria, and while matters seemed to end well for the couple as Season 13 drew to a close, it was at the reunion that they revealed they decided to end their relationship. Single and back to his everyday life sans cameras, Cuero is living his life to its fullest with his newfound fame and contemplating his options for how he wants his career to proceed.

Luckily, on the cusp of Season 14 of "Married at First Sight," we at The List had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Cuero about Season 13, and he spilled new details about the end of his relationship with Feria, the filming of the series from casting to filming during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and his goals for the future.

What was your experience like while filming "Married at First Sight"?

It was cool. Honestly, I didn't really have a issue with the cameras. I thought it was pretty cool. I never did anything like it or never [did] reality shows or anything like that, but I thought it was a fun experience and something I could say I did.

Yeah, absolutely. That's what it's all about, right?

Yeah. It's about life, it's about experiences, and that's one experience I know that I conquered. And so now we move on.

Exactly. Now you can do anything. How did it feel to watch yourself on Season 13?

A fun fact: I did not watch myself. I did not watch any episodes. The only thing I will say I watched is clips that friends and family members sent me, but I never sat around and watched an episode.

I think that's very fair. Well, based on those clips, do you remember anything differently from the moment that you were actually filming to now that it's aired and some time has passed?

From what I saw, from what people sent me, I remember everything seemed right. I know it's edited at times, but none of the editing just swayed anything about me in a certain way or my wife in a certain way. I thought it came out just right, to tell you the truth.

Oh, well, wonderful. That's good.

Yeah, for sure.

Well, in that case, speaking of the editing, viewers only see partial conversations, really. So based on what you've seen in the clips that you've been shown, how do you feel about your portrayal and your relationship's portrayal from what was shown versus what you experienced?

I believe they captured the true essence of me, mainly because I pretty much kept it the exact same throughout the entire of time. I'm the same person off camera that I am on camera. So it was very easy for me to just be myself because that's all I can be, right?

Yeah.

And based off the editing, from what I've seen and the little clips that people have sent me and then the clips that I saw during the reunion, it was me. I feel like the editing might have told a story, but what was said is — I said what I said and I did what I did. And so, because of that, I feel comfortable with the product that they put out.

Is there anything that maybe wasn't shown that you wish was shown?

My salsa skills. I was very disappointed in how they made me look with that. But other than that, no, because ... So other than what was shown, the real stuff that wasn't really shown, a lot of [that] was the conversations me and Myrla had, but that's because obviously we had these conversations right before bed. There's no cameras in a bedroom. So things of that nature that we just decided that we [weren't] going to air out, just personal stuff. I don't think I would want that to be shown, but just the kind of reveal that it was more to us than what everybody saw.

That's got to be hard, right?

For sure.

Everyone wants a small piece of the truth.

Correct.

Well, since your season aired, how has the fan reception been?

It's been insane. It's been very overwhelming. I've been getting so much support, so much love. I'm thankful for everybody that has shown me love, whether it's through Twitter, through Instagram, however they can reach me. It's been awesome. It's been very awesome to see that people actually care and actually support me for me being me. So I love it.

Have there been any specific fan interactions that you remember?

I remember every single one of them in the streets. So if I'm out and about the common reaction I get is they'll just scream my name. And I swear it's somebody I know, because the way they say my name, it's like a friend. I turn around and I'm looking for somebody that I know, and then I see a stranger just smiling dead at me. And then they just walk up to me and be like, "I love you on the show." So those interactions are very wholesome and very sweet. I love it because I put a smile on everybody's faces and that's ... If I can put a smile on somebody's face just by me being there, that's more than enough for me.

I mean, do you think that's a product of being on reality television versus a scripted show?

For sure because in a reality TV [series] what you get is what you get, right?

Right.

And the scripted show, depending on your character, they might hate you, they might love you, but at the end of the day you're just playing a character, but people tend to not separate the two. If you play a bad guy, you're a bad guy. It don't matter if you might be the sweetest person in the world, you could be Mother Teresa, but if you play a villain, you going to be a villain for the rest of your life.

Have you ever considered going into scripted television?

I have not. I've never thought about acting — maybe when I was a lot younger in my early 20s, but not anytime soon. Not now, I haven't thought about it.

That's very fair. Well, in the reality world, are there any other reality series you would be interested in doing or any you dream of doing?

You know what? I would always ... So "The Amazing Race" is something that I would definitely be a part of. That's awesome to me. I love "Dancing With the Stars." I love dancing, and then "Dancing With the Stars" is dope. Things like that would be cool. "Family Feud." That'll be dope too. Things like that. But other than that, anything that has to ... "Naked and Afraid," I'm down for it. So anything that has to do with being a little bit of physical activities and just having fun, I'm down for that.

That's really interesting. So you wouldn't want to do the more, like, "Big Brother" type of situation?

As long as it doesn't have to do with dating or weddings, I'm for it.

Okay. We'll work on getting you on "Big Brother." [Laughs] That'd be fun. In terms of "Married at First Sight," how do you ultimately feel about how the season ended?

Well, short answer is [it was] disappointing. Obviously I would've liked to have still been married. I wanted to be married and stay married, but it's a two-party thing and I can just do the best I can and I respect her decision. And it's just it's disappointing and it's sad, but you just got to keep moving, right?

Yeah, absolutely. And in terms of the relationship at the end of the season, what insights can you offer about where the relationship was at when those sort of decisions were made?

So I can only speak for myself. I can't speak for the both of us, but my perception, from my point of view, I thought that things were good. That's why I reiterated that I was blindsided because if I would've known something was up, then I don't think I would've reacted the way I reacted. I don't think it would've hit me as much as it hit me. So I thought things were good, and it just went from being good to literally waking up the next day and it was over. So it was just like that. And so like I said, it was just disappointing. Things were good and then they weren't, so just like that.

Yeah. Is there anything you regret about your reaction to it or was that just all exactly how you felt in the moment?

No, I don't regret anything. If I would go through it again, I think I would've did the same thing because, I mean, that's how I felt at the moment. That's exactly what my emotions wanted to do and so I'm not going to suppress anything for anybody. Usually when ... I mean, when I was recording the show and when we did the reunion, I honestly don't think about the cameras. I don't really care.

I'm not here to please anybody. [The] only person I wanted to please was my wife and so I'm not trying to put on [a] front in front of the camera. So my mindset when I was in front of the cameras is that the cameras aren't there. I really don't care what people see. I don't really care because people will judge you no matter what, no matter who you are. So it doesn't matter what you do. Some people are going to love you, some people are not going to love you, and it is what it is. I can't live my life based off what people might think or their perception of me. So I don't regret anything I did on camera. And honestly, I never even thought about the cameras.

I mean, that's an amazing mindset to have, and honestly not thinking about the cameras makes the best reality on TV anyway.

For sure, because you're already going through this process of knowing somebody, of trying to get to know somebody that you don't know, you want this marriage to work, and if you want it to work, you can't on top of that add, okay these cameras are here and think about that. Because we still are living our normal lives, I'm still going to work, I still have stress at work and the problems that comes with life. So if I can minimize the amount of stress that's on my plate, then I'm going to do it. And that was one thing I could definitely do without. So I never thought about the cameras.

That's amazing. And speaking of the filming process, how long did it take to film a full season of the show?

If I'm not [mistaken], it took about four ... No, well, we started around January, I would say, and then ended around April, but then picked back up for two more months. So I'd say six months to record everything, to record from the kickoff to "Where Are They Now."

How did your sort of daily life change while having to add that element of filming?

It didn't. The great thing about recording with "Married at First Sight" is that they worked around [my] schedule. So other than the honeymoon, because we were gone for a week, I didn't have to take off of work because my personal schedule is very flexible. But even people that work 9-to-5s, they work around you. So they'll let you work your regular schedule and then when you're off is when you would record and do the activities that you had to do.

Oh, okay. In terms of the filming process, did that add any extra level of stress onto you?

Me personally, no, because at the end of the day I knew they have to do a job. I signed up for this. I knew it would eventually get to me, so I already went into the mindset of, it's going to get to me and when it does, I can't nag about it because this is what I chose to do.

Yeah. And that's also a great mindset to have, honestly.

Seriously, because it's not like I can change anything. I can't say, "Okay, I quit, I don't want to do this anymore." So it is what it is. You just got to suck it up and just keep it moving.

Well, now that it's over, what's next for you?

I don't know, but I hope big things. So [I] hope ... Right now I'm just working with my PR rep and trying to figure out what's the next moves, what's the best thing for me. If marketing is good, what companies I should look at, if they're ... I mean, anything. Like, I would be interested in obviously print marketing, like that. With the Instagram now is something I'm interested in. I would be interested in commercials if it's possible. Anything that comes about that would benefit me and help me kind of set this platform up, because I do have some things that I care about that I want to kind of set forth. So as soon as I can set myself up correctly, I will be bringing those out to bring that attention to it and hopefully go from there.

Yeah. And now that you have this platform, sort of building on that, what are some maybe goals you have that you want to accomplish within your career?

Well, you know what? I haven't thought about that. I have goals, but I have personal goals with my career as a firefighter. I do have those goals to become a paramedic — finish [a] paramedic program, become a paramedic, and move up the ranks in the fire department. But as of [my] social media status, I haven't had any goals. The only thing I can think about is I'm an advocate for ... So one thing I've talked a lot about is therapy, so that's one thing I will want to harp on a lot because I know therapy is kind of talked about now, but it's still a little taboo in a lot of different cultures and stuff.

And so that's something I want to kind of bring out to the forefront and make it cool, make it known that it's okay. Everybody needs it; you're not different. You're don't have ... I mean, we all have issues. It shouldn't be something that's talked down on; it should be something that'd be in the forefront and people should feel comfortable talking about therapy. So that's one of my goals is try to push therapy more out there for because I think everybody needs it. I don't care how well balanced you are; therapy is for everybody.

Absolutely. And it's great you bring that up because I had a question just about that for you.

Perfect.

You beat me to it. In terms of advocating for therapy for everyone, I wanted to ask you, what is one piece of advice you've received in therapy that you would then give to everyone else that you think is applicable to everyone?

I would say one of the biggest ones I always think about is ride that wave of emotions. Whatever you're feeling, let it happen. If you feel like crying, cry. If you feel like screaming, scream. Whatever is that you're feeling, let it happen. Obviously, you don't want anything that's going to be volatile. You don't want anything that's going to harm you. We're not talking about like that. But just those emotions where we tend to suppress it because we don't want to look weak, I guess, or we don't want to give people power, which I hate that statement when people say that. Do what you have to do for you because at the end of the day, it's going to make you feel better. So I feel like the one advice I got about riding a wave of motions [is] let it ride. It's just a storm; storms don't last so sit on it. Let it go. Do what you have to do [and] then pick it back up and keep it moving.

Yeah. I think that's honestly something I try to live by too. And something that could help a lot of people honestly.

For sure.

And then speaking on advice as well, what advice might you have for future people going on "Married at First Sight"?

Oh man. The biggest advice I have, outside of communication, is you [can] never ask enough questions. It's a short period of time and I would say just bombard your spouse with questions and try to get everything out because you might think everything is good and things might not be good. Or vice versa, you think things are not good and they actually are. So just questions, questions, questions because you want to try to get the notice person as quickly as possible because you don't have much time until decision day, whether you want to stay together or not. And so it's not organic obviously, it's kind of a new age arranged marriage. But we know that arranged [marriages] ... work. So why not give it a shot? Give it a true shot when you get on there and just ask those questions. And don't be afraid to ask those hard-hitting questions because at [the] end [of the] day, they are your spouse.

Absolutely. And then one other advice question. What advice might you have for people who are just now getting onto reality television in terms of how to handle that sudden exposure to the world?

Stay true to you. At the end of the day, you had a life before reality TV. Whatever you were doing, whatever was making you happy, continue doing that. I tell people all the time to ask me how [I'm] holding up with this newfound fame? I tell them, "Look, I could turn my phone off and that fame would be gone. It's just the IG. I still have my day job. It's not a big deal."

People call me a celebrity, I don't think I am. I tell them if I'm a celebrity, I'm a Z-list celebrity. So I still love what I do, so I say, stay true to who you are. Stay true to who you were before you even were able to get this opportunity. I was just one of the lucky few that chosen to be on this show and so I'm just grateful for it. And so that's why I try to reach out to everybody that shows me love because obviously they took the time to write me something or send me something. So I should respect that and send them something as well.

That's amazing. And speaking of that fame, has that impacted your personal life at all? Whether your family or your job, does that fame come up?

It comes up for sure, but it hasn't affected my life. It has impacted my life where I have ... Because firefighting, we have about 4,500 firefighters in the city of Houston, and so obviously they go on calls and I've had people at other stations, different parts of the city, they'll go on a call and people would ask, "Hey, do you know Gil?"

And so [it gets] back to me that they're asking for me through other firefighter and stuff like that. It's happened more than a couple times, so things like that all the time. The other day I walked into a subway and this lady just stared at me, and then she just screamed, gave me a hug. And so it's things like that [are] awesome. And in that way, it has impacted my life, especially working, but it's fun. I love it.

That sounds fun. And then in terms of the show, had you seen "Married at First Sight" before you were on it?

So I can't say no because I did binge-watch Season 9 so I can get an idea of what the show was before I decided to be on it. But if it wasn't because of that call that I received to be asked to go on it, I would have never watched the show. I'd never watched it before. The only reason I watched Season 9 was because the guy, the casting director or manager, called me and told me about the show and I told him, "Well, let me get back with you in a week. Let me figure this out first. And let me do some little intel first before I give you my answer." So I went on Netflix, found it, watched it. Then spoke to a few friends, come to find out they knew about it, they had been watching it since Season 1. They all pushed me for it, I thought about it, told myself, well, I do want to be married, so why not? And went from there.

And how did that go? Did you apply for it or was this a spontaneous situation?

No. Well, I believe the two ways you could be on a show is either you apply for it or somebody recommends you.

Oh, okay.

So when you're applying, when you're going through the applying process and you fill out the paperwork, the very last question is, do you know somebody that will be a good candidate for the show? Well, somebody, some woman that I still don't know, because they won't let you ... They won't tell you, wrote my number down and then that's how they got in contact with me.

So where were you? What was the situation like when you got the call that you were going to be on ["Married at First Sight"]?

I was in my living room, watching TV, just ]relaxing], laying on my couch out, probably on my phone while I was on watching TV. And I got a phone call, but I didn't pick up the phone. Oh, I didn't pick up the phone call because it was, I guess, a California number. I thought it was just spam, so I didn't pick it up. Got a text message right after that, "Hey, this is such and such, I'm working with a TV show. It's going to be coming to Houston, wanted to see if you were interested." Gave him a call back, he gave me the rundown, and then that's when I told him ... give me a week.

Wow. Okay. So what was the turnaround when you've got the call versus when you actually started filming?

So I got the call let's say a Monday. Then I called him back, like on ... No, I got the call let's say Wednesday. I called him back on a Monday, told him I wanted to do it. So I had to go through the entire process like if I'm applying for it. So they sent me a questionnaire. I had to send them some pictures and some stuff about me. Then I think I did two Zoom interviews, and then after that, I had to do the in-person interview with the experts. And then after that they ... So the call was in September, did the interviews like November, if I'm not mistaken in January ... No, in November, December I did the in-person interviews and then in January they told me I was going to be getting married in two weeks. 

Wow. That's a quick turnaround.

Yeah. It's very quick. And I feel like it would've been even quicker, but the holidays kind of slow things up.

Right. How was it filming during the COVID-19 pandemic?

The only thing, the only knock with that ... But I mean, I get it, because they were being extremely safe, so I'm not knocking it, but the only thing that was a little annoying is that we had to get weekly tests. Everybody. From the assistant up to the highest of the highest. So we got a test weekly and we got [the] nose swab weekly. We did all the tests, even if we were vaccinated. I got most of the cast vaccinated and everybody was vaccinated, even our field producers. And, but it didn't matter, we still had to get tested everybody. It gets a little annoying, but we get it. We understand. I don't knock them for that, but it gets a little annoying. That's it. But other than that, just a few poke in the nose every week, but that's it.

Okay. That doesn't sound too bad.

Not too bad.

In terms of your own dating dreams: What's your dream honeymoon location?

Ooh, man. Either Bora Bora, Maldives, or Greece.

Ooh, those are great. You want to go somewhere sunny and blue?

I have to have the sun. I have to have a beach, some water nearby for sure. I have to have a very scenic place that does not involve cold air, mountains, and city.

Well, what do you want to see in Greece, for example?

Greece, it's very picturesque. So I've seen pictures, I've known people that [have] been to Greece, and it's beautiful. The water is crystal blue. The towns, the houses are very pretty. So I would go somewhere like that for sure.

I love that too. And then in terms of dating, what are sort of the key traits you look for in partners?

I love the woman that's ambitious. I like somebody that's pretty. I guess frank, just very upfront. I don't want to guess. I don't want to have to kind of get it out of them. I like somebody that's just a straight shooter. But I also like somebody that's just, I guess, kind of silly, kind of like ... Everybody says down to earth. I like somebody that's a little goofy, just have some type of sense of humor that's not dry. I mean, I don't mind dry sense of humor, but somebody that's just a little silly.

This is my last question for you in terms of your dating life. Are you taking a break now that the show is over or are you looking to get right back into the romantic world?

So as of right now, as it [currently] stands, yes, I'm taking a break. I'm taking a small break just to give myself a break and also help my healing process. But I feel like pretty soon I'll be dating again. I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at mentally and my head space. So I'm pretty sure I'm just going to let the holidays kind of do their thing and then just rest up a little bit so I can get right back into that dating scene.

You can catch the kickoff special of Lifetime's "Married at First Sight" Season 14 on December 30 at 8 p.m. ET.