Kyle Viljoen Reveals He Got Secretly Married to Zachary Riley Last Year

Kyle Viljoen is a married man!

The Below Deck Mediterranean stew announced the big news on social media this week, about 14 months after he confirmed his engagement to Dr. Zachary Riley. Kyle said he and the physical therapist tied the knot at New York City Hall in April of 2023, but chose to keep the marriage under wraps until they could host a “grand” ceremony.

“Yes, you saw that right. Almost a year of marriage before we spilled the beans!” Kyle captioned a January 12 Instagram post, which showed him and Zachary kissing outside City Hall. “A day when two individual lives blended into one beautiful story. It may not be conventional or a typical love story but it’s ours."

He continued: "For months we kept it between just three of us (including their good friend and witness Marissa) because we didn’t feel this story was our vision of what our marriage would look like. We wanted something more grand, something more memorable, something more us.”

Kyle Viljoen shares details on his elopement

Kyle Viljoen posts an image of himself and his husband Zachary Riley smiling together in New York City to instagram on September 18th 2022. Photo: Kyle Viljoen/Instagram

Kyle has since had a change of heart and realized that “a ceremony is not what makes the marriage.”

“It’s about the people around us,” he continued. “When we finally told our family and friends it was an emotional overload. The support and love they showed us was everything we could have asked for. Now it’s time to wipe the slate clean and share it with all of you.”

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The South Africa native shed more light on the elopement in the January 9 episode of his podcast, The Daily Serve. He and Zachary revealed they didn’t tell their families or friends until months after tying the knot, and specifically chose their witness, Marissa, because they knew "she wouldn't release a word."

The couple said it wasn't until last summer that they finally informed their loved ones about the marriage.

“Everybody has their unique story,” Kyle said. “And, yes, we got married in the courts. I love that journey and I did consider that our union, our marriage. A very important day for me.”

Kyle Viljoen and Zachary Riley are eyeing a 2025 wedding ceremony

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Although they’re headed into their second year of marriage, Kyle and Zachary confirmed they have every intention to host a wedding ceremony, possibly in 2025.

“We still deserve the day,” Zachary said about the celebration. “It’s gone through some iterations and I think it’s still gonna go through some iterations. But yeah, we deserve the day and that’s something we’re working towards very hard. We’re deciding what allows us to have that day for ourselves.”