Criminal Minds Stars Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez Announce Divorce After 12 Years of Marriage

April 19, 2025 – In a surprising turn of events, Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez, beloved stars of Criminal Minds: Evolution, are calling it quits after 12 years of marriage. The news, first reported by TMZ, comes as a shock to fans who have followed the couple’s journey both onscreen and offscreen, from their early days as co-stars to their roles as a real-life Hollywood power couple. According to legal documents, Gilford has filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split.

A Love Story That Began on Set

The story of Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez began in 2010 when they met while filming the ABC television pilot The Matadors. Their onscreen chemistry quickly translated into a real-life romance, and by November 2011, the couple was engaged. They tied the knot on December 29, 2012, in an intimate ceremony that was later described by photographer Jonas Peterson as a celebration of two “normal, down-to-earth” people deeply in love. “They are the most in-love couple you’ll ever see,” Peterson told ABC News in 2013, recalling how Gilford described Sanchez as “the love of my life.”

Over the years, Gilford and Sanchez built a life together, both personally and professionally. They welcomed their first child, a son, in November 2015, after Sanchez announced her pregnancy earlier that year. The couple also collaborated on several projects, including the 2014 film The Purge: Anarchy. However, it was their more recent roles as Elias and Sydney Voit in Criminal Minds: Evolution that brought their onscreen partnership back into the spotlight.

Onscreen Partners, Offscreen Challenges

In Criminal Minds: Evolution, which premiered its first season in 2023, Gilford and Sanchez played a married couple entangled in the show’s dark and twisted storylines. While their real-life chemistry undoubtedly added depth to their performances, Gilford later revealed that working together on such intense material wasn’t always easy. In a 2024 interview with Us Weekly, he admitted that filming violent scenes with Sanchez “felt gross,” describing the challenge of bringing those darker moments to life with his then-wife. Despite the difficulties, Gilford also gushed about how “fun and cool” it was to have Sanchez as a scene partner, a testament to their strong personal and professional bond at the time.

Interestingly, Sanchez’s casting as Gilford’s onscreen wife wasn’t a decision they made together. Gilford shared in the same Us Weekly interview that he was unaware of the casting until Sanchez received the offer while he was on his way to work one morning. “That’s weird. I just got an offer to play your wife on Criminal Minds,” she told him, catching him by surprise. The unexpected collaboration added a new chapter to their shared career, but it seems the pressures of their onscreen roles may have mirrored challenges in their personal lives.

A 12-Year Journey Comes to an End

Gilford and Sanchez’s marriage spanned over a decade, a significant milestone in the often tumultuous world of Hollywood relationships. Fans of the couple, who affectionately dubbed them the “Dillon Power Couple” in reference to Gilford’s iconic role as Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights, expressed their sadness over the news on social media. “Bad news, I hate seeing love crashing,” wrote one user on X, while another lamented, “Not QB 1!!” referencing Gilford’s beloved Friday Night Lights character.

The couple’s shared history includes not only their professional collaborations but also personal milestones, such as the birth of their son and their journey as a family. Sanchez, known for her roles in Lost and The Glades, and Gilford, a fan favorite from Friday Night Lights, seemed to balance their careers with a grounded family life. However, as the legal documents indicate, irreconcilable differences have led them to part ways.

Reactions and Reflections

The announcement of their divorce sparked a range of reactions online. Some fans expressed confusion, with one user simply asking, “Why??” while others reflected on the couple’s journey, noting, “What went wrong after Friday Night Lights?” Another user humorously referenced Gilford’s Chicago performance, commenting, “Razzle Dazzle!” in a nod to his versatility as an actor. Meanwhile, some were less invested, with one user stating, “Who? Don’t care… more important things going on than 2 who’s.”

Despite the mixed reactions, the news marks the end of an era for a couple whose love story captivated fans for over a decade. Their wedding, attended by famous friends like Friday Night Lights co-star Jesse Plemons and The Glades actress Michelle Hurd, was a testament to their deep connections in the industry and their genuine affection for each other. As Peterson noted in 2013, the couple’s down-to-earth nature made them stand out in Hollywood, a quality