Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez's relationship history explored as Criminal Minds stars file for divorce

Zach Gilford, 43, has filed for a divorce from Kiele Sanchez, 47, after 12 years of marriage. TMZ obtained legal documents mentioning that the actor took the significant step of calling it quits on April 18.

The Friday Night Lights actor cited "irreconcilable differences" as the primary reason for his separation from his wife. In this long-standing relationship, spanning over a decade, the couple has welcomed two children: 7-year-old Zeppelin and 4-year-old Revel.

Zach Gilford met Kiele Sanchez while working on The Matadors. In December 2011, they celebrated their engagement. A year later, on December 29, 2012, they tied the knot.

Everything we know about Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez's relationship

After filing court papers on Friday, Zach is now seeking joint legal and physical custody of his son, Zeppelin, and daughter, Revel, with Kiele.

Both Zach and Kiele prefer to keep their lives away from the spotlight.

Their first meeting:

According to IMDb, Gilford met Sanchez for the first time while they were chosen for The Matadors, the ABC television pilot. The professional on-screen bond soon escalated to something private, personal, and more special.

Taking the next steps:

Soon, they started dating and got engaged a year later in November. In December 2012, they got married.

From co-stars to partners:

Apart from being a married couple in real life, they portrayed an onscreen couple in Criminal Minds: Evolution. Around a decade ago, they were seen together playing a couple in The Purge: Anarchy as well.

Experiencing parenthood:

According to an E! News - E! Online report, the estranged couple had a miscarriage in 2015. Later, on November 29, 2017, Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez welcomed their eldest daughter, Zeppelin Adele Gilford, in Los Angeles via surrogacy.

In 2020, they became parents for the second time after the birth of their son, Revel.

Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez shared the screen multiple times

In an exclusive conversation with Us Weekly, the Midnight Mass actor spoke about his experience of working, acting, and sharing the screen with his wife. While he loved the process, the journey to portray an on-screen couple is not simple.

Recalling his experience of co-starring with Kiele Sanchez and playing the character of Elias Voit on Criminal Minds: Evolution, Zach Gilford shared:

" No, it’s actually harder."

He further added:

"It’s harder because I don’t want to hold a gun to my wife’s head. It just happened to be that the nature of these scenes were pretty gross."

Recounting the time of shooting a few violent scenes, Gilford continued:

"Honestly, all those scenes are so f**ked up. I’ll only speak for myself. Kiele can obviously speak for herself, but it felt gross."

The casting for their roles was quite interesting. While Zach Gilford was selected initially, her on-screen wife was yet to be chosen. While chatting with the outlet, he disclosed the casting experience.

"I was on my way to work and I said goodbye to Kiele. And she looked at her phone and said, 'That’s weird. I just got an offer to play your wife on Criminal Minds.'"

Erica Messer later informed him about Kiele's selection for the project.