Sarah Williams Says John Shannon Suspected Her of Cheating Before Texts Emerged

On the November 11 episode of “The Viall Files,” Williams, 34, said she began holding back during disagreements with Shannon. She described feeling “down” and “like a meeker version” of herself, adding that she eventually stopped trying to discuss comments she found objectionable because the conversations no longer seemed worthwhile. She said she had thought she could repair the marriage, but by December 2025 Shannon had begun questioning whether she was faithful.

Williams recalled one incident in which Shannon went to the gym while she went downstairs to collect a package. She said he later suspected her of cheating because the front door had been left “ajar.” “He thought I was cheating on him in the 45 minutes that he was at the gym,” she said. Williams added that there were other moments that left her asking, “What is going on?”

She said she looked through Shannon’s phone in April after realizing he had lied about a guys’ trip. The couple had an open-phone policy, she said, but she had not previously checked his device. Williams said she found messages following a brief exchange with a woman who worked as a stripper and an escort, as well as an active Tinder profile with at least one match. She said Shannon told her he had not used the app beyond that and that nothing physical had happened.

At the Season 11 reunion, Shannon said he and Williams had separated after about a year of marriage. He said he met the woman during a night out for cast member Rob’s birthday and exchanged three explicit texts with her. He acknowledged emotional infidelity, called the messages “a major breach of trust,” and said, “I don’t blame her at all for leaving.”

Williams said she had doubts before the wedding and had called cast members Wilnie and Aneha the night before, worried Shannon might eventually cheat. She said his manner during disagreements wore her down. PEOPLE reported that she filed for divorce on June 4.