Fast N’ Loud star Richard Rawlings loves being in the spotlight. The 46-year-old fabricator and hot rod enthusiast revealed in an interview that he and bearded bro Aaron Kaufman started Gas Monkey Garage more than a decade ago with the dream of a TV show in mind. But there’s one thing Richard has been reluctant to put in the spotlight: his personal life.
One of the questions most often asked by fans of the show is inevitably “Is Richard Rawlings married?” It seems that part of the reason Richard doesn’t address his marital status on air is because he partly blames the show for leading to the divorce from his wife of just over ten years, Suzanne Rawlings.
“We got divorced while all the [Gas Monkey and Fast N’ Loud] stuff was happening and it was hard for her to put up with it,” Richard told DFW.com in May of this year. “So it was rough on her for awhile. I’m traveling, I’m gone, and, of course, there are lots of girls out there.”
Here is a recent photo of Suzanne Rawlings, showing support for Richard and the crew by proudly modeling a Gas Monkey Garage t-shirt:
According to online records, Richard Rawlings married Suzanne (maiden name Mergele) on August 7, 1999 and the two officially divorced on August 14, 2009. That’s almost three years before Fast N’ Loud premiered on June 6, 2012, but the show could have been in the beginning stages at that point. Gas Monkey Garage had been up and running for five years by then.
Amazingly, this story has a happy ending as Richard and Suzanne apparently hauled their rusted out relationship into the Gas Monkey Garage of love and got it completely refurbished! The two took a trip to Cabo to surprise their friend Dennis Collins on his birthday, and they surprised each other with an impromptu wedding!
“It was spur-of-the-moment down in Cabo in January,” Richard told DFW.com. The proud groom posted the photo with Suzanne at the top of this post on Facebook and wrote, “Came down to Cabo to surprise my best friend on his birthday and ended up remarrying my other best friend! GYSOT!!” He added this second photo kissing the bride on Instagram:
“She’s phenomenal,” David said of Suzanne in May, “though dumb enough to marry me twice.”
It seems the two were on good terms for a while prior to taking their second trip to the altar in Cabo. In January of 2013 they attended a charity event at The Back 9 sports bar near Dallas at which David was a celebrity bartender:
The two got gussied up nearly a year later for the 2014 Cattle Baron’s Ball in Dallas in October:
Richard Rawlings is a HUGE fan of throwback photos, and he has posted tons a great photos of him as a baby all the way up through elementary school, junior high, prom and beyond. But, he has yet to post a throwback photo of Suzanne — either with him or by herself. Perhaps that will all change soon as his remarriage becomes more well known. Until then, however, I think I may have uncovered an older photo of Richard and Suzanne together. I think.
The photo is from the 2006 Bullrun after party. The man in the photo is clearly Richard — he is listed in the photographers description, and other photos from the event in which you can see his face leave no room for doubt. The woman Richard is hugging tightly in the photo, a very attractive blonde that looks to be the right age, is simply described as “guest” by the photographer. Here’s the picture:
I read some accounts from the 2006 Bullrun, and it is mentioned a couple of times that Richard’s wife (referred to as Sue on one occasion) was there to party it up when it was all over, so that seems to only further suggest the woman is Suzanne. What do you think?
UPDATE – Richard has since shared an actual throwback photo of himself and his wife Suzanne, whom he calls Sue:
Richard posted the photo on Facebook and asked, “How’s that for a throwback?” He added, “That’s me and my wife way back in the day! She’s just as beautiful now.”
Fast N’ Loud Season 7 premieres tonight at 9/8c on Discovery with new episodes airing on Monday nights from here on out! It’s not known is Richard and Suzanne’s surprise nuptials in Cabo will be included on the show.
