rundown
After nearly five years of romance, industry stars Maihara and Armando Rivera tied the knot in a secret wedding last year. Maihara confirmed the marriage in an Instagram post on January 5, 2026, captioning a merry-go-round of photos from the ceremony, “1 year of marriage ♾️💍If this makes sense, promise me you didn’t tell most of us 😗” and added, “I’m infinitely grateful to my friends and family for making this day such a wonderful day.”
In late 2020, after the debut of the HBO series, Rivera reached out to Maihara on Instagram, sparking a short-term relationship that blossomed into a long-term relationship. Although the two have kept most of the details of their relationship private, they have posted sweet moments together on social media, and Maihara has also shared details about her husband over the years. Keep reading to learn more about Rivera’s romance with Maihara.
Armando Rivera is building a career as an actor.
Rivera is beginning to build a career as an actor, with his early work rooted in independent projects. In 2024, he starred in the independent film Any Day Now, playing a rocker named Danny. According to IMDb, he has appeared in a series of short films including Lucha Noir, Wolves, and Tape of ’25.
He’s also set to co-star with Jacob Scipio and Edgar Ramirez in Hulu’s upcoming real estate drama about “a fierce battle for control of the Manhattan skyline,” Deadline reported last July. Rivera wrote as much, but Maihara acknowledged it in a September 2024 interview with ELLE.
Rivera was a Bay Area college student and former NCAA soccer captain before becoming an actor.
Before entering the entertainment industry, Rivera was a college student in the Bay Area. W Magazine reported that he previously served as captain of the NCAA Division II men’s soccer team. The San Francisco Institute of Arts soccer team’s website lists him as a defender who attended College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California. His bio lists him as a native of Indio, California, majoring in communications and media technology.
Rivera and Maihara first connected through Instagram during the pandemic.
Rivera and Maihara’s relationship began in late 2020, shortly after the first season of Industry premiered on HBO. During an August 2024 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Maihara explained that pandemic restrictions gave her time to scroll through her Instagram DMs, most of which were strange and uninvited, and that’s when she found a message from Rivera congratulating her on the show and wishing her continued success.
She responded with a simple thank you, but when she woke up the next day, she found a series of video messages from Rivera. She told Myers that she was hesitant to open it at first, but decided to take a look after checking out his profile and thinking it was “kind of cute.” Rivera explained in the video that he wanted to interview her for a school project, a move Maihara described as bold enough to convince her to say yes.
Maihara said Rivera’s class was scheduled for a 10-minute Zoom interview, but ended up lasting about 40 minutes. During Seth Meyers’ appearance, she realized that she felt an unexpected connection mid-conversation, and recalled flirting with Rivera and asking him questions about herself before hanging up.
“We jumped off and thought, ‘Oh, I’m in love with a stranger. How weird,'” the Bodies, Bodies, Bodies actress continued. A few days later, she asked Rivera if he had gotten a good grade on the assignment. She admitted that the message disgusted her in retrospect, but it led to further communication and she eventually gave Rivera permission to ask for her phone number.
Their relationship deepened through FaceTime dates, and they decided to meet in person in early 2021.
Maihara and Rivera messaged consistently for several weeks and “started doing a little bit of FaceTime dates” before meeting in person in early 2021, the actress said in an interview with W Magazine. “He goes to school in San Francisco and I’m from San Jose, which is only a 50-minute drive away. When I was visiting my mom in January 2021, I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to the city. Do you want to meet in real life?'” she told W in 2023. Since the coronavirus infection was still serious, when I arrived there, I was tested every day, but the test results were not returned (in time). I was like, “Oh my god, I’m just going to go and hope for the best.” And I drove to his apartment. ”
Maihara described the first time they held hands as “an otherworldly experience” and compared it to the Na’vi bonding ritual in Avatar, telling W Magazine: “From then on, we were inseparable.”
Rivera moved to New York and became fully integrated into Maihara’s life.
As Maihara’s career expanded, Rivera began spending large amounts of time with him while she worked. She told W Magazine that Rivera stayed with her for nearly two months while filming Season 2 of Industry, allowing him to get to know her family better.
Maihara eventually brought up the topic of living together. “Then in early 2022, I thought, ‘We’ve lived together a few times in different places. Do you want to live with me?'” she recalled to W Magazine the following year. “The day after his last in-person class, he packed up all his stuff and came to New York. We’ve been living here together for a year, but now things have changed.”
The couple describes an intentionally low-key cohabitation centered around cooking at home, spending time with Rivera’s two cats, and navigating challenges through frequent communication (sometimes long conversations at one of their favorite restaurants, Bareburger).
“There was a period when we went three times in a row where we were having very serious conversations, and that’s when real ground was transferred,” Rivera told W. With a completely new outlook on life. ”
Maihara and Rivera have attended several industry events together.
Since sparking their romance, Maihara and Rivera have made several public appearances together, the first of which was attending the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.
Maihara and Rivera attend the Chanel Arts Dinner during the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.
That same year, they also attended the US Open and W Magazine’s 50th anniversary party.
Rivera and Maihara at the 2022 US Open.
Maihara and Rivera attended W Magazine’s 50th anniversary event.
Last year, they were photographed at the Thom Browne fashion show during New York Fashion Week in February and at the amfAR Gala Venezia during the Venice Film Festival.
Rivera and Maihara arrive at the Thom Browne fashion show during New York Fashion Week in February 2025.
Maihara and Rivera attend the 2025 amfAR Gala Venezia at the Venice Film Festival.
For those curious who notice the obvious height difference between the two, Rivera’s height is listed as 6’5″ in his Academy of Art University player profile, while Myha’la is 5’1″, according to his IMDb page.
Maihara describes Rivera as a grounded and deeply supportive figure in her life.
In a September 2024 interview with ELLE, Maihara spoke candidly about how Rivera supports her emotionally and creatively, especially as her career continues to accelerate. While discussing the waterfront rental property in Cape Town where he was staying while filming the movie They Will Kill You, he recalled that he was initially hesitant about the space until Rivera suggested it to him. “When I first saw the photos of the accommodation, I thought, ‘This is too much, this is too much,'” she said. “And my fiance was like, ‘Okay!’
She also emphasized the independence at the core of their partnership, explaining that their relationship is rooted in choice rather than necessity. “When I met you, I was like, ‘I don’t need you,'” she said. “‘I don’t need you and you don’t need me. But I want you, and you need me.’ We choose each other. We enrich each other’s lives.”
As Maihara reflected more broadly on her relationship, she framed it as transformative in ways she had not anticipated. “Being independent as an individual makes me more available to others, which is an extra thing I didn’t know I wanted, and now I feel like I can’t live without being loved this way,” she told ELLE.
Rivera proposed in 2024, and the couple quietly married the following year.
Rivera proposed to Maihara on the doorstep of their New York apartment in July 2024, just before speaking to Marie Claire magazine for an August cover interview. Maihara told the magazine that the traditional diamond engagement ring “just didn’t feel right,” so the couple exchanged matching sterling silver rings from a vintage shop.
In the interview, Maihara explained that her first meeting with Rivera was “like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to be together forever,'” adding that the marriage “was special to him, and it ended up being special to me.”
She admitted that financial realities and work schedules made planning a wedding daunting at the time, but the couple secretly married in 2025. Maihara then went public with their marriage in January 2026, celebrating their first anniversary and thanking everyone who helped make the intimate ceremony possible.
