Beyond the Gates Recap, June 17, 2025: Doug grew a pair and the Andre/Ashley connection began to surface

Here's what went down Tuesday, June 17, 2025 on Beyond the Gates when Dani and Andre agreed it was time to let people know they were together, Madison stressed the importance of IRL interaction, and Smitty laid down the law for Martin.

What happened on Beyond the Gates

On Beyond the Gates, both Chelsea and Madison marveled at how good their lovemaking had been. But when Madison was bothered by Chelsea grabbing her phone while they were talking about it, Chelsea promised she wasn't posting the event to her followers. However, what really bothered Madison was the fact that Chelsea had jumped out of their intimate moment to check her feed, noting that every like was like a dopamine hit. Chelsea adamantly said that social media was her work; Madison was at least impressed with Chelsea's dedication to her career.

Madison understood that Chelsea's positive effect on her followers was important, but added that the more important connections happened when folks put their phones down. They kissed; Chelsea wanted Madison to stay, but she had a hospital shift in the morning.

Andre visited Dani, letting her know that they needed to talk. Dani was apprehensive; Andre detailed how he had walked into her guest house and probably given away their relationship to Kat and Chelsea. Andre didn't think it would be so bad if the girls knew about it, but Dani bristled at the idea of them realizing she was sleeping with someone closer to their age than hers. Andre was surprised that Dani seemed concerned with what anyone else thought. Dani relayed that a May-December fling was much more accepted with men than with women and didn't want her family affected by any resulting gossip. Plus, Dani was worried about Nicole's reaction, since she had been present the day Andre was born.

“You sound just like Pamela,” Dani scoffed after Andre said Dani's upset was much more about her than it was Nicole. Andre and Dani each admitted that they had slipped about their tryst to Pamela and Ted, respectively. Andre joked that, with four people in the know, they should call a PR firm to manage the scandal, but Dani blurted out that she wasn't ready for their affair to be public knowledge. She swore it had nothing to do with Bill, not since he had given up any right to comment on her actions once he'd filed for divorce.

Andre wasn't convinced that Dani's hesitation wasn't about Bill; after some verbal sparring, Dani broke down and admitted she was scared. She didn't want to be involved with another man who made her feel like she wasn't enough. Andre didn't like being lumped in with Bill and deemed the lawyer an idiot for letting Dani go; he pledged he wouldn't leave her for Hayley. “What would you want with that trashy pregnant ho anyway?” Dani blurted out; Andre stifled a laugh. Dani needed to know that there wasn't another woman in Andre's life...especially someone closer to his age.

When Andre wouldn't give a straight answer, Dani assumed he was very popular on the dating apps and even needed someone to answer all of his messages for him. Andre replied that he hadn't fixated on another woman since they had started their undefined involvement. Dani conceded that she might be able to get past worrying that Andre was going to dump her the way Bill did, and that it may well be time to go public. Just then, Chelsea burst in; she gave Andre and Dani a knowing look. Andre pretended to thank Dani for a business tip and exited. Before Dani could explain about Andre, Chelsea declared, “Mom, I think I'm in love!”

Chelsea assured a concerned Dani that Allison was “in the rear view” and wanted to be sure that Dani was still all right with her being gender fluid. Dani reminded her daughter that, in the modeling industry, she had been around people who had seen and done everything. “Are you telling me that Auntie played for both teams, too?” Chelsea snickered when Dani said she had learned the concept “love is love” from Nicole – Dani corrected that her example had been how welcoming Nicole had been when Martin came out to her. Praising Smitty, Dani smiled, “those two are made for each other.”

Grabbed by Martin, “Kenneth” claimed he didn't recognize Martin, prompting Martin to command the busboy to “drop the Mr. Rogers act.” Martin handed the man $20 and directed him to say “Let's see what color's your money”; when “Kenneth” hit the right cadence, Martin had a flashback. “Kenneth” thanked the frozen Martin for the tip and returned to work, later exchanging glances with the congressman.

Naomi left a message for Jacob from the country club, letting him know she had to take a late appointment there. Ashley came rushing in, frantic that she'd had to bribe Naomi's assistant to get her location. “How the hell could you let Derek propose to me?” Ashley flared. Naomi pointed out that Derek was grown, but Ashley was still torqued that Naomi had helped Derek buy a ring – she was supposed to be Ashley's best friend. Seeing that Ashley was spun out, Naomi asked her to dial it back and offered to take her into the banquet room to continue their talk.

Martin raced by; after Ashley excused herself, Martin blew off Naomi's worry by saying he was dealing with political issues. After Naomi answered Martin's questions about Bill's recovery, she saw that her cousin could barely focus and was willing to lend an ear; Martin almost confided in her, but beat a hasty retreat.

Smitty was taking a drink from a water bottle when Samantha suddenly asked, “What's gay sex like?” The reporter inadvertently spat the liquid across the room, but Sam clarified that she was taking a human sexuality community college course to get ahead of her studies so she'd have time to break away when she started modeling purses for ChelseaKat. Smitty asked if Samantha had needed parental permission for that particular subject; Samantha noted that Martin had signed the slip, but had barely glanced at it. When Smitty declared that Martin would have to answer Samantha's questions, she noted that he wasn't home, and Smitty thought it odd that Martin hadn't returned from his dinner with Vernon yet.

Samantha and Smitty talked about Tyrell's chess club and her readiness for junior year. She promised not to let her gig with ChelseaKat mess up her schooling; Samantha wanted to do everything right so she could become a full-fledged model when the company added activewear to its purse line. “Eye on the prize, right?” Samantha asked. Smitty hugged his daughter and repeated the line.

When Martin came home, Samantha could see that her pop needed his own hug. She went upstairs to work on her human sexuality paper; Martin was briefly alarmed to hear she was studying the subject. Smitty could see that Martin was frazzled, but Martin said he was just tired and asked about Smitty's interview with Marcel. Smitty described how he had uncovered Marcel's connection to some shady dealings – and Martin flashed back to Marcel demanding, “Get him the hell out of here.”

Smitty was baffled when Martin suddenly announced that his dreams had come back, wondering what they had to do with Marcel. Martin opened up that the nightmares had become hallucinations but was vague about what they centered around, chalking them up to stress. Smitty finally had enough of Martin's evasion and vehemently called for his husband to reveal what he'd obviously been hiding for so long.

Martin remembered Vernon's words about keeping everyone safe by not letting anyone outside the circle know what happened and protested that he wasn't clear on what his visions meant. “Do not give me that strongman BS!” Smitty exclaimed as Martin maintained that he didn't need therapy. When Smitty didn't count Martin broaching the subject with Nicole as help, Martin agreed to seek counseling...as soon as things cleared up at work. Smitty advised Martin to make the time, or he would drag Martin to a shrink himself.

Dani smiled as Chelsea declared she had never felt the way she was feeling for anyone, girl or guy. When Chelsea confessed that the new woman in her life was Madison, Dani yelped, “I knew it!” – though her excitement was tempered when she discovered that Chelsea hadn't known Madison very long. She just wanted to be sure her daughter wasn't rushing into things and making them worse after her disappointment with Allison. When Dani suggested that Chelsea bring Madison to dinner so the whole family could meet her, Chelsea piped up, “and then you can bring your new boyfriend!”

Naomi did tequila shots with Ashley, who apologized for the way she'd come at Naomi and recognized Naomi had given her an “'Ashley's being extra' face.” Naomi acknowledged that she'd had her doubts about Derek's timing but also that she wouldn't have been able to curb his determination.

Ashley hated how destroyed Derek had looked after she'd refused his engagement ring. Knowing Ashley as well as she did, Naomi had already seen that Ashley wasn't ready for marriage even after dating longer than some marriages lasted, but she couldn't assess why. Ashley cited Derek doing things like leaving dirty dishes overnight, but Naomi reminded her how she and Jacob had had their own growing pains when they'd first moved in together. Ashley insisted that Jacob and Naomi were meant to be, leading Naomi to ask if Ashley felt the same about Derek...or if there was someone else.

After Ashley denied that she had cheated or wanted any other man besides Derek, Naomi gently said that there were times the heart wandered off into other places. Ashley continued to contend that she didn't have extra-relationship feelings, even after Naomi swore herself to secrecy and Ashley downed another tequila shot.

Jacob saw Derek at Orphey Gene's and learned that Ashley had turned down his proposal, adding that Ashley had looked at his ring like “it was a bomb about to go off.” Derek grumbled that he didn't know if Ashley wanted to get married next year, next decade, or “when Mercury [was] in retrograde.” Jacob seconded Ashley's question as to whether or not Derek's proposal was a loyalty check. Derek became aware that he had indeed given Ashley an ultimatum, and that he had done so because he wanted stability in his life. Jacob warned that one had to let love breathe; Derek sensed that something was holding Ashley back from moving forward with him, but didn't know what it was...or who.

As Jacob asked what Derek thought was behind Ashley's reluctance, Derek made eye contact with the entering Andre, who revealed that he knew about Ashley rejecting Derek's proposal. “Of course she did,” Derek eye-rolled upon learning Ashley had told Andre what happened. Neither Jacob nor Derek seemed convinced by Andre's insistence that he'd been ready to celebrate the engagement. “Then why'd she turn me down?” Derek queried when Andre went on about how much Ashley loved Derek. Andre couldn't answer, and Derek took off. Jacob didn't think Andre really felt bad for the again-estranged couple, though he wouldn't say why.

“Is making love on different surfaces part of the attraction?” Joey groused, commenting that the poker table he and Vanessa had just been on didn't exactly come with memory foam. Nevertheless, Joey was ready for another round until Doug walked in, telling his wife and her lover not to play him for a fool. Joey handed Doug a drink and reported that Vanessa had demanded an 18% commission – 12 for her, six for Doug – as well as the forgiving of Doug's debt in exchange for funneling money through her real estate business.

Doug barked that he wanted a private moment with Vanessa and told Joey he could roam the rest of his dump during it. Joey sneered that he had put people in the hospital for less disrespect than Doug had just shown; Doug retorted that he had lost enough money in the casino to buy it three times over. When Joey grudgingly exited, Vanessa worried about what Joey could do to them. “Oh, suddenly there's an us,” Doug sniffed. Doug didn't like Vanessa getting in bed with Joey, in business or literally. Vanessa snarled that Doug had created their mess – she was just trying to get them out of it.

“Late night surgery, my ass!” Vanessa seethed, charging Doug with lying to her face concerning his whereabouts for months. Doug sheepishly said he'd thought he could handle gambling, and that he'd been sure he could win the money to pay Joey back without Vanessa having to be burdened with knowledge of the debt. Vanessa, now connecting all the dots, stated that even Shanice had tried to warn her – and that now Doug's problem was her problem. The realtor was not going to let Joey have his way with her the way he had with Doug. “You sure you haven't already?” Doug snarked.

Joey returned, checking that they were all on the same page about the deal he had struck. Doug spat that he didn't want his wife taken advantage of by Joey and insisted on a 20% commission instead of eighteen – which he and Vanessa would split, since “sharing” seemed a propos in their marriage. Vanessa looked impressed and found the number fair; Doug wanted to know how the real estate deals were going to work. When Joey sassed that Doug's surgery schedule was too busy, Doug vowed he would make the time for their business arrangement – and growled that, with everything he knew, Joey would be wise to keep him close.

Beyond the Gates airs weekdays on CBS and streams on Paramount Plus.