90 Day Fiance star Evelin Villegas is claiming that her secret marriage to Corey Rathgeber had “nothing to do” with the show.
Fans of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way were shocked to find out that Evelin and Corey are already married.
During last week’s episode, Evelin dropped a bomb on her sisters during a wedding dress shopping excursion.
As Evelin’s sisters toasted her as she tried on wedding dresses, she surprised them (and viewers) when she revealed that she and Corey had eloped a year earlier and tied the knot in a private ceremony.
Now, Evelin is clearing the air after she and Corey received some hate online for lying to viewers.
Evelin Villegas explains why she and Corey Rathgeber kept their marriage a secret from 90 Day Fiance fans
Evelin took to her Instagram Stories on Thursday, September 16 to set the record straight about her secret elopement with Corey.
Evelin answered some fan questions in a Q&A and took some time to record several videos, explaining why she and Corey hid their marriage.
The first question that Evelin addressed came from a fan who asked, “Are the rumors true you & [Corey] are already married?”
“Ok, so … back in 2019, after we were done filming, after we were on TV, you know, we were on TV during 2019,” Evelin began her video.
“Corey and I’s relationship was in the best moment ever. We did that amazing proposal that you all remember, so I did say yes and we were doing so good and he wanted to stay in the country so I did agree to get married,” she continued.
“So we did it. But it was a private moment just for me and him. No one was aware, not anyone in my family, not even one of my friends, no one,” she added.
“We did choose not to share this because I wasn’t ready to be a married lady at that time,” the 32-year-old Ecuadorian native stated.
Evelin says elopement had ‘nothing to do with’ 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way
She continued, “This has nothing to do with the show. It didn’t have anything to do with the show. We were done filming, the season was already done, so we have nothing to do.”
“It was a private moment and I do understand that some of you think we need to let you know everything that happened in our lives, but we are humans who have the choice to choose,” she concluded.
Evelin brought up the fact that someone whom she trusted “twisted” the news by telling the media that she and Corey got married “way before” 2019 and created rumors.
“Someone I trusted, I shared this news with, and she went on and twisted [it]. She said that it was way before. She said all these rumors like we were lying,” she stated.
“Like, come on, I’m not an actress. So, how can I frickin’ pretend that the proposal and everything that we’ve been through, like all of that was completely real? We are not fake,” Evelin told her followers.
The person Evelin seemingly claims betrayed her trust is another cast member from 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Laura Jallai.
Laura dropped some bombs with shocking firsthand insight, claiming during a podcast appearance that Corey and Evelin were already married and that there was abuse in their marriage.
Evelin included a few captions with her videos. One read, “We [chose] to have our private wedding without cameras and without family. It was a moment for us and now that we decided to share it you are all seeing on tv as even my family learns about it.”
Another video slide was captioned, “So rumors are not right! We weren’t married when we filmed we got married after being done with filming our first season.”
Evelin again asked her followers to respect her and Corey’s decision and captioned her final slide, “I hope you respect our decision and send us your love and support ❤”
Many fans of 90 Day Fiance weren’t happy when they discovered that Evelin and Corey lied to audiences about their marriage, and said they felt their intelligence had been insulted by their “fake” storyline.
Corey first confirmed that he and Evelin had secretly wed in the comments of a 90 Day Fiance Instagram post, setting off fans of The Other Way.
Now that 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way viewers know that Evelin and Corey were dishonest about their marriage, it may change how they feel about the couple moving forward.
90 Day Fiance: The Other Way airs on Sundays at 8/7c on TLC and Discovery Plus.