90 Day Fiance: The Other Way couples can sometimes do just that, go the other way. From one week to the next it can be hard to keep up with who is together, who’s breaking up, and who might go back to where they came from.
This group of couples experiences a unique set of challenges: accelerated dating rate, language barriers, visas, and passports, and now the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns have been added to their list of stressors.
No wonder there is a breakdown every other week.
But some of these couples have found the diamond in the rough of all the struggles and appear to have found real and lasting love through it all.
Still, others have not. Others have found dirty little secrets and revealed infidelities and true motives as dismal and dark as the couple’s futures.
But through it all, we’ve managed to rank these dynamic duos, starting with who we think is going to make it to the finale and beyond, all the way down to those we think might not even make it past next week.
Armando and Kenny: For the win
Kenny Niedermeier and Armando Rubio have stolen fans’ hearts, and for good reason. This pair is what the stuff of romance novels is all about.
Kenny and Armando met in a gay fathers’ chat room and struck up a friendship that soon blossomed into much more.
Kenny moved to Mexico to be with Armando and his young daughter, Hannah.
But Kenny’s transition to Mexico has been no walk in the park. The two had to work to overcome both Armando’s family and the Mexican government’s stance on gay marriage; and while the battle with Armando’s family continues, the marriage license from the Mexican government was finally approved.
The two were thrilled to announce they were able to legally marry in Mexico.
The pair is discussing expanding their family and exploring their options in how to accomplish that. The couple recently visited a Mexican orphanage and also discussed surrogacy. While the two’s age differences are playing a part in their preferences, the couple continues to discuss their options and work together to find a solution that works for both of them.
This is exactly why we awarded them the number one spot as the two work as a team to find solutions and both seem to genuinely care about the other’s wellbeing.
They seem to have a very solid foundation built on love and trust and want a future together. They have good communication and commitment and we think they have what it takes to go the distance.
While Kenny does struggle with some homesickness for his family, we think with some compromising on Armando’s part, the couple can come up with living and family planning arrangements that will make both of them happy.
Jenny and Sumit: Our Runners-Up
Well, they’ve made it this far.
That is our motto for this couple.
If there is a barrier Jenny Slatten and Sumit Singh can’t seem to overcome, we haven’t come across it yet.
While the two do continue to postpone marriage due to Sumit’s parent’s dislike of Jenny, we honestly think eventually, his parents will cave and the couple will tie the knot.
The two met on an online dating site where Sumit catfished Jenny while pretending to be a young, American model. Boy, was Jenny surprised. But somehow they stuck it out and their relationship grew.
Fast forward through a few years, and Jenny has been back and forth to India due to various reasons; finding out Sumit was legally married to someone else, Sumit’s parents forbidding the marriage, Sumit’s ex-in-laws stealing his passport, and the list goes on.
But honestly, the couple has made it this far and it seems no matter the obstacle, the two are committed to making it work.
Currently, the couple is fighting the good fight of letting Sumit’s parents move into their home to help Jenny acclimate to becoming a “good Indian daughter in law.” Yikes. The training began with Sumit’s mother having Jenny scour the kitchen from top to bottom. While it was a little intense, fans actually agreed with Sumit’s mom that Jenny’s kitchen was disgusting. So maybe the kitchen needed a good once-over anyway right?
We really think that this couple has come too far to let a little mother-in-law’s interference and visa hiccups keep them from staying together. Slow and steady will win the race with this couple, just as Sumit’s astrologer said. We think regardless of the obstacles, the two will stay together — after all, as the astrologer said, it’s written in their stars.
Corey and Evelin: A match made in dysfunction
Ok, ok we know what you are thinking. But this list is not about if they SHOULD succeed, but if they WILL succeed. And we think regardless of if it’s in anyone’s best interest, this couple will stay together.
Basically, if Corey Rathgeber and Evelin Villegas were going to part ways, they would have done it already.
The two have stayed together through infidelities on both parts, secret weddings, language barriers, visa issues … all the things that would have split many couples up for good.
The two met on the beach while Corey was on a backpacking trip to Ecuador. He said that Evelin caught his eye and he hasn’t been able to look away since. The two struck up a romance and Evelin moved to the U.S. to be with Corey; but as her visa expired, she had to head back to Ecuador, where Corey eventually followed her.
Long story short, the two have had a lot of ups and downs, but the fact that they continue to find their way back to each other tells us that these two probably always will. While fan opinion does change from episode to episode, recently fans are actually taking Corey’s side, and saying he should divorce Evelin, as they call her “controlling” and “hypocritical.”
But even after the last bombshell Corey dropped, of having an ongoing relationship with his Peruvian girlfriend while he and Evelin were married (although taking a break), Evelin still agreed to go to couples therapy with him.
Although Evelin often threatens divorce with Corey, the two have never actually gone through with it, and we are willing to bet never will.
So will this couple stay together? We are going to say yes, but if they should, well, that is a different matter entirely.
Steven and Alina: Fourth and dropping
Steven Johnson and Alina make it to our fourth spot, by a hair.
Don’t get us wrong, this couple has the makings of a great pair, but it seems that their youth keeps working against them.
The two comprise the youngest couple on this season of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, and it shows.
Alina is barely 20 and Steven is only 25. While the two seem to have a genuine connection with each other, their youthful follies just keep piling up.
While Steven does seem to care about Alina, he doesn’t seem quite ready to settle down yet. Alina set up a test of Steven’s faithfulness by having her Russian friend, Masha, flirt with him over social media. Steven failed miserably as he responded to Masha to “grab her bathing suit” and join him in Turkey. Whoops.
While Steven did fail the test (and we personally thought the test was hilarious) it was also not exactly the most mature way to handle the situation. Alina also leans towards jealousy and trust issues, although after finding out the truth about Steven, we could maybe see why.
Steven also admitted to several infidelities that occurred after starting a relationship with Alina and those infidelities were not small in either number or scale.
It seems Steven may have a little trouble keeping commitments as he has had multiple slips in keeping to his Mormon traditions and with his relationship with Alina. This is a shame, as marriage is one of the biggest commitments there is.
So do we think this couple has a strong bond and really likes each other? Yes. Do we think they will make it to the finale? Probably not.
Our verdict is that the two just aren’t ready for marriage.
Bini and Ari: Farewell from America
Let’s be real. Ari isn’t coming back. She never was.
Ok, maybe for a brief moment she considered it, but we knew once she got back around her friends, family, and American life, there would be no going back.
Ariela Weinberg and Biniyam Shibre met while Ari was traveling in Ethiopia. The couple struck up a romance, and three months later Ari found out she was pregnant with Bini’s baby. The couple welcomed their first child together, a baby boy named Avi, and Ari moved to Ethiopia full time.
But between the cultural and language barriers, it seemed Ari never really felt at home. So she decided to bring a piece of home to her as she flew in her ex-husband Leandro to stay with them. It went about as well as anyone expected and shortly after his departure, Ari made the decision to return to the U.S.
The couple had found out that their son needed hernia surgery and while Bini wanted the procedure done in Ethiopia, Ari argued it would be better to do it in the U.S. where her insurance would cover it and her family could help with the aftercare.
Ari booked the plane tickets without telling Bini and when he found out he was devastated, as this is not his first rodeo with American women having his child and then leaving. Bini’s ex-wife and firstborn son also left him behind in Ethiopia to move back to America and he hasn’t seen them since.
Despite Ari’s assurances that she would be back, everyone had a feeling she would not be. And from the spoilers for this week’s episode, it looks like she will most likely be staying in America after all. But since the two do have a child together, there is a possibility that somehow, they will still work it out. But we aren’t holding our breath.
Ellie and Victor: Last and Least
What can we say about this couple, besides something mumbled under our breath while we awkwardly avoid eye contact.
We weren’t thrilled about this couple pre-hurricane and now, well, their relationship is about as big of a disaster as the island they were supposed to be living on.
Ellie Rose and Victor met in Providencia, the small island in Colombia where Victor is from. Ellie was on vacation when the two met and fell in love in paradise.
Soon Ellie was selling her booming pizza business, packing up her sleek Seattle home, and saying goodbye to her friends as she was ready to depart to be with Victor and Providencia, full time.
Then, the storms hit.
The first hint of trouble in paradise began with Victor’s infidelity. Victor gives us some serious user and abuser vibes. He was taking Ellie’s affections, phone calls, and let’s not forget money, all while he was shacking up with another woman.
Then, he somehow skates through all that with an apology and is able to collect even more of Ellie’s time and money. Ellie shoots him a cool five grand to fix up his home, which of course is then immediately destroyed by a hurricane.
She then drops everything to join him there post-hurricane, where he asks her not only to pay to help rebuild it but to pay for all the construction equipment to do so and foot the bill for him staying in a hotel with her. Not only is he asking her to pay for these things, but he also gets angry when she balks at the cost of the very expensive tools he is requesting she buy.
It doesn’t seem like a match made in paradise. The plan was shaky even went the couple had a roof over their heads and a plan to build a beach bar in their hearts. Now with a falling-down house on a hurricane-wrecked island that no one will be visiting in the near future, their dreams of a home and a business are quite literally destroyed.
We vote Ellie cuts her losses, closes her checkbook, and heads back to Seattle.
So there it is, our comprehensive list of who we think is going to make it, and who we think will hit the bricks and all it quits. But as they say, it’s not over until it’s over, so if the couples will flip our script, is anyone’s guess.
90 Day Fiance: The Other Way airs on Sundays at 8/7c on TLC and Discovery+.