Warning! The following contains spoilers for the 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days episode “Time’s Up.” Read at your own risk!
90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days returned after a brief break with a new episode and an exciting development (to be polite about it) for one of its cast members. 52-year-old Ben Rathbun’s journey to Peru to meet 24-year-old Mahogany Roca seemed to be a clear-cut catfish storyline, so imagine everyone’s surprise when Mahogany appeared in the flesh and confirmed she was a real person. It was a surprise to me to see that play out, for sure, but I’m still suspicious of the validity of this couple after the latest episode.
I’m not an expert on international relationships, but I’ve seen enough 90 Day Fiancé and Catfish episodes to sense there’s something that doesn’t quite add up regarding this meet-up between the two. The more one drills down on the details of this story so far, the less it all makes sense.
Ben Insisted On This International Meet-Up Happening Against All Odds
I’m not Ben Rathbun, but if I planned an expensive trip to Peru, and the last piece of communication I received from the person I’m aiming to meet was a text that read “Don’t come,” I pro-o-o-obably wouldn’t make that journey. Ben went forward with that plane trip anyway, though, and even continued to hang out in Peru despite days of zero contact with Mahogany. (Even David Murphey got contacted regularly from Lana.)
Then, after not getting responses from other messages, he went to a restaurant in her hometown, which sparked her to finally reply and say that the location was too far away. And that was all. So then Ben just happened to hang out long enough for Mahogany to eventually arrive for dinner, even though she never indicated she was actually coming in the first place?
Even in a romance-driven movie, one would need a bit more plot to connect those dots adequately. It’s at first hard to believe that Mahogany just up and decided to arrive at dinner after days of no contact, and then also hard to grasp that Ben was still at the restaurant after 90 whole minutes just waiting to see her. I don’t think I’m waiting at a restaurant along for longer than an hour, tops, for a dinner where those expected to show up don’t arrive. So it’s just hard to believe Ben stuck it out that long with no obvious indication Mahogany was coming.
Is There A Missing Piece To The Puzzle Fans Are Missing?
It’s possible that Ben Rathbun truly took a leap of faith and flew to Peru to meet Mahogany Roca despite not knowing if she’s real or not, but there are a lot of other possibilities here. We know there are allegations from former 90 Day Fiancé cast members that TLC can play up storylines for dramatic effect or even encourage the participants to manufacture storylines, so there are different scenarios I’m considering.
I don’t know if 90 Day Fiancé added some deceptive storytelling to Ben and Mahogany’s story, but it would certainly make the chance encounter seem more logical in the face all normal odds. Perhaps Ben had some clear evidence Mahogany was real that was left out of editing, and/or maybe a producer was in contact with Mahogany in advance of the dinner and held Ben at the restaurant. There’s even a scenario in which Ben and Mahogany are in cahoots and are pulling the wool over TLC’s eyes in order to get on television and showcase their relationship in order to become influencers on social media.
There are quite a number of explanations that could possibly factor in here, including the chance that Ben and Mahogany’s encounter played out exactly the way we saw in 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days, and was completely natural and unexpected. I’m just saying that it feels very suspicious about that being the whole story, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if this fated romance wasn’t a little more scripted than what the show might want fans to believe.
90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days airs on TLC on Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. The season is winding down, but there are other new shows headed to television as we get closer to spring, and of course, much more 90 Day Fiancé on the way as well.