Ariela is a little too close to her ex-husband.
Ariela's close relationship with her ex-husband, Leandro, is definitely causing issues between her and Biniyam. On the season 3 premiere of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way on Sunday, Leandro came to Ethiopia to visit Ariela, and it's not sitting well with anyone.
Ariela is still extremely close to Leandro, who hails from Argentina. The two tied the knot young -- Ariela was 19 -- and were married for 10 years before their divorce became official. Not surprisingly, nobody from Ethiopia -- including their son's nanny, Mimi, whom Ariela has gotten close to -- understands their still close relationship. Mimi noted that in Ethiopia, an ex-husband coming to visit is almost unheard of.
"Leandro and I are still best friends even though we got a divorce," Ariela said. "We talk all the time and he is really involved in my life. ... I think it's really important that Bini and Leandro meet each other and accept each other. But I think Bini feels a little bit macho and territorial about me, so I'm not sure if they're gonna get along."
While Leandro is quarantining in the hotel and waiting to visit Ariela and Biniyam at their home, it's clear there's still plenty of affection between the exes as they chat over Zoom. Ariela almost called him "babe," and laughed it off, explaining that she was just so used to it. Meanwhile, she also tried to reassure Biniyam about Leandro's visit.
"He's coming because he wants to meet the baby, he wants to meet you, he wants to see Africa," she told him. "And I think also to be honest with you, like, me and him, we talk, like, especially when me and you were fighting a lot this past year, I called him and I was crying and stuff. And I know he was upset thinking, like, maybe this guy is not good for you. So maybe he wants to check you out and see, you know, that I'm happy and everything."
"I do love him but not in the way that you think," she added, much to Biniyam's surprise. "I love him. He's like my best friend. We are not together for a reason. I want you guys to be friends."
Biniyam admitted that he was very jealous, especially since Ariela always seems so happy while talking on the phone with him, but that in Ethiopia, everyone is welcome. Later, Ariela and Biniyam meet up with his sisters, who Ariela has had issues with in the past. They make it clear they don't approve of Leandro visiting, calling it "white people s**t" that she's inviting her ex-husband to stay in her new home. They also dropped a bombshell on Biniyam, revealing that Leandro actually visited Ariela in New Jersey for two weeks at her apartment when she returned to America while she was pregnant -- which Ariela had never told Biniyam. Ariela was upset with Biniyam's sisters, noting that she told them this in confidence.
Not surprisingly, the usually easygoing Biniyam was upset at the revelation and said that because she didn't tell him about it, he thought she did something with him. Ariela insisted, however, that she did nothing wrong and that she and Lenadro slept in two different rooms.
"But, like, I think once you guys see us together, even you, babe, like, once you see us together, you're not gonna be jealous anymore," she told him. "You're gonna be like, 'Oh, they look like brother and sister.'"
Meanwhile, Biniyam told cameras, "If I had known about this sooner, Leandro wouldn't have come to Ethiopia at all. I need to warn Leandro when he comes. If I see something suspicious in their relationship, he and I might have a problem."
ET spoke with Ariela and Biniyam ahead of the new season of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, and he admitted he was "scared" and "freaked out" over losing his family to Leandro. Biniyam's ex-wife is also American and ended up leaving him and going back to the United States and taking their son with her.
"Like, with Ari I start again another American girl," he said. "And she's beautiful and she's talented. And then I don't want to lose her... And then I don't want to be hurt. Because when I lost [my ex], I'm so hurt. I'm so depressed. Even I tried to kill myself. So many things, situation in myself, so that's why I don't want it to happen with me inside. I don't want to lose her because I love her. She's given me a baby."
Ariela teased that there could be "unresolved feelings" when it comes to Leandro.
"I definitely got to open up, like, when you see someone you haven't seen in a while and you're in a new relationship, it kind of does open up some thoughts," she said. "It kind of made me realize and focus on some of possibly the traits that I have, that I should work on. And then, it also made me feel bad because I started wondering maybe even though it's all over, are there still unresolved feelings maybe on his part? So we talked about, I think, a lot of that stuff for this season."
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