Stephanie's fiancé, Ryan, is also 25 years younger.
Sunday's episode of 90 Day Fiancé introduced viewers to what's sure to be one of the standout couples in the franchise, 52-year-old Stephanie from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and her 27-year-old fiancé, Ryan, who's from Ladyville, Belize.
Stephanie is a successful businesswoman who owns two medical spas called Skin Envy. But as a result of focusing so much of her attention on her businesses, she hasn't found time to date. Stephanie also noted that she's never wanted to get married and purposefully chose not to have children due to her tumultuous childhood growing up. Her father was bipolar, and she fought back tears recalling that waking up, she didn't know if she was going to be loved by her father that day or hated.
"It's definitely shaped me as a person," she acknowledged. "I had an emotionally unstable environment growing up so I built emotional walls to protect myself. I have been a lifelong bachelorette."
But Stephanie fell in love with Ryan during a vacation to Belize three and a half years ago, describing him as the hottest guy she's ever dated and also the youngest. She said that it was initially platonic between the two when they first met, but when she returned home to Michigan, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Four months later, she went back to visit him, and they became a couple. After three years of dating and Stephanie flying to Belize every two to three months, they decided to apply for the K-1 visa.
Stephanie admitted the two struggle with trust issues, especially given their 25-year age difference and the fact that she can no longer fly to Belize as frequently due to the coronavirus pandemic. She even calls his mother, Dorla -- who's actually five years younger than her -- to check up on his whereabouts when she doesn't hear back from him.
"I never thought I was going to let anybody in," Stephanie said of her relationship with Ryan. "But I'm tearing down this huge wall that I've built. It's time -- it's time for me to take that risk."
"Am I scared? I'm terrified," she added. "But if you really care about someone then you're going to take that chance, a chance of love."
Later in the episode, Stephanie met with her friend, Maria, who's a psychic. Maria told Stephanie to stop buying expensive gifts for Ryan and expressed doubts that he was with Stephanie because he was in love with her. She also did a card reading for Stephanie, and said that one of the cards she picked meant that another woman was currently around Ryan. At this point, Stephanie shared that in the past, she discovered he was texting multiple women. But she also noted that she had her own skeleton in her closet that she hasn't told Ryan -- that a year and a half ago, when she broke up with him after discovering that he was again talking to three different women, she ended up sleeping with his cousin, Harris.
"I threw Ryan out that night, and I was crying, and right after, his cousin, Harris, called me and I slept with his cousin," she revealed. "I would've never slept with his cousin had I not found, you know, all of those other texts and everything. I was so angry about a lot of things that night, and Harris is just such a loving person. He really, truly cared."
But after Stephanie and Ryan ended up getting back together, she never told him that she slept with Harris.
"I have been keeping this secret from Ryan," she said. "This would kill Ryan to know, but if I'm going to bring him to the United States, I want to move forward with a clean slate, so I need to come clean about his cousin, Harris, and I'm not sure our relationship will survive when he finds out the truth."
For more on this season of 90 Day Fiancé, watch the video below.
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