When it comes to Steven asking his Russian girlfriend, Alina, if he could continue to date other women, it's 'complicated."
When it comes to 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way season 3 star Steven asking his Russian girlfriend, Alina, if he could continue to date other women, it's "complicated." ET's Melicia Johnson spoke with the 25-year-old reality star about the surprising move on his part, which 20-year-old Alina said she was hurt and shocked by on an episode of the hit TLC show.
Steven, who is a devout Mormon from Utah, and Alina, who hails from Russia, met on a language-learning app. Although she was initially hesitant to meet up with him since she said that some Russians believe Mormonism is a cult and she was scared he was going to steal her organs, the two hit it off. After spending just two weeks together in person, they are planning to move to Turkey together so they can be together since he's unable to move to Russia due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But there's been some issues. Alina, who put graduating college on hold to be with Steven, shared with her friends that she was "uncomfortable" that he was talking too much to a female friend, and that at one point in their courtship, Steven asked for permission to see other women.
"It's kinda complicated," Steven tells ET about why he asked to date other women.
While he teased that viewers would have to keep watching for more of an answer, he explained his reasoning when asked if he would be OK with Alina asking him for permission to date other men.
"Well, I think that would be good because, you know, we were long-distance," he says. "And we had never really spent so much time together. I had just gotten out of a relationship and I didn't feel emotionally ready yet to really dive into a relationship, especially someone as amazing as Alina because I really felt like we had a connection and I really felt like, something was different about her, and I wanted to be ready for that. So, I feel like if she wanted to, I wouldn't have an issue with it, and I wouldn't ever ask her to do something if I wasn't comfortable with her doing it. Because in relationships, it's super important to be, like, mutually on the same level."
Steven also insisted that he wasn't being dishonest when it came to Alina telling her friends that they were both virgins and waiting for marriage to have sex due to Steven's religion. Steven later admitted to cameras that he wasn't a virgin and had sexual relationships in the past.
"I don't think 'not honest' is the right terminology here, it's just something that didn't, like, come up necessarily," he explains. "I'm not sure I knew at the time that that was something she really valued. ... It's not something I normally talk about it in normal conversations. So, Alina, most of the time when we were calling and talking, it didn't hit upon those subjects. Usually when I call and talk with people, I usually don't tell them how many people I've slept with. So, with Alina, that was just something that we never brought up."
Steven said he still thinks abstinence is a great practice.
"Sexuality should be something special and I think that's the way I always talk about it, is just something sacred and because of that, I think that kind of led her to believe, perhaps," he says about her assumption that he was still a virgin.
And if Alina wasn't a virgin anymore, he said it wouldn't matter to him.
"I love her and I don't feel like ... as long as she is who she is, that's who I love," he says. "I think the reason it was so hard to talk about the subject is because I didn't want to let her down. .... The hardest part for me is I'm afraid that she's gonna see kinda how I didn't live up to those standards and then kind of be like, 'Oh, maybe the whole church thing isn't worth it.' And then obviously, I wouldn't feel comfortable marrying someone who wasn't ready to live in the church with me."
Some viewers have called Steven hypocritical for not living up to the standards of his religion, but he remains unbothered.
"I think Jesus says it best, 'He who is among you without sin, let him first cast the stone,'" he says. "So many people have so many opinions, and that's just what they are -- just opinions. My own beliefs and my own opinions are my own, and I'm fortunate enough that I can have whatever opinions that I want to have."
When asked if a marriage between him and Alina is something viewers can look forward to this season, Steven teased that there's plenty of shocking events to come.
"I can honestly say that from when and where the show started .... and then to go forward to now, I wouldn't have ever guessed everything that happened and it's scary and I'm really nervous for my mom to see it," he jokes. "Like, Mom, don't watch my parts. Watch Sumit and Jenny and she can watch Kenny and Armando, like, skip my parts."
"Every episode is going to be me, personally, on the edge of my seat because I'm gonna be ... there's so many different aspects to our storyline that I honestly don't know which parts they're going to choose to highlight so I'm, like, so nervous," he continues. "I'm like, what are they going to show this week? Because as you know, I sometimes do things and then it turns out to be really weird I guess, and I don't realize that until after it happens, and then I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm so weird.'"
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs Sundays on TLC.
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