Ariela and Biniyam talk to ET about her surprisingly calm reaction to getting wine thrown in her face.
90 Day Fiancé's Ariela is opening up to ET about the shocking incident between her and her fiancé, Biniyam's, sister, Wish. In an episode on this season of 90 Day Fiancé, Wish threw wine in her face after she got upset that Biniyam didn't tell his family that he was moving to the United States with Ariela until the night before, and Ariela's reaction surprised plenty of fans.
Ariela and Biniyam's sister already didn't get along, but a line was definitely crossed during the incident. Wish threw her glass of wine in Ariela's face after Ariela told them that she didn't care what they thought since she was marrying Biniyam, not them. Ariela also noted that it was Biniyam's choice not to tell his sisters about the move until the night before, not hers. Ariela tells ET's Melicia Johnson that her surprisingly calm reaction to Wish throwing the wine at her and not retaliating in any way was due to total shock.
"I mean, it was a total surprise for me, obviously," she shares. "I see people are commenting on my reaction and they're either, 'Why didn't you get up and do something?' or 'That was staged, because no one would be that calm.' And I'm like, 'Well, if you didn't expect something and it just happened....'"
"And also, as I have said before, and I'll say again, wine really burns," she continues. "I got it in my eyes, so I was like, 'OK.' For me, I was like, 'I got this wine in my face.' And then, I was like, 'OK.' I was kind of like, 'What just happened?' and shake it off. When I could see everything, everyone kind of scattered. So for me it was like, bam, and then everyone had left and I was like, 'What happened? What just happened?'"
Ariela said that while she knew the party would be "contentious," she wanted Bini to have his night.
"His last day, just let him enjoy," she says. "I figured something might happen. I didn't expect that. It was just such a shock to me that I wasn't even thinking, and I wasn't mad. I wasn't upset. I was just like, 'My white dress. I'm never going to get this out of my dress.'"
"I've been listening to a lot of Buddhist meditation stuff on Audible, and going through this whole... getting older, and accepting oneself, and all this stuff, so who knows? Maybe it started to rub off," she adds of her calm reaction.
As for where her relationship with Wish stands today, she says there's been no change.
"Yeah, she doesn't want to talk to me, and that's OK," she shares. "Personally, I think that whatever issue that they have, first, they need to work stuff out with Bini."
Biniyam told ET he was similarly confused about the situation between Ariela and Wish when it occurred.
"She's my wife. Obviously, this is my family. Both of them, I love them so much," he says. "I don't want to do something, what's going on? In my mind, I didn't accept it just like that."
Ariela and Biniyam are now living in New York. Biniyam stressed that despite some fans questioning his love for Ariela and saying that he was moving to the U.S. just to be with their son, Avi, and not because he wanted to marry her, he is all in when it comes to his relationship with Ariela.
"No, I love Ari," he says. "It's not about I don't love her, but even if this relationship, if it's working, if it is not working in the 90 days, at least I'll have to be for my son," he explains of his mindset. "That's the number one thing... That's all I have to say, just, I love Ari. I don't know what's happening with Ari's family. Just still, I don't know them. And then when you come back here, everything has changed. That's why just, I want to see what's going on. Like, if it's not working in 90 days, maybe I'll go back, maybe with my son."
As for Ariela and Biniyam's previous trust issues when she was in the U.S. so that their son could get surgery and he stayed behind in Ethiopia, Ariela said it's gotten better.
"Obviously, Biniyam gave me a lot of reasons not to trust him at that time," she says, referring to him not picking up his phone when she would call. "I'm not going to say that I was wrong in not trusting him, but at the same time, I think what happened is when someone gives you a reason not to trust them, then you might run with it and then be like, 'I couldn't trust this person. I can't trust anybody.'"
"But in this case, like, I actually see a change," she continues. "I see a change in Biniyam's behavior. I see a change in the relationship. I'm getting better about things, and I think Biniyam is getting better. I told him the one thing I always say, 'Don't turn off your phone. If you don't want to talk to me, don't answer the phone, but don't turn it off.' For some reason that always sets me off. I'm very emotional, if he turns his phone off, I'm like, well, now it's over forever and ever."
Ariela also shared that she is still close with her ex-husband, Leandro, despite Biniyam being uncomfortable with the exes' relationship.
"I'm his friend, so he leans on me," she says of her and Leandro speaking more frequently recently after his grandfather died. "Biniyam gets to see that in these hard times, I'm going to be there for my friend. I know that Biniyam is not a huge fan of it with that."
Clearly, Biniyam is still not totally for their friendship.
"I don't know, just every time he's there," he says of Leandro always being around. "When something's happening, Leandro's over there. That's why just probably like stressful, but I don't have problem with him."
Ariela shared that everyone actually loves Biniyam in the U.S., including her family.
"Everybody likes him when they meet him," she says. "He is really charming and he's soft spoken. When he goes to someone's house, 'Can I help you with that? Can I clean this?' So, it's hard for my parents really not to like him. It's only me that he gives trouble to."
Biniyam adds, "It's good, yeah. I'm working on it just for Ari's family. It takes time for stuff in a relationship, because just now we meet each other with Ari's family."
As for what fans can expect from the couple this season, they say it's a mix of emotions.
"I would say lots of drama, some really victorious feelings," Ariela says. "Some really intense moments, and family stuff, and personal stuff, and even jealousy. It's going to be like, if I had to put our season in a genre, I would say like comedy-drama."
90 Day Fiancé airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.
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