90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days fans have finally met Ben Rathbun on episode 6 where his friends and family members echoed what everyone has been thinking for weeks: Mahogany Roca is a catfish who’s possibly scamming him. Longtime viewers have met a lot of 90 Day Fiancé cast members over the years. There have been several cast members who have been taken for a ride by their foreign partners. Out of them, David Murphey and Yolanda Leak are best remembered for their stories. Based on the trailer only, fans were already able to see the red flags in Ben and Mahogany’s relationship. And Ben’s introduction has proved them right.
52-year-old Ben is an “old dude with abs,” works as a fitness model, and is twice the age of 24-year-old Mahogany from Peru. Ben grew up in a fringe religion of a mainstream Baptist denomination that was very much like a cult. In his interview, Ben spoke of facing life with fear but since he wanted to go to heaven, he became a pastor. Ben got married, had four kids, but their marriage had problems so Ben and his wife left the cult and sought counseling. “It was 24 years of neglect, so I filed for divorce,” said Ben who admitted to feeling very lonely. After a series of failed relationships, Ben met Mahogany on social media when she showed interest in his modeling pics. “Benjamin, you deserve to be loved and I want to be that person,” was a message from the religious Mahogany that hit a nerve in Benjamin and he decided she’d be the one he’d marry.
While Ben thinks his bond with Mahogany is magical, his friends and family wholly disagree. Not only has Ben just been talking with Mahogany for three months, but he’s also never video chatted with her ever. Ben has kept the fact that Mahogany is his girlfriend a secret from his loved ones. He’s only decided to come clean on camera to his family and friends right before he flies to Peru to meet her for the first time. Perhaps Ben did know, deep inside that no one was going to support him or believe anything he said about Mahogany. As Ben’s friend Jessica noted, Mahogany has just turned 24 and she would lack the emotional maturity to pursue a relationship of this kind at that young age. But Ben being desperate to find love is what’s making him trust Mahogany. In the three months that they’ve known each other, Ben and Mahogany have just talked on the phone twice. He has also given her a “loan” of $1000 already.
Because Mahogany is “shy” she doesn’t like video chatting. However, Mahogany has sent Ben a 5-second selfie video in which she says, “Hola, buenas noches. It’s Mahogany. Right here, it’s Mahogany.” Upon seeing the video, Jessica says, “Ben, that’s a little bit sketchy.” If that’s not enough, his teenage daughter immediately called out Mahogany by saying, “that’s the fakest picture I’ve ever seen my whole entire life,” when Ben showed her Mahogany’s selfie. Ben accepted that it “could be filtered” while arguing that Mahogany could have a “really good camera.” Meanwhile, Ben has been catfished before and it took him several weeks to figure out that the person he was talking to was a man from Africa. He also accepted that he didn’t know how to navigate the world of dating sites due to his religious background.
Meanwhile, fans have declared Mahogany is a catfish since a long time ago. A selfie of Mahogany and then her official TLC cast photo for 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days were placed side by side to prove this. Mahogany, if that’s even her real name, has added so many filters and edited her selfie that she looks like someone else entirely. Fans know that Ben and Mahogany’s relationship is doomed even before it starts. Some think that Ben will never meet Mahogany in person. But Ben is in for a shock if he ever meets Mahogany too.
About The Author
