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’90 Day Fiancé’ Fans Believe Stephanie Matto and Erika Owens Were Destined For Disaster

Fans tune in to 90 Day Fiance for the drama, but sometimes there are couples on the show whose ups and downs are almost too much to handle. This is perhaps the case with Stephanie Matto and Erika Owens, who were groundbreaking as the first same-sex couple to appear in the show’s history. Things started out …
by Eduard Varnham
Published on
3 min read

Fans tune in to 90 Day Fiance for the drama, but sometimes there are couples on the show whose ups and downs are almost too much to handle. This is perhaps the case with Stephanie Matto and Erika Owens, who were groundbreaking as the first same-sex couple to appear in the show’s history. Things started out great between the two women, but once the relationship went from online to in-person, misstep after misstep caused this pair to crash and burn. 

Now fans are looking back on the relationship and feel like it was destined for disaster from the very beginning. They also know just who to blame for things going so quickly awry. Did Stephanie Matto misrepresent her personality? 

President and General Manager, TLC and Discovery Life, Howard Lee, CEO, Sharp Entertainment, Matt Sharp of '90 Day Fiance' franchise, Molly Hopkins, Paola Mayfield and Russ Mayfield of '90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?'
President and General Manager, TLC and Discovery Life, Howard Lee, CEO, Sharp Entertainment, Matt Sharp of 90 Day Fiance franchise, Molly Hopkins, Paola Mayfield and Russ Mayfield of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? speak onstage | Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery, Inc.

Stephanie Matto and Erika Owens fell for one another online

Online, Matto and Owens seemed to really hit it off. The pair appeared to have a lot in common and really fell for one another. Things were going so well that Matto decided to fly to South Australia to meet Owens in person. It was then that things took a turn for the worse. 

For starters, Owens was very open about her sexuality and came out to her family in order to pave the way for her relationship with Matto. Matto, meanwhile, did not extend the same openness. This put some pressure and stress on the relationship from its earliest stages. Meanwhile, Matto expressed jealousy and frustration about Owens’ past relationships, including hooking up with some of her friends. The pair were off to a rocky start, and the relationship was punctuated with conflict and fighting. 

Fans have overwhelmingly taken Erika Owens’ side

Matto and Owens had an explosive breakup on-screen, which left fans taking sides in the fallout. Overwhelmingly, fans have been flocking to Owens’ side, claiming that Matto came across as entitled. They also pointed to the fact that Matto is a YouTuber to suggest she’s just looking for fame and was using Owens as a way to gain exposure. This isn’t the first time that a cast member on the show has been accused of being on set for fame rather than love, but it always has the potential to leave broken hearts along the way. 

Some fans have even gone so far as to say they don’t believe Matto is being honest about her own sexuality and that she “catfished” Matto by making her believe she was in a relationship that didn’t really exist. In the aftermath from fans, Matto has come forward to defend herself, claiming the show’s portrayal of the relationship was edited to show her in a bad light. “The story you saw on TV was 10% of the full story,” Matto explained. She went on to say that if fans had seen more of the details, they wouldn’t judge her nearly as harshly. 

The relationship between Erika Owens and Stephanie Matto seemed doomed

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’90 Day Fiancé’: Stephanie Matto Claims Her Love Story With Erika Owens Was Misrepresented On the Show

No matter whose side of the story is “right,” it seems clear that Owens and Matto were not the great couple they seemed to be before their in-person meeting. Fans point to the fact that Matto’s personality online and in real life just didn’t match up. Online, Matto seemed friendly and outgoing, but her real-life personality seemed much more controlling and serious. 

Building a relationship on a persona rather than a reality is always a risk, and many fans point to this as being the reality of online dating. One even called it a “personality catfish.” Matto didn’t conceal her real identity as is the case in many catfish stories, but she did — according to fans — misrepresent her personality. In the end, that can be just as damaging to a relationship as lying about who you are. 

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