90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Stars Kenny & Armando Show Their PRIDE
Kenny Niedermeier and Armando Rubio thought they knew what they were signing up for as the 90 Day Fiancé franchise's archetypal antheral cheery couple.
Well, astatine slightest 1 of them did.
"He had ne'er adjacent heard of 90 Day Fiancé," Toledo, Ohio-bred Kenny admitted of his Mexico-born husband. But Kenny was a devoted capable instrumentality to beryllium watching erstwhile the popular TLC series launched their 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way spin-off in 2019: "And I said, 'That's precisely what I'm doing."
Kenny, now 60, assumed viewers would beryllium funny successful pursuing on arsenic helium uprooted his beingness successful Florida with his 4 adult children to live in San Felipe, Mexico, with the 26-years-younger feline he'd met successful a Facebook enactment radical for cheery dads. "But I thought we'd get, honestly, a batch of backlash," helium told E! News successful an exclusive interview. "It's been perfectly the opposite. And we're truly amazed and blessed astir it. Shows you how overmuch the satellite has changed."
Agreed Armando, "I went successful acrophobic and was pleasantly amazed astatine however overmuch emotion we've gotten."
Including from 1 very-close-to-home source: His dad, Armando Sr.
Much of the couple's second play connected the amusement revolved astir if Armando Sr.—who struggled with some his son's sexuality and the thought of watching him buss his caller hubby astatine the altar—would be their May 2021 vows.
And though helium and woman Virginia did crook up astatine the Ensenada venue—"This is the archetypal clip we experienced a cheery wedding, and it's, well, perfect," helium told cameras. "There's nary request to enactment barriers wrong your caput to not judge anything"—his attendance was each spot arsenic touch-and-go arsenic it appeared connected the show.
"It really was the past infinitesimal that we knew my dada was going to amusement up," Armando told E! News. "So, it was rather a surprise, a pleasant surprise. And since then, things went slow, but things have gotten a batch better."
Marveling astatine however they're "at a signifier that I never, never thought successful my beingness that we would be," Armando, who shares 10-year-old Hannah with his precocious wife, revealed his parents often travel implicit for household parties and adjacent enactment overnight.
"Me and his dada person truly go buddies," added Kenny. "From the archetypal clip helium met me, helium wanted to punch maine out, I deliberation and we've truly travel a agelong way. We're conscionable a household now."
Having scaled close over the PDA hump, "We tin interaction and each that benignant of worldly and they don't bat an oculus anymore," Kenny continued. "He's truly comfy astir it, which is truly bully to see."
In fact, different than their two-year marriage that's "going truly ace well," Kenny counts Armando's improved household ties arsenic 1 of the champion things to travel retired of their clip successful the 90 Day cinematic universe.
"Before I moved here, I knew helium was having trouble coming out to them," helium recalled. "I said, 'I cannot determination determination and beryllium your roommate oregon beryllium your buddy. I americium excessively aged and I've been retired excessively agelong to spell backmost and enactment that way.' So helium knew helium had to rip that band-aid disconnected and bash what helium had to do, which I'm precise arrogant of him for that."
The result, said Armando, has been beyond his wildest hopes.
"You perceive these things, 'Oh, everything's going to beryllium better,' but you don't truly judge it," helium admitted. "When you're successful the closet, you deliberation it's not going to hap for me and you unrecorded afraid. And I utilized to consciousness that way."
But past the 90 Day cameras turned up astatine his location "and it's like, 'I'm already here, I person to bash it,'" Armando recounted. "And present I tin accidental it was the champion happening I could person ever done."
The process forced he and his relatives to get heavy successful their feelings. "This truly opened up each coiled they mightiness person had and they've truly healed from it," said Kenny.
And present that the scars are afloat healed, noted Armando, "I accidental to this time that doing the amusement truly has been therapy for us, due to the fact that I did person conversations with my household that I ne'er would person had. I said things that I ne'er would person said to them and it truly made america stronger."
Kenny and Armando's marriage, of course, is conscionable arsenic stone solid.
Initially bristling astatine the thought of PDA successful his much blimpish Mexican neighborhood, "I'm not acrophobic anymore of being retired successful nationalist with Kenny," Armando said. "I'm conscionable successful my ain tegument with that."
Though astir their "really accepting" town, noted Kenny, they're much apt to brushwood a grateful genitor than idiosyncratic spewing a hateful slur.
"I've had fathers that reached retired to america that had a hard clip accepting their son, which they present do," Kenny shared. "And we've had radical travel up to america connected the thoroughfare crying, saying that we truly helped them judge their children, which is conscionable unbelievable and blows our mind."
Before signing connected the dotted enactment for the show, helium continued, "we did say, 'If we tin alteration 1 mind, past it's a win.' And I deliberation we've done that for many."
That continues to beryllium their extremity moving guardant as Kenny teased, "I deliberation immoderate radical are going to beryllium amazed astatine immoderate of the things coming up for us."
They've already blazed a fewer trails, including making it easier for those successful their Mexican authorities of Baja California to legally wed.
"The Supreme Court of Mexico, deemed it legal, but each authorities tin marque their ain rules here," Kenny explained of the conflict they faced up of their vows. "We thought we would person nary problem and they unopen america down close away. And we did person to combat for it. And now, nary 1 has a occupation successful our state. We truly did assistance it retired here."
For those that are successful it, dealing with the benignant of bullying, loneliness and governmental roadblocks that deem the practice and solemnisation of Pride Month truthful crucial, helium advises doing their champion to support the faith.
"Don't fto each the sound get successful your head," Kenny stressed. "Just due to the fact that you spot these radical connected TV and immoderate of these politicians and immoderate of these hateful people, there's a batch much bully retired determination than determination are atrocious people. I deliberation there's a batch much bully than hate, I truly do." Echoed Armando, "I couldn't person said it amended myself."