Alliya From ‘90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise’ Shares Why She and Shawn Work (EXCLUSIVE)
Alliya shared that she refuses to let Shawn “control” her.
Published May 28 2024, 2:25 p.m. ET
During their debut season of 90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise, Alliya and Shawn weren’t sure if they could make their three-year relationship. On the reality show, Shawn expressed his concerns over how his relationship with Alliya would change amid her embracing her femininity and changing her name after Shawn met her as Douglas.
Shawn’s perception of his girlfriend’s unexpected transformation was something he wondered if he could handle moving forward. Alliya, however, was overjoyed that she could now live her truth with the man she loves.
Since sharing their story and getting engaged on the TLC hit, Alliya and Shawn have fans wondering how they’re doing.
In an exclusive interview with Distractify, Alliya gave some insight into her and Shawn’s relationship now.
Alliya said Shawn and her issues on' 90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise’ are “continuous” in their relationship.
Alliya and Shawn’s differences were apparent in Season 4 of 90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise. In addition to Alliya being from Brazil and Shawn being from New York, they also have a 36-year age gap, as she is 25 and he is 61.
Despite their geographical and age differences, Shawn was vocal about his sadness and grief for Douglas, the name Alliya went by when they first started dating. Alliya exclusively told Distractify that the “challenges” fans watched them endure on the show are “continuous” today.
However, when Shawn proposed to Alliya at her 25th birthday party, she said yes to building a life with him.
She told us that her relationship with Shawn works because he doesn’t “control” her like previous partners have and allows her to be herself.
“All the people that I met [before Shawn] were trying to control who I am,” Alliya said. “They say something like, oh, ‘you need to look less feminine. You're being too much.’ And Shawn was different. He doesn't try to keep me in a box. And I also don't allow him to keep me in a box.”
Alliya shared she had to choose herself to show up better in her and Shawn’s relationship.
Ultimately, Shawn agreed with Alliya’s decision to choose herself. Alliya told us that while Shawn was willing to understand her feminine side more, she would become herself with or without him.
Alliya said she knew that, while she was in a relationship with Shawn, she had to choose the person she felt on the inside for their relationship to succeed.
“I think when I decided to live my truth, I was doing that for me,” she explained. “I knew that I was in a relationship and that it would be something [to discuss] because the other side has feelings. So, at that moment, I was going into a place that was very uncertain to me. But I knew I had to do it for myself, so I was thinking more about that.”
Catch new episodes of 90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on TLC.
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