90 Day Fiance: The Other Way star Jenny Slatten has explained how Sumit ended up getting married to a woman in India while he was in a relationship with Jenny, claiming Sumit's family essentially blackmailed him to wed.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It was a shocker for me. It was very traumatizing, the whole thing," Jenny told Access in a recent interview.
RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY KNOW? (PHOTOS)
Jenny, a 61-year-old from Palm Springs, CA, and Sumit, a 32-year-old from India, first appeared on Season 1 of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way after meeting on Facebook, and they'll be starring on Season 2 premiering Monday, June 8 at 9PM ET/PT on TLC.
On Season 1, Jenny left her life behind in America and moved to India with the intention of living with Sumit permanently and eventually marrying him.
ADVERTISEMENT
But while Jenny was getting adjusting to life in a foreign country away from her family and friends, Sumit was lying to his parents about their relationship -- and he also lied to Jenny about being married to another woman the whole time.
Sumit had been married for two-and-a-half years, and he was battling the loyalty he had for his family with the love he had for Jenny.
"Having to relive the whole part where he said he's married, it upset me all over again. I get upset and start crying, and it's not fun... It's upsetting," Jenny told Access when asked what it was like for her to watch Season 1.
But Jenny explained arranged marriages are "very common" in India because it's a tradition as well as a part of their culture.
RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO BROKE UP? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
ADVERTISEMENT
"Unfortunately it happened to Sumit, and I never thought that would happen to him because we talked about it through our whole relationship," Jenny explained.
"He always said, 'No, I'll never let my parents enter me into a marriage.' And unfortunately they use something here in India called 'emotional blackmail.' And that's what they did."
Jenny continued, "His father got really sick and they started saying, 'We need you to get married. We need you to have a wife so you can help take care of the family.'"
"It's a long story really, but they used the whole guilt-trip thing on him, and that's how they got him to marry."
On 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Sumit told the cameras, "I was dating Jenny when my parents set up an arranged marriage, and I barely knew the girl before I married her... No one should force me into a marriage... It's my decision. I want to be with Jenny. It's my right to be happy."
ADVERTISEMENT
Jenny went on to reiterate how Sumit's family blackmailed him to convince him to marry a stranger.
"That's how they got him to marry, and when he got into that marriage, we weren't talking for two months. We weren't talking because he was telling me that his parents were trying to enter him into a marriage. And I just said, 'Okay,' and I blocked him after that," Jenny recalled to Access.
"I stopped talking to him; for two months I blocked him. And we didn't talk at all, and then one day I got curious and decided to talk to him again just because I love him and wanted to see if he got married or not. So I called him and he said, 'No, I didn't.'"
RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE: BEFORE THE 90 DAYS' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
Towards the end of the season, Sumit -- who had attempted to keep his relationship with Jenny a secret -- was ambushed at his apartment by more than a dozen of his family members, including his father-in-law, who all expressed disappointment and disgust over his affair with Jenny.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sumit's family took him away from Jenny and left her all alone in India for almost a week.
The family threatened to get the police involved, and Jenny was terrified, especially because she was innocent in the situation and had no idea Sumit was married to begin with.
Once Sumit and Jenny finally reunited and talked things out, Jenny had run out of time in India. The pair therefore had a very emotional goodbye, with Sumit feeling completely helpless and powerless.
"If you want to be with me and you really want us to be together, please take care of things... Please don't just let me go or it will never be the same," Jenny begged Sumit in tears before leaving India on the show.
"Please try to do something for us and fix everything and make everything okay. Broken hearts kill people -- do you know that? My heart is going to be ripped out of my chest."
Jenny revealed she's received so much love and support from fans since the show aired and she finds it "touching" and "amazing."
RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE: HAPPILY EVER AFTER?' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
Jenny also advised people in similar relationships to meet their partner's family and try to not be so blindly in love that you listen to everything your partner has to say.
On the Tell-All reunion special for 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way's first season, Sumit disclosed his wife had finally filed a case against him and so their divorce was pending. Jenny therefore envisioned she would be with Sumit again someday.
Sumit said if his divorce proceeded peacefully, Jenny should not be in danger upon her return to India, and TLC teased Jenny will in fact be shown moving back there on Season 2 this summer.
"This time around, Sumit is promising that he will never lie again and that he and his wife are finally getting divorced. Jenny is heading back to India with a positive and hopeful mindset," the network teased.
ADVERTISEMENT
RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY KNOW? (PHOTOS)
Want more 90 Day Fiance spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our 90 Day Fiance homepage!