90 Day Fiance: The Other Way star Ariela Weinberg has revealed why her ex-husband, Leandro, visited her in Ethiopia when she's now married to and living with Biniyam Shibre.
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RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY KNOW? (PHOTOS)
Footage then flashes to Biniyam putting Leandro in a headlock on the floor with Leandro tapping out.
"Me and my ex-husband, we're still great friends," Ariela, 30, explained to Us Weekly in a joint video interview with Biniyam.
"We have a great relationship. He's really involved in my life. He still talks to my family and he's involved in family holidays and stuff."
Ariela revealed her ex-husband has always wanted to visit Africa and so she gave him an opportunity to do so.
"And he hasn't met my baby yet," Ariela shared of her son with Biniyam, Aviel or Avi, now 20 months.
"He's my friend, and I wanted him to come out as a friend. For me, I've lived a life where I've traveled a lot. It's not always easy to keep friends. If you get a friend who's willing to come out to Ethiopia, you better keep that friend."
But Ariela admitted, "I don't know how Bini feels about the whole thing. I'm sure it's going to be a really interesting season."
Biniyam, 32, appeared unsure himself and laughed with a little anxiety.
"I understand a lot of people are probably not friends with their exes," Ariela said. "I don't know. I'm always thinking, 'How can I do things better?' And I don't tend to blame the other person if things don't work out."
RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO BROKE UP? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOWAriela confirmed she's still on good terms with her ex-husband because their relationship "didn't end in a terrible way."
"We kind of go into it this season, [in terms of] why did [our marriage] end? There are some emotional moments there," Ariela teased. "But there's some really funny stuff too! I can't wait to see the funny stuff."
When asked to give a little more insight into why her marriage with Leandro failed, Ariela insisted there's no "clear-cut answer."
"There were so many things... so many different reasons," Ariela noted.
"I was really young when I got married. I got married at 19, and Leandro at that time... was 20 or 21. So I don't know, we really weren't ready for it."
Ariela said she hopes to maintain a friendship with Leandro in the future and that Biniyam will accept it and maybe even befriend him as well.
"I don't know," Biniyam said. "Ari and this ex-husband, they have a good relationship... I want to be good friends with him. If [Ari has] a good relationship with him, I'd like to have a good relationship with him."
Ariela met Leandro in his native Argentina when Ariela traveled to the country over 10 years ago and the pair stayed married about 10 years before divorcing in 2018, according to Us.
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RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE: BEFORE THE 90 DAYS' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
In a preview TLC released of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way's third season, it appears Ariela decides to move back to the United States with Avi after Biniyam apparently made a huge mistake.
"I will never go back to Ethiopia after what you have done to me and Avi," Ariela tells Biniyam over videochat.
As shown on Season 2 of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Ariela, a freelance writer, stumbled across Biniyam while traveling the world and staying in Ethiopia for two months, and then Ariela found out she was pregnant only three months into dating Biniyam.
"When I found out I was pregnant, I was really scared, so I came back to the United States for prenatal care," Ariela shared on the series.
Ariela didn't think Biniyam would receive a K-1 visa in time to deliver their baby in the United States, so she eventually moved back to Ethiopia with the idea of living there permanently in order for her son to grow up with his father around.
Ariela had her concerns about their language barrier, finances, different cultures, opposing religions, and Biniyam's job working in the nightlife industry around attractive women all the time.
But the pair was shown working out their trust issues and reaching compromises on the show's second season.
RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE: HAPPILY EVER AFTER?' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
Ariela, for instance, chose to circumcise her son Aviel after he was born under the pressure of Biniyam and her family, and she also gave in to baptizing the baby in Biniyam's faith as an Ethiopian-Orthodox Christian.
"I'm not sure Ariela even realizes how much she's sacrificing to be here in Ethiopia. I really feel there's a lot of family pressure from his side and she has no support for her own opinions," Ariela's mother Janice told the cameras in one of the Season 2 episodes.
But Ariela had apparently made up her mind about staying in Ethiopia, even though her lifestyle didn't meet her parents' expectations.
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"Things are not going to be easy, but when you love someone, you try to work through the hard stuff. This is the decision I have made, and I'm sticking to it."
Ariela and Biniyam then got engaged while attending a celebration for the baptism of Jesus Christ, which is a holiday in Ethiopia.
Ariela realized in that moment how much she loved Biniyam even though they fought pretty frequently.
RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY KNOW? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
