90 Day Fiance dropped the exciting trailer for Before The 90 Days this week, and fans were introduced to Stephanie.
But what is her mysterious health condition that makes it dangerous for her to fly? And are she and her Australian fiancee the real deal?
Stephanie Matto is an American from New York. She is 29 years old.
She is also a bit of a social media influencer, popular on both Instagram and YouTube, where she is known as Stepanka.
Erika Owens is an Australian photographer. She is 24.
These two will be seeing each other in person on this upcoming season of Before The 90 Days … assuming that Stephanie’s health allows it.
So, first and foremost, why does Stephanie go by Stepanka on social media?
It’s because her mother is Czech in origin. (In our original post, we speculated that her family comes from Eastern Europe, based upon accens and food)
Using that name lets her stand out a little bit more than the name Stephanie. Also, Starcasm says that her mom’s name is Magda, which is cool AF.
Another thing that helps her to stand out a bit is that, like most Instagram influencers, she is not afraid to post some thirst traps.
Stephanie stands out from most other 90 Day Fiance stars in the franchise’s history because she was already making a splash online.
Though there have been a few models on the show, most people are cast from a place of total anonymity.
Of course, as we’ll get into momentarily, this does have some fans of the show wondering if she’s just appearing on it to gain more followers.
Believe it or not, some are even questioning if her illness and her girlfriend are real, or just props to get on camera.
The trailer was fairly vague about an unidentified bone marrow condition
Stephanie has aplastic anemia, a rare condition in which the body fails to produce a sufficient number of new blood cells.
This leaves her extremely vulnerable to contagions and unable to fight off simple or even mild ailments.
The idea of traveling to another continent, even just flying in a plane with other passengers, has her whole family worried.
In case any 90 Day Fiance fans are thinking that Stephanie is faking her relationship, well, it’s technically possible.
She’s posted plenty of clickbait to her YouTube channel over the years, at least.
But Stephanie has spoken about being bisexual before.
And Erika is active with the LGBTQ+ community, including her her profession as a photographer.
Erika’s career has led her to photograph world-famous drag queens (like Manila Luzon) and meet beloved musicians (like Kesha).
While some conspiracy theorists may accuse these two women of trying to inflate their respective levels of fame, we have another theory.
Their shared interest in followers and the entertainment industry and social media is probably part of what drew them together.
We’ve all seen celebrities whose romances fizzled out because a partner wasn’t interested in the spotlight. No risk of that with these two!
Unfortunately, as excited as fans are for the premiere on February 23, some are also dreading commentary on this couple.
Whiel we’re sure that the stars on Pillow Talk will be well-behaved, some folks on social media can be downright bigoted.
A cisgender straight man like Tim Malcolm was relentlessly mocked by fans for his perceived sexuality and gender.
Will the homophobia be even worse for Stephanie and Erika? We hope not.