Photo: Instagram
He's a divorced aspiring pastor. She lives in Kenya and her family expects a bride price.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Oct 17, 2019
TLC waited until the third episode of the new season of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days to introduce audiences to Benajmin and Akinyi. Like all the pairs on this show, they fell in love online and are hoping to meet in person and decide if they want to pursue the K1 visa process by which an American can bring their foreign-born fiancé to live in the US.
This couple is involved in a long-distance relationship between Arizona and Kenya. Benjamin is hoping to travel to Akniyi's home county to meet her in person. Benjamin is already worried about how he's going to pay for his own travel costs when Akinyi tells him that her family will expect a bride price before they bless the relationship. As a pastor-in-training, he isn't a rich man and doesn't know what exactly they will expect.
Are Benjamin and Akinyi still together? Keep reading for all the details.
1. Lonely divorced dad
Benjamin is 33 and got divorced a few years ago. The split from his ex-wife left him feeling pretty down and also left him shouldering a lot of legal costs. He tells the TLC cameras that he's devoted to his 5-year-old son but wants to find a new romantic partner as well. In between working as a customer service representative and studying to be a pastor, he doesn't have a lot of free time so he turned to online dating to meet people. He explains that his attempts to date women in his area weren't terribly successful so he decided to expand the geographic feature on his dating app to anywhere in the world.
Benjamin went through a tough divorce.
2. Akinyi reaches out
Benjamin tells the cameras that it was Akinyi who first contacted him on the dating site. Heavy reports that he says, "One day, it popped up, ‘Hey, this person liked you!’ Her name is Akinyi, and I was like, ‘Oh, wow! This is a pretty gal.’ I mean, she’s gorgeous! But she’s all the way in Nairobi in Africa. How is she liking me?” Benjamin wanted to make sure he wasn't being catfished so he asked for a very specific selfie in order to prove that Akinyi was who she said she was: he asked for a photo with her doing the Spock hand-sign from Star Trek. Once Akinyi sent a snap where her hand was posed in the "Live long and prosper" pose, Benjamin was convinced. “Who would have a random picture of the Spock sign? I was definitely impressed and once I saw Akinyi on video chat, I knew that she was the one.”
3. Breaking new ground
Once the two of them had started to know each other, they developed serious feelings for one another. However, Akinyi confessed to Benjamin that this relationship would have some cultural difficulties that he hadn't expected. She said that not only had she never dated a white man before, no one in her village could even remember the last time a white man had visited there. Benjamin quipped that "I'm pretty fly for a white guy" but it's not clear that Akinyi would have been listening to pop hits by the Offspring in 2009 to get that particular lyrical reference.
4. Very traditional father
Another possible problem for Benjamin is observing the etiquette rules in Akinyi's village. She warns him over video chat that he needs to be careful to be culturally sensitive and not make any missteps. For example, she suggests that if he were to forget to take off his shoes in her house, her father might chase him off with a machete and not let him come back. She also admits to having a brother who is overprotective and who might not be altogether welcoming.
Akinyi's family has high standards.
5. Major money woes
Another cultural issue that takes Benjamin off guard is that Akinyi's family will expect him to pay a bride price before he marries their daughter. The BBC reports that technically, bride prices are illegal in Kenya, but other reports note that the tradition is very much alive and well. In some cases, the prices asked are so high that young men do not feel as if they can afford to get married. In the case of Benjamin, he is honest with Akinyi and TLC about his financial situation: he's not wealthy and he's not sure how he can do right by Akinyi's family is they demand a high bride price.
6. What happens now?
Fans have only had one episode to get to know Benjamin and Akinyi and there haven't' been any spoilers dropped about them in fan forums so far. What's more, Benjamin doesn't seem active on social media and Akinyi's Instagram account is set to private, though in her bio there she lists her occupation as a web and software engineer and graphic designer. However, there no opportunity for sneak peeks into their lives today.
7. Twitter responds
The best part of watching 90-Day Fiancé is following on Twitter for the hilarious real-time responses. Here's a few of our favorite Benjamin/Akinyi tweets:
Will these two get married? Keep watching to see.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.