Long-distance love
Albuquerque woman featured on show about online romances
Rachel Bear was a little hesitant about letting cameras roll. But as she did in her relationship with Jon Walters, she took a chance.
The Albuquerque single mother is featured on the TLC series “90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days.”
The series airs at 7 p.m. Sundays on TLC.
The series follows couples who have an existing relationship online but haven’t met in person.
Viewers get to experience their journey as they travel to the other’s foreign country for the first time in an attempt to establish an in-person relationship and start the K-1 visa process.
The 33-year-old woman from Albuquerque and Walters, 34, who is from England, first met online after performing a virtual duet on a karaoke app.
Right away, she was blown away by his handsome looks, and things heated up between the two after he sent her a message telling her that he had a crush on her.
Their relationship got more complicated, however, after Bear discovered she was pregnant with her ex’s baby just as she was getting to know Walters.
She told him about her pregnancy and was shocked that it didn’t scare him off. Two years later, the show follows her as she heads to England, with her 8-month-old baby in tow, to meet Walters in person for the first time.
“I never thought I would be part of any TV show,” she says. “Every time my face pops up on TV, at first, I was uncomfortable. When the show contacted us, it was to put our relationship out to the world. We had been keeping it a secret. We were afraid people weren’t going to understand. Then we put our story out there, and the amount of support that we got was incredible.”
Bear wanted to tell their story because there are many other people in longdistance relationships.
“It takes work, and I want people to believe that these kind of relationships can work,” she says. “It was extremely rough at first. We needed to build trust and communication. I’ve had my trust issues in the past, and for me to make this leap was huge. He completely reversed his life so he would be on my time zone so we could video-call.”
The couple are still together today and are active on social media.
“It’s been amazing, and I would do a show like this again. The story is inspiring for others,” she says.
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