True love has no borders, and proving it right are 90 Day Fiancé’s Armando Rubio and Kenneth Niedermeier. The franchise’s first male same-sex couple, Armando, from Mexico and Kenneth from Florida, have been fan favorites since day one. With their quest for togetherness, the TLC couple is going against the grain in a small Mexican town as of now. But while the American single dad Kenneth has always had a supportive family, Armando hides his heart-breaking back story with a smile. Here’s everything to know about Armando, his family, job, ex-wife, and the struggles he’s been through to finally find love with Kenny on 90 Day Fiancé.
The recent episodes of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, see Kenneth who has left his home and triplet daughters in St Petersburg, Florida, behind to start a new life with Armando in Mexico. Being a gay couple isn’t easy in the quaint town, and Kenneth and Armando have faced homophobic slurs from the locals and awkward stares from his Mexican family. However, Armando’s daughter Hannah was delighted beyond measure to be reuniting with her father, and then second father Kenny, who she dearly loves. Their future on 90 Day Fiancé might show the engaged men adjusting to life as a family of three in Mexico after being single dads for the longest time. But what was Armando’s life like before Kenny, and how did the popular 90 Day Fiancé pair meet?
Armando Rubio, 31, is from San Filipe, Mexico, and comes from a family that’s very close, consisting of him, his parents, and two older and one younger sister. If 90 Day Fiancé fans wondered how Armando’s English is so impeccable, he’d revealed that it was from “watching American TV and going to a bi-lingual school.” Prior to moving in with Kenny, Armando used to stay and work at a pet store on his parents' property. Armando's store is called The Pet Resort & Spa, where he did boarding, grooming, and daycare for the last five years with his sister as the groomer. "We believe that the key to your pets’ happiness and health is a stress-free environment with plenty of attention and activity," reads Armando's pet shop's bio on Facebook.
Armando’s 6-year-old daughter Hannah is from his first relationship and late ex-wife whom he had married in spite of knowing he was gay. Given the macho culture in Mexico, Armando had thought that being with a woman was the only way “these feelings would go away” and he “could be a man.” The 90 Day Fiancé star had told his wife, who was also his best friend about his sexual orientation after about eight years of marriage when Hannah was three. “When I first told her she was kind of lost and she cried about it,” Armando had revealed and later mentioned that his ex-wife had told his mother eventually pushing him “back into the closet.” However, the couple did separate after he came out, and within two or three months after that, Armando’s ex passed away. In an Instagram story, Armando shared more details about the tragic incident, where he recalled his ex-wife having anger issues, even as they planned on rebuilding their friendship again. “During the divorce proceedings and on the evening of her passing, a disagreement took place over finances, and I thought it would be best to leave the situation and return back to my home,” wrote Armando. But right after the fight, the lady apparently had purposely hit his car on the highway, which ultimately led to her own death on the scene with her car flipping “two or three times on the road,” alleged Armando. The 90 Day Fiancé star also revealed that his ex, unfortunately, was also pregnant when she passed away.
Years later, Armando met Kenny, 57, on a social media portal for gay single dads, and after a year of chatting, the 90 Day Fiancé couple had finally united in Mexico. “He was better than I expected,” Armando had gushed, and added that their 26-year-old age difference makes their relationship, “unique, different and special.” Since Kenny’s arrival in Mexico, Armando and he are staying in an apartment in a gated community in La Mision, four hours away from his parents’ house. For now, it’s Kenny who looks after the finances, while Armando is hopeful of finding better opportunities in the locality. Armando, who’d told his conservative parents that the 90 Day Fiancé crew was actually there to document life in Brazil, seems to have gathered more confidence owing to Kenny’s presence. As he sets out to start a new life together with Kenny and Hannah on 90 Day Fiancé, here’s hoping Armando’s future keeps any further troubles at bay.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs Sundays at 8pm EST on TLC.