While Tiffany Franco Smith is all set to divorce on 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? fans are wondering about Ronald Smith and his criminal past. “Yeah, plenty of times,” is 90 Day Fiancé star Ronald’s reply to a lawyer asking the South African man if he’s been arrested, putting the chances of his getting a U.S. visa at risk. But Tiffany seems to have made her mind about leaving Ronald, with their latest Instagram show-down also being a major clue. Fans have started dragging Frederick resident Tiffany for marrying Ronald and also having his baby, despite being aware of his dark history.
The 90 Day Fiancé couple of Tiffany and Ronald were introduced on season 1 of The Other Way in 2019 after having met in South Africa via mutual friends. The single mother was head over heels for Ronald, and soon got engaged, but as Tiffany learned of his secrets, the struggles escalated. Ronald had opened up to Tiffany about his gambling addiction and criminal past, and later even entered rehab for six months, after which she took a risk and flew to South Africa with her son Daniel. But yet again, Tiffany struggled to trust Ronald fully, having to deal with his infamous bachelor party and the fear that his gambling would lead to alcoholism as well.
Tiffany and Ronald got married in the finale, after which she also returned to America to give birth to their baby Carley in 2019. The coronavirus pandemic took a toll on Tiffany and Ronald’s long-distance marriage, as 90 Day Fiancé is now documenting. But after rejoining the franchise cast in 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? Tiffany has again left no stone unturned to bring up Ronald’s past and how it’s making her lean towards divorce. On 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, Tiffany had met with an immigration officer to discuss Ronald’s chances of entering the United States and had eventually uncovered several charges.
Ronald had himself come clean about his past on 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way’s premiere episode itself, where after revealing his gambling addiction, he had admitted to it having been so bad that he repeatedly robbed his mother’s house to sell things. When his mother left for a vacation, Ronald’s mother would return and find it empty. But while Ronald kept gambling to make more money, he ended up losing it, having nothing left to continue his addiction. The thefts happened so often that the 90 Day Fiancé star’s mother got sick of it and prosecuted Ronald for burglary.
Back then, 90 Day Fiancé star Tiffany has claimed that the charges were dismissed, but the officer had informed her about them still affecting Ronald’s ability to stay in the states. Later in 2019, Ronald himself had revealed more details about his gambling action on Instagram, while calling it “hard” and how he had “things in place to fight temptation mentally.” While reaching out to a fan dealing with a similar problem, Ronald had confessed that he takes “three other support steps” before he feels like driving to the casino and now getting “an accountability partner helps” alongside “having the will to say that was enough.”
South African criminal convictions limit where one can travel, and to add to his problems, Ronald, despite having gone to rehab had also relapsed once already. Ronald was in Christian rehab later, a month before his marriage, and it was discussed that letters from his church could be involved for him to apply for a special waiver to visit the USA. However, this was the case for Ronald to get a visitor visa, and HEA episode 6 did show his application for a CR-1 visa being accepted and him moving to an interview phase. Now, Tiffany has asked her father Carlos to become a co-sponsor as she falls “just under the income requirement.” But Ronald joking about being arrested “plenty of times” during his interview preparation may not be a good sign for the 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? star’s future ahead.