As is often with reality show reunion specials, the 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days Couples Tell All went a bit off the rails. In addition to bombshell reveals from the cast, friends of the cast members also got caught up in the drama — none more so than Benjamin Rathbun’s gal pal Jessica Siciliano!
In addition to offering up her opinion on Ben and Mahogany, Jessica got caught up in Gino and Jasmine’s toxic relationship after host Shaun Robinson revealed that Gino had DMed Jessica with what seemed to be a flirty message.
However, it was Jessica’s interactions with #Benjogany that really set the sparks flying!
Benjamin, Mahogany and Jessica Tell All Recap
Jessica begins by asking Mahogany if she actually loved Benjamin in the beginning. “Basically, we’re talking about a 53-year-old man, your friend, who is coming to see me,” Mahogany explains. “So I wanted to verify and have certainty that with Benjamin, there is something between us.”
“Why on earth would you ask him for a thousand dollars then,” Jessica replied, “if you didn’t have that level of love or relationship established?”
The conversation shifts to Benjamin, who admits that he sent Mahogany the money without ever having met her or video chatted with her. Benjamin’s explanation makes it sound like he was essentially hiring a texting escort.
“To me, [the $1,000] was worth all the time — which is hours and hours of texting,” Benjamin explains. “And feeling, like, for the first time I think in my life, to be honest, something that felt like love. Even if it wasn’t real, for the first two or three months that we spent together — completely worth the money!”
Mahogany interjects to point out that she asked for the money as a loan, but Benjamin said no.
“First of all,” Jessica asks Mahogany, “why would you not ask your parents for a loan, rather than the man that you’ve never met online?” Jessica then calls BS on Mahogany’s claims that she was too shy to video chat with Benjamin by pointing out that Mahogany isn’t shy at all about posting provocative photos of herself on social media.
The back and forth between Jessica and Mahogany escalates with Mahogany eventually claiming that Benjamin told her the first time they video chatted he wanted it to be like a date. “I was, like, 21 years old. I don’t want to have, like date, like old man like that because my English, can you see it’s not that, it’s not good.”
At this point in the Tell All, Shaun reveals that Benjamin went back to Peru to meet up with Mahogany again, and he documented some of the experience with cell phone video. His second visit was just as awkward as the first, with Mahogany standing Benjamin up multiple times.
He says he later bumped into her on the beach and they decided to talk about things. They hit it off and supposedly got back together. In one self-shot scene with Mahogany, Benjamin predicts that he will be back in the same spot in Peru in one year and he and Mahogany will be married.
Back at the Tell All, Mahogany is now upset at Benjamin because she didn’t know he was filming his return trip. She calls Benjamin a liar before Jessica asks Shaun if she can say something.
“What was she in it for?” Jessica asks about Mahogany. That sparked this interaction:
MAHOGANY: If you are a good friend for Benjamin, Benjamin would tell you the truth.
JESSICA: Oh no, let’s not play games. Let’s not play games. Let’s be honest.
MAHOGANY: No. No, no, no, because I don’t want to destroy the relationship to friends right now. I’m not here for problems like that.
JESSICA: You’re all about honesty and integrity —
MAHOGANY: Yeah.
JESSICA: So why don’t you tell the truth?
MAHOGANY: The true is that Benjamin tell me that you love to stay in the drama. So I can see, with Jasmine, that you love to stay in the drama!
JESSICA: I have no drama. I’m a married woman. I work 70 hours a week. What is my drama?
MAHOGANY: And it’s so, so bad because you have a husband. Respect your husband, respect your family.
JESSICA: So, tell me what my drama is?
BENJAMIN: This right here is the drama.
JESSICA: Besides Ben’s bulls**t for the whole time that he’s been dating you, I have no drama in my life.
At this point, Jasmine enters the chat and calls Jessica a b**ch for using Gino. Jessica is just as baffled as the millions of viewers tuning in, and she dismisses Jasmine as crazy. Jasmine goes on to suggest that Jessica started the DM conversation with Gino.
“I think that was the drama that Mahogany was talking about,” Ben says of Jessica’s heated interaction with Jasmine.
Ben and Jessica Blow Up
Host Shaun Robinson intervenes after Ella implies that Benjamin is pitting Mahogany and Jessica against each other. That’s when Benjamin’s relationship with Jessica came crashing down like all of his romantic relationships in the past.
SHAUN: [To Benjamin] You’re confiding to Jessica, as your good friend, about Mahogany. But then you’re telling Mahogany things about Jessica that are unflattering. Is that right, Benjamin?
BENJAMIN: Ummmmmm.
JESSICA: Yeah.
BENJAMIN: I don’t, I mean, I, I, I say the truth. Some of the truth is going to be unflattering. But it’s not, you know, to pit them against each other.
JESSICA: Ben, you’re fake! you are the fakest person I’ve literally ever known. Mahogany calls me fake? Jasmine calls me fake? You’re fake! you’re, like, “I need your advice. I need you to be my voice of reason.” Not because I’m “dramatic,” but because clearly your head’s a bit in the clouds.
BENJAMIN: That is a hundred percent correct. And you’re also dramatic. I also think that you gave me some really good advice along the way.
JESSICA: Well, I wouldn’t know it by the sh*t you’ve been talking to everybody else!
BENJAMIN: I wasn’t talking sh*t. No. I said that, yes, you are dramatic. And that is fine.
JESSICA: And you are a narcissist. I’m dramatic, and you are a narcisisst. And you’re delusional.
Shaun does a nice job of putting a pin in that grenade as she steers the conversation back to Benjamin and Mahogany’s current relationship status. Much like Mike and Jasmine, Benjamin seems confident that the two of them are a couple. Mahogany? Not so much.
Eventually, the conversation goes back to Jessica, and she reveals that she is completely #TeamMahogany now!
SHAUN: Jessica, I really appreciate you coming on. I want to know, is this friendship between you and Benjamin still intact? Do you still consider him a good friend?
JESSICA: Before I even address Ben, I just want to say one last thing to Mahogany, and that’s that I am sorry. After hearing Ben, and hearing your side of it, if anybody is a victim it’s you. Ben has painted the picture the entire time, like, “poor Ben,” and his heart is so broken. And now, after hearing how two-faced of a person Ben is, I hope that you see Ben’s true colors today, because I’ll never forget them.
BENJAMIN: Jessica, what is the issue?
JESSICA: I have nothing to say to you.
BENJAMIN: Did you think that I told —
JESSICA: I have zero to say to you. Ben, you’re a fraud. You’re a narcissist. You are thirsty as all hell, despite what Jasmine wants to accuse me of. And you’re a liar and a sh*t friend. And that’s the truth.
BENJAMIN: What is the issue? Because I don’t understand.
JESSICA: You’ve literally been sh*t talking me. You told here that I was here for the drama. So let’s be clear on that.
BENJAMIN: Jessica, I said you were dramatic.
JESSICA: So are you. And you’re selfish. And you only put yourself first. I actually felt sorry for you, but after hearing Mahogany, and after the things you said about me, I have no sympathy for you at all. I think that you’re such a two-faced person and a sh*t friend. And you can consider any loyalty from me to be done.
Ben and Jessica Make Up After the Tell All
Despite the nuclear meltdown of their friendship at the Tell All, it seems that Benjamin and Jessica and buried the hatchet. Benjamin shared a series of clips in his Instagram stories that also featured Jessica. The two laughed as they revealed they would be doing an Instagram Live session after the show.
Jessica shared two lengthy messages about Ben and the Tell All meltdown. This first is from her Instagram stories:
To be candid, no one was spared of humiliation and hurt today on Part 2. We were pitted against each other and in the heat of the moment everyone’s emotions took over and we were all reactionary to what we were hearing for the first time. Not one single person had the whole truth or story going into it, and we were responding based on the jabs and attacks on the fly.
I didn’t ask to be on this show. I was not paid. I had never even watched an episode prior to Ben approaching me and asking me to participate as an honest friend. It is true that I don’t hold back, I speak my mind, and I relentlessly defend the truth when it gets twisted, so does that make for entertainment and drama? Sure, but clearly my overall presence was limited and rather irrelevant. I don’t regret my questions to Mahogany because they were honest and like many, I genuinely wanted to understand their relationship. I respect her defending herself in the moment as anyone would. I was protective of Ben throughout the season – many clips that were filmed and never released, so during the Tell All between Jasmine’s dramatic, unnecessary explosions and Mahogany stirring the pot, I expected Ben to reciprocate that same protection and loyalty, and unfortunately that didn’t happen on camera. Words were said, feelings were hurt, but life is too short to hold onto negativity in your heart. We must have self-awareness for how our words and actions affect others, and when people take accountability and ownership of that, you can begin to heal, welcome forgiveness, and come out stronger in the end. Remember: you only know what they show.
I wish EVERYONE happiness in their relationships and in the end the animosity displayed today ended with this final episode. I developed a lot of wonderful friendships because of this experience so I am eternally grateful that this crazy show brought those people into my life.
Jessica also shared a photo with Ben and wrote an ode to their friendship.
From Jessica:
I don’t even know where to begin, so I’ll start with a ‘thank you’ @benrathbun27
You have been there for Charlie and I more than most people the past 5 months throughout the tragedies we have faced. You helped me reconnect with God and rely on faith to carry me through the darkest days. I don’t think there’s ever even been a time I’ve called you – no matter the hour, that you didn’t pick up and offer compassion, support and wisdom.
The best friendships aren’t the best because they’re perfect. The best friendships enrich your life. They force you to grow, to push past comfort zones, self-reflect, take responsibility at times, and overcome hardships. The best friendships are the ones that flourish – rather than dissipate after conflict.
For every single person who thinks they know Ben (or me) from a reality tv show, I promise you that’s impossible. To judge, make fun of, or bully someone based on snippets of a show stitched together in a way to “entertain” and fit a certain narrative is ridiculous and sad.
You will see conflict tomorrow. You will see emotions – sadness, anger, love, and dramatized behavior…so I ask that you think about everything you DON’T see, because that’s the heart of our stories.
My husband and I are blessed to have Ben in our lives. You don’t know anyone unless you know them in real life. Imagine the world getting edited, manipulated glimpses of you. Would it show your soul? Your heart? Your intelligence? Would it show who you when no one is watching?
You can’t complete a puzzle when you’re missing half of the pieces. Please Be kind.
If you are curious about the tragedies that Jessica and her husband have faced, Benjamin shared some information on Saturday.
Jessica’s Father and Sister Passed Away recently
From Benjamin:
Prayers today for my friend who has had an incredibly difficult 5 months with the loss of her father and now tragic loss of her sister. Not only will she have to emotionally navigate and heal from this but tomorrow another onslaught of negativity will infest her life through a national TV show that I asked her to participate in.
She was not paid; she’s received mountains of hate, and all because I thought it would be fun for her. It was not. They cut all of her best scenes like this one:
And now tomorrow she will once again be the target of a vociferous “fan” base. Lord protect her; Jessica does not deserve this.
Thankfully for Jessica, she seemed to come off extremely well at the Tell All! Especially relative to pretty much everyone else except Memphis and Hamza. I don’t know if viewers will be fond of her extremely pro-Mahogany stance at the very end, but there will be much joyful wine spillage and spewage when she tells Ben off.
If you haven’t seen the 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days Season 5 couples Tell All, you can head on over to discovery+ and stream it now!
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
