90 Day Fiancé star Ben Rathbun reveals the truth about his acting career before meeting Mahogany Roca and how he really came to be cast on the show. 52-year-old Ben looks forward to starting a new life with his girlfriend Mahogany after escaping a messy divorce and a religious cult. Despite many red flags and even Mahogany asking him not to come, Ben boarded a flight to Peru only to find out he’d been ghosted. Since Ben has yet to meet Mahogany, 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days viewers wonder if their storyline is staged, Mahogany is not real, and Ben is a paid actor.
After all, their romance has the right amount of entertainment and shock value with talk of the Church, Ben’s fitness modeling, and his getting scammed by a Nigerian man before. Eyebrows were raised when Ben’s history as an actor was revealed. Additionally, a Facebook video with Ben declaring that 90 Day Fiancé producers approached him first seemed to provide conclusive evidence.
Ben decided to address these allegations in a recent Instagram story update. “Hey everybody just gotta jump on here and clear a few things up,” started Ben. “So no, no. I’m not an actor. Not even close,” the former pastor confessed. According to him, “about seven years ago” he tried out for a community theater production with his family because his kids are in it every single year. “And I got the lead role of Tarzan,” Ben added. “So that’s something but, no, not an actor,” he laughed. “Oh in the fifth grade, I was the sheriff and I’m really actually proud of that role,” Ben joked. He then shared photos of his shirtless Tarzan look. Ben also took some time to shout out his real job as the Director of the Michigan Lupus Foundation, providing some information about the disease.
Additionally, Ben discussed his casting on 90 Day Fiancé. He claims he “just emailed” the show and told them about his “very inspiring, incredible love story” because he thought the world would be “inspired by it.” Ben admitted that “no one’s inspired yet.” “But I still believe in it and I am risking everything for love and I hope people can appreciate that,” Ben told his Instagram followers.
However, Ben’s statement doesn’t really explain why he declared, “One of my fitness pictures got posted.. not posted… put into a men’s magazine. From there, a couple of producers got a hold of me and said, ‘Hey, how would you like to be in a reality TV show?’” in his old video. It was said so convincingly that viewers didn’t suspect Ben of lying at the time. Still, his explanation of his acting past seems to suggest he’s aware some people think his storyline with Mahogany is at least partly scripted. Perhaps Ben should have explored more acting opportunities instead of doing 90 Day Fiancé with Mahogany, who possibly doesn’t even exist. However, viewers suspect Ben is trying to land a part in 90 Day: The Single Life season 3, as he has already expressed interest in dating franchise co-star Stephanie Matto. It will be interesting to see if his social media activity plays a role in his casting on that show.
