From running her own business to divorcing Luis Mendez to her new dating journey on 90 Day: The Single Life, Molly Hopkins opened up to Screen Rant about her search for love and journey on reality television. Molly rose to fame in the 90 Day Fiancé franchise after appearing alongside her now ex-husband Luis in season 5. Her children were immediately suspicious of the Dominican Republic native, who was 15 years Molly’s junior. Luis had no interest in being a stepfather and was often interlocked in explosive fights with Molly, leading to the Georgia business owner divorcing him after six months of marriage.
The CEO of Livi Rae Lingerie is no stranger to reality television. Molly has also appeared besides best friend and business partner Cynthia Richards on Double Divas. The 45-year-old mother of two is currently looking for love and dating a new man on the Discovery+ spin-off show 90 Day: The Single Life. If you’re curious about Molly’s dating life, business goals, reality TV journey, and past relationships, check out the exclusive interview below. It’s filled with juicy information and touching details about her personal life, romances, business and reality TV career.
Related: 90 Day Fiancé: Molly Hopkins Discusses Age Gap Dating & Gender Bias
How did you sign up to be on 90 Day Fiancé?
Molly Hopkins: Several years ago, my business partner was watching 90 Day Fiancé. It was her favorite show, she was binge-watching, and she was like, “Molly, you’re gonna kill me.” And I was like, “What are you talking about?” She said, “I’ve been watching this show. It’s my favorite show, and you are not going to believe this, but they asked at the end if I know anybody in this situation getting a K-1 visa. It’s you and Luis’ story so much, so I signed you up.”
And I was like, “What? I don’t even know about the show. What are you talking about?” At that point, I was just dating him, but we had decided we were going to get married. I had no idea what I was getting myself into with the show or this whole 90-day process.
Did you have any hesitations about being on TV again when you signed up for The Single Life?
Molly Hopkins: I didn’t really have hesitation. I just know some of the territory that comes with it, like the fans and the people. People put so much stock and faith in television, and their perception is their reality. I think for me, it was a little different because I have a lot of fan love. A lot of women really love me, and I think that they just see both sides.
For me, it was just a space of, “I know my truth, and I have to live in it.” If I see anything crazy or negative, I can’t let that affect my journey. I know who I am, and what my mission and my purpose is.
Do your kids support your journey to find love on TV again?
Molly Hopkins: My youngest one is very open. She thinks it’s fun, and she just wants Mommy to be happy. I will say my oldest daughter, clearly from the first round, went through some emotional changes with me and some of the heartache and stuff.
She’s in her early 20s, so it’s that time where she’s transitioning from a child into adulthood. She’s kind of like, “God, Mom, really?” I think because of the fact that I’m not with her father, and I wasn’t with my youngest daughter’s father, she just wanted there to be protective measures in place for both of them and for their emotional stability. But they’re cool with it.
Have your daughters been doing well throughout the pandemic, coping with social distancing?
Molly Hopkins: I think it’s been a little rougher for my youngest daughter, because we don’t hang out with other families with children. I’m very, very protective of her, so the only social interaction that she had was in the school system, for the most part. I tried to find things for her to do, and she’s a very busy child. But she has some processing disorders, so I used to send her to different classes to work on that.
Not having been able to have that in place was a little difficult, but we just turned it into something else. I taught her how to cut and sew and do the masks with us when we were making masks. I just really put her in real life settings, like helping to cook at home, learning how to sort the laundry, just applying life skills in the time that we couldn’t do anything else.
Switching topics a little bit, what first attracted you to Kelly?
Molly Hopkins: The first thing that I was attracted to about Kelly was his smile and his consistency. When we first started talking, it was through the internet – somehow his message made it through about 10,000, and I actually responded. He was a nice person, and he didn’t come at me sideways with some crazy pictures or request. He just simply acknowledged what I was doing as a business owner and as a philanthropist in the community.
He spoke on what I had going on at the time, so the first thing that came through said, “Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s a beautiful thing.” And it was on a story I had posted about doing some charity work for the breast cancer organization that I serve on. It was for some displaced teenagers in a foster home, and no one that has ever messaged me had said, “I see what you do. On top of being a mom and being busy doing TV, you also take time to do community work.” So, it was just really a beautiful day.
That’s great. Do you ever get self-conscious when you air your personal life on TV? I know that’s a lot of pressure.
Molly Hopkins: I would say that it’s not so much a self-conscious thing as it is just social awareness. I think for me, having a platform like this, I’m able to speak volumes on the injustice of what’s happening in America right now. Namely the whole Black Lives Matter movement that came out last year during the pandemic.
I was shooting a diary special, and it allowed me to be able to talk to my daughter, who is a black female. Even though she’s biracial, she’s black, so I think that I was able to bring awareness to who I am as a person and how I live my life. I think that my stand on a lot of things might have changed the way people view them, because so many people love me. And I think they think if I do it, that it’s socially acceptable for them to do it in a space where it should have been already that way anyway.
If I’m self-conscious about something, I have a great makeup artist and a great hair dresser, and I look better and feel better. If there’s ever a time that I have self-doubt, then I just rally myself with my team, who is 100% amazing and really beefs me up and gives me that thing. But the beauty of that is, there’s other women who feel exactly the same way that I do. They come to me and say, “How do you stay so positive?”
I got a message yesterday from a girl who is one of our models, and she was like, “I got all this crap coming at me. And all I do is think, ‘Wow, I’m only half as whatever as you are.’ I don’t have as many fans, but you always just say, ‘What’s really going on?'” Because I think that a lot of times when people lash out ugly, it’s because they have something going on with their own selves. So, I tried to defuse it and turn it around to make it positive.
That’s definitely a great stance to take, and it’s necessary when you’re on TV. Would you say that your portrayal on 90 Day Fiancé is accurate?
Molly Hopkins: As far as just my carefree, loud, boisterous, in-your-face type of personality? That definitely is accurate. I would say the only thing that really bothered me was that people’s perception was I had met this guy, brought him over here, and immediately threw him to be a dad to my kid. Or that I was leaving my child at home alone with this man, and that’s not it at all.
Even with Kelly, we’d spoken for a very long time before he ever met my kid. You have to go quick with television, but for me personally, I’m not just gonna bring some man over to my house that’s a stranger and throw him in the bedroom and have my kid in there. That’s not me at all. My kid doesn’t even get to spend the night with other people, like her friends from school. I’m so protective. She can’t go outside unless someone’s watching her. I’m very much that mom, and she’s by my side all the time.
That would be the only thing. Or that I was just hungry for some young stud to screw. I mean, come on. That’s not even it at all. And I’m now I’m in a space in my life, where that’s not even on my scale of top 10. I need someone with stability, a job; someone who’s got it going on, and is good family man. The rest of that is just a bonus, right? That’s not what I’m out here to do.
On one of the 90 Day Fiancé fan pages, they were commenting back at you saying that Kelly is so much younger, and you really eloquently defended yourself. He’s the same age as you, you said?
Molly Hopkins: He’s like 42, he just has that baby face. His skin is amazing, and he has a young spirit, but he’s not young at all. He’s getting ready to retire from the force, as far as I know, but he’s not young.
Those are really gender-specific comments, when someone sees a woman who’s successful with a younger partner.
Molly Hopkins: It’s just ridiculous. If it was back in the day, Hugh Hefner kept all the young honeys. It’s always been that way. If you’re older than your guy, all of a sudden the roles are reversed and it’s very much not accepted in the same manner. And I could care less at this point, because it’s not about that at all.
And when I met Luis, it wasn’t about that either. I didn’t see age, and I have a very young spirit. I live my life, and I still will. My mom is 70, still working night time, and she’s at the beach this week hamming it up. Her mind is that she’s in her 30s so that she can keep going. She has fun, and she lives life, and that’s how I want to be.
Are you still in any form of contact with Luis?
Molly Hopkins: No, I am not.
Another thing that your fans definitely love is your Pillow Talk commentary. How do you think up the commentary? Does it just come naturally to you?
Molly Hopkins: It’s very natural to me. I think for most of my life, I’ve always just been that funny girl. When I was in high school, I got voted most wittiest. Because when you apply humor in your life, it just makes you feel better; it automatically comes with positivity. Laughter creates such goodness in your space.
I just don’t take myself so seriously, and I think that when you put a funny spin on it, it doesn’t seem like you’re judging. Because I’m the last person that wants to be sitting on the couch talking about people, because clearly I made a journey myself. But I love it; I actually became a huge fan of the show after being on it through Pillow Talk. Because I see that everybody at the end of the day is just looking for love. They want to have relationships, they want it to be beautiful, and this is kind of an uncanny way to do it.
Do you have a lot of friends in the franchise?
Molly Hopkins: I wouldn’t say I have a lot of friends, but I have a couple of people that I keep up with and periodically chat with. I think it’s just a great sounding board for all of us that might be going through stuff, or if something drops in the media that is untrue or unsavory.
David’s like the OG of the franchise, and he’s a father figure to a lot of people coming along. He’s a nice guy, and I think he has been through everything that you could imagine. “He’s too fat,” or “his wife’s too young,” or “he’s a pervert.” All these things, so he just wraps himself around everybody and sends out positive love. He’s funny too, and I love Annie. So, I’ve spoken with them on several occasions.
As far as other people, I do comment here and there with some. But David and Annie would be the people that I talk to the most. I try to support the other cast members if they have businesses. So, I ordered some honey from Anna and Mursel, and a couple of T-shirts from the Silva girls. You just want to support people in their journey.
You’re definitely successful in different aspects of reality TV, and you have your own business. Do you have any advice for women who want to start their own business or are dealing with criticism in the spotlight?
Molly Hopkins: I think that if you have passion for something, that’s all you need. You could not even have a lot of money and set up a business. Social interaction with people can definitely get you to where you need to be. I’ll just give this as an example: I’ve been looking for a way to reach women all over the world through my virtual fit service. When I was able to just be myself, be the one who bares all, and brought on Rebecca just for my visuals – it really set us rolling with women from all over the world.
It’s really cool how that particular episode launched us into virtual fittings, because every day I’m meeting just like this on a zoom call. Women are exposing themselves to me in a way that is not sexual or crazy; they’re comfortable, and they trust me, and I’m able to solve some real problems – from young girls to several clients that are in assisted living homes. It’s people who are just seeking comfort in their bras and in their breasts. It has definitely been a space where I have landed my business, and it’s been way successful. So, I’m happy for that.
What got you interested in starting your business?
Molly Hopkins: Well, I’ve had a full bust my whole life, even when I was a size 6 to 8, which was many moons ago. Post my second child and pre my first, I still was very busty, and I was always being the girl to help my sorority sisters and people with pageants. They’re like, “Help me get my boobs in the right spot.”
I took what I learned from a very young age of sewing, and was able to alter and help and fix. Then I worked for a company and realized that there’s other options. Victoria’s Secret and places like that never spoke to me; they don’t really speak to anybody, because if you look around the room at the women, no one is a candidate for that size. Anywhere in America, where we’re eating hormone-packed chicken that’s going straight to our boobs. Whether it’s genetically predisposed or through food, we’ve got big busts.
That’s why we need to feel sexy at any size. There’s been a meme that was, “What’s a bathing suit body? All you need is a body in a bathing suit.” Who are we to judge? And a lot of times when people are having issues with weight or their diet, it really stems from something that’s happened to them, or where they’re living in their headspace and how they cope. I always like to get to the root of the issue and discuss it, because I’ve been there through all of it. I’ve been through a lot of those scenarios in my own life, so I feel like I bring a different perspective on how to deal with nursing moms and cancer patients and overweight or underweight clients, Two boobs, no boobs; you name it, I’ve seen it.
It’s just a beautiful, beautiful shop that we have. It’s a judgment-free space. We have trans clients, girls that want to bind, people that need help all over. We have everybody, and we love it.
I absolutely love that. I think it’s a really important message for women. How did you end up being on Double Divas, with your whole business journey airing on TV?
Molly Hopkins: That journey started when one of our vendors who is out of Puerto Rico with a shapewear company reached out and said, “Hey, we have a friend that’s casting for a new show about lingerie stores. I think you would be perfect.” And we were like, “What is it?” Apparently, we had two or three days to put in a casting video. We weren’t very tech-savvy then, and it ended up being just like this: self-recorded, because I just gotten a handycam. I didn’t know how to do it, and the files were too large.
So, it really was sitting there going, “Is it recording?” Cynthia is like, “I don’t know, you’re the smart one.” And I’m like, “Well, I don’t know.” And it was just this back and forth, Lucy and Ethel of, “Well, who knows?” Our shop mom at the time, who was just a very raw, old school, chain smoking crazy lady who could sow her ass off came around the corner and was like, “Hey, I hope you’re not filming me!” From the dynamic of all of us in that one little clip, they were like, “We need to know more about these girls.” So out of 300 plus auditions, we landed the deal with some bootleg camera footage.
But it was really about having that type of store, where we have everyone. I think the other two stores that were candidates, one was in California and was very much a high-end place, and the other one was in upstate New York somewhere that just wasn’t open to a lot of different types of people. And so we landed into that. We still every day are like, “We could be the My Feet are Killing Me or the Dr. Pimple Popper of breasts,” because the stories that we get are so moving and so trying. There’s a lot of situations still that we feel like if other women saw them, and how that is just like them, they might feel better in the space they were in with their own problems. Every day is something new.
I love how much you guys are normalizing having breast shapes outside of the very narrow standards. Are you and Cynthia still best friends?
Molly Hopkins: Oh, we are. She says all the time that we’re partners without the benefits. We’ll be together for life. We’ve had this journey. Last year was very trying; when you’ve been with someone in business for going on 15 years this year – and I’m one of five children and she’s an only child, so you can imagine that. I’m the one that has to learn how to do everything for everybody, and she’s very much, “This is how it’s gonna be,” and I’m like, “No.”
It’s been a great great journey, and we love each other a lot. We’re still very different sometimes, just because she’s more of that homebody, and she’s married. But I think that this year I’ll see a change, because her kids are going to be gone and she’s going to be an empty nester. She’s regaining her sense of self; she just turned 50, so she’s ready to embrace that, and still get back out here and teach women that life after your 40s does not mean that you’re dead. Being married with children and having to stay home, you still can go out and you still can be in your community doing amazing things. We’re just ready to take this next journey and see where it takes us.
I saw that you had a cameo on Little Women Atlanta. Are there any other shows that you would like to cameo on, or any spin-off ideas you have?
Molly Hopkins: Honestly, I just love helping people. Juicy on Little Women has been our client for quite some time, and she too is just another person who loves herself in her space, being a small person. When they do these questionable scenes, like when they were having to dress up for a party, she said, “I’m not doing it unless you let me go to my girl, because she knows how to dress me. She knows what makes me look good and feel good.”
I know her favorite color. She comes there because she feels safe, and she also feels important. I think that that’s two really great things to have in your relationship with a bra fitter. If someone’s going to help you dress up sexy, and you’re not sure what to do, then you go to the experts. And that’s us; we can stand very confidently in that space.
I don’t really know, I’ll be honest. There’s a lot of celebrities that I would love to bra fit. Because I’ve seen a few of their stylists fit them, but then I’m like, “What the hell happened to their boob.? It’s like, they’ll buy these dresses that have the cup sections, but they should have bought the bigger dress and had to altered for this part to fit. I’ve seen that a lot.
I would love to work with Porsha from Housewives. I just think she stands for a lot of amazing things, and just her whole family background from helping the homeless to her stand last year. She went so far as to even get arrested for standing up and marching on behalf of black lives. And she has a great body. She thick; she’s got great boobs. I would love to bra fit her and get her into some sexy gear.
But I think we can have our own show again. I think that Cynthia and I very much could have our own show. We really want it to be like Move that Bus, where we roll up and it’s extreme bra makeover, kind of like the show. But the journey is that our slogan, “let us lift you up,” is really not about the bra at all. The bra is just the vessel for why they came there. But they really want the experience, they really want to be loved on, they really want to be told they’re perfect and they’re normal. And I feel like there’s so many women out here that need to see that there’s other people just like them, and it may help them with something. It seems trivial, but it’s amazing how the right foundation – which is what you put on first, and it’s the core to any good house – will change their life. And I think that it needs to be seen and showcased in an unsexualized manner.
Because right now, anything in the social world regarding breasts is typically regarding an Onlyfans or an over sexualized post. I think we just need to take the stigma of sex out of it, and we make it normal.
That’s a great mission to have. You look fantastic, by the way. What motivated you to get your whole pre-divorce makeover? Not that you’ve ever didn’t look great.
Molly Hopkins: Honestly, it just makes me feel better. And when you feel better, you do better, and you give life better. I’m a girl who can throw on sweat pants and a T shirt, but even during the COVID, I tried to get up every day when I knew I could not be in the face of the public and get myself ready. Because when you are ready, you’re ready no matter what.
You never know when you’re going to get thrown an interview, or someone comes in that wants to take a photo, or just says, “Hey, what kind of lipstick did you use? I think that would look good on me.” Like I said, my makeup artist is also my other best friend. So, we know what we need to do to get the job done. It’s good to have an overhaul.
I am an emotional eater, so I worked out, I got super thin, I had a trainer. I was thin for me. But then I had a little setback, and during COVID, I was at home and was sitting in the chair not moving a lot, so it took me no time to pack on 30 pounds. Everybody’s done that, even my regular clients come in, and they’re like, “Girl, ’til I get this weight off, I need new bras. My bras don’t fit.” Everybody, for the most part, went through some of that. You couldn’t work out at the gym, you weren’t motivated to work out at home, you were eating whatever you could get your hands on, or you were ordering takeout from Uber Eats or wherever, because you didn’t want to go to the grocery store and get your normal.
I think that that was a trying time, so now I’m just trying to get back my mind right and get my body back. Just because I’m healthier and I feel better when I’m not super overweight for me. It’s just my personal preference to be at a certain weight, just so I could wear my heels.
Is there anything that you want your fans to know about you that you feel hasn’t been portrayed, or something that you would like to emphasize?
Molly Hopkins: I just really want everyone to know that we try very hard to answer everybody. I don’t have a team that’s sitting back in my personal social inbox answering my stuff, because I like to know. I don’t want to miss a message of somebody who’s really crying out for help. So, if people could just practice patience with us – because even though it’s a blessing and it’s amazing to have all this business and this fan love – we love you back, but it takes us a while to get through. And as soon as that person gets to the top, there’s everybody else that comes in right behind them.
So, just know that we’re not the Amazon of bras, we are just a small mom and pop doing huge business. I always say we’re like the Target of bra shops, because everybody wants us and needs to have it, but we’re just one store. And we love and are thankful and grateful for everybody, and it really pains my soul if I see your review, or someone doesn’t feel like they got taken care of the way that they wanted, I personally try to reach out to help them, because I care that much.
I think people know that, but I need them to know that. Or they’ll say, “Oh, she got too big,” but I don’t see myself in that light. I really don’t. I’m very humble; I’ll sit down and break bread with you. I will give you the shirt off my back, so just know that I’m working very hard to help. That’s it; our mission is very true and passionate to our life. And we care more about helping women than we do about being some big huge reality star. That never was our mission at all.
Next: 90 Day Fiancé: Molly Hopkins’ Bleached Hair & Makeup Shocks Fans
