90 Day Fiancé: Who Is Elizabeth Potthast's Mom, Pamela?

The Potthast family is easily one of the most dramatic in "90 Day Fiancé" history. What started out as Elizabeth and Andrei Castravet showing off their relationship on the franchise's fifth season soon turned into Libby's entire family rolling through with their eyebrow-raising antics. While one of Elizabeth's brothers has flat-out refused to participate, both of her sisters have become regular fixtures on the show and its various spinoffs — as has troublesome brother Charlie and dad Chuck.

To say the Potthast clan is rife with sibling rivalry would be an understatement. Remember when Elizabeth's sisters joked about her husband being deported? Or when Charlie and Andrei got into a physical fight by the pool, leaving Chuck in tears?! The patriarch played himself off as the victim in that situation, but he isn't without his own drama, as his criminal record proves. Even Elizabeth's mom, Pamela, who only seems to appear on the show when it suits her, has left plenty of controversy in her wake. Despite making just the occasional cameo, she's managed to stir up loads of tension, all while not giving away much about herself. This has left some viewers wondering about who Pam really is and we're here to set the record straight.

Pamela Putnam hasn't made many appearances on the "90 Day" franchise and her career may be a major part of the reason why. In addition to the fact that she moved from Florida to North Carolina after marrying Walter Putnam in June 2012, she's also busy running her own business. According to her LinkedIn, she's a Licensed Talent Agent through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and she started her own company, Stellar Talent & Image, in 2010. Through it, she represents clients aged five and up who want to professionally pursue acting, singing, dancing, or modeling. According to Pam, her company is one of the best talent agencies based in Florida and everything she does is faith-based. Looking at her testimonials page, it seems she really is good at her job. "Pamela Putnam ... has incredible work ethic, and truly cares about her talent," goes one review. She even helped Elizabeth land a few small acting roles, including as an extra on "Homeland."

Since 2020, she has also been a Board Member for Movieguide, a company which "reviews movies from a Christian perspective for families and works in Hollywood to redeem the media." Last but not least, she also devotes a large portion of her time to being a doting mother to her seven kids from her first marriage with Chuck Potthast: David, Charlie, Dan, Mike, Jaylyn, Becky, and Elizabeth.

The few times that Pamela has appeared in the spotlight, she hasn't made many fans. In September 2022, folks tuning into "90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?" watched as she tried to convince Jenn, Becky, Elizabeth, and Andrei to attend her birthday party. All four initially refused, telling Pam they didn't want to be around Charlie until he addressed what they believed to be a drinking problem. Pam defended her son and even had a private meeting with Andrei to try to persuade her son-in-law to call a temporary truce. "You're taking the coward way out," she slammed. "If you have an issue with somebody, you go directly to them, just like I'm doing with you." It didn't work, but Jenn and Becky were eventually persuaded to attend their mom's bash, leading to a full-blown fight between the sisters.

However, Pam's most controversial moment came off-camera. In June 2021, a reddit user posted a screenshot of a homophobic post she made on Instagram which showed a photo of a rainbow and proclaimed, "True meaning of a rainbow is God's promise to us in Genesis 9:13-17, not about pride." Libby quickly denounced her mother, although she didn't actually call her out by name. "I do not agree with that whatsoever," she told fans in an Instagram video. "I feel it's very insensitive and to anyone that it may have offended or hurt, I hope that you guys are all okay."