The Untold Truth Of 90 Day Fiance's Paola Mayfield

"90 Day Fiancé" has become a cottage industry for TLC. The series, which is one part documentary about the U.S. immigration process and one part marriage-themed reality show, is no longer just a series. It's now the "90 Day Fiancé" extended universe — which also happens to be the same universe we're living in, and that universe has dramatically changed.

The world was a different place when the series first premiered in 2014. Donald Trump had yet to be elected into office and making the already difficult immigration process even tougher for those hoping to permanently settle in the United States. The coronavirus pandemic had yet to separate families as borders closed indefinitely. The Taliban hadn't taken back Afghanistan.

Like real life, each season of "90 Day Fiancé" has escalated from unbelievable to straight-up insane (though there's some speculation that parts of it are fake). Remember the star-crossed teenager hoping to move to war-torn Syria to be with a man she previously met on a dating app? At this point, the show's first season feels like a fever dream of couples whose faces (and drama) we barely remember.

Among those couples were Russ and Paola Mayfield, who quickly became breakout stars. Since then, Paola has appeared on six different spin-offs, including "90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?" Her story may not be the most sensational, but behind the scenes, she's navigated tragedy and near-catastrophic marriage issues, all while building a career. Not everything is what it seems on TV.

Paola Mayfield is highly educated — and that's actually what brought her to Bogota where she met her husband and subsequently launched her reality TV career. The star, who was raised in Bucaramanga, moved to Colombia's capital to pursue a degree at Colegio Sabio Caldas. It's not clear what type of degree she earned, but her studies didn't end there.

Not long after college, Paola met Russ, moved to the United States, and started exploring career options outside of reality TV. She used education as a foundation where she honed her skills. According to the YouTube channel BeforeTheyWereFamous, she studied modeling in Michigan at the John Casablancas Modeling and Career Center. She also studied personal training in Georgia at the Body Design University and even received her professional certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Most recently, Paola attended professional wrestling classes in Florida — but we'll get into that one later.

The start of Paola Mayfield's "90 Day" journey was on the lighter side. Sure, she missed home. Yes, she had disagreements with Russ and her best friend Juan, but it's not like her husband tried to fist fight her brother like Andrei Castravet. Nor did police have to intervene after a domestic dispute like with Larissa Dos Santos Lima and Colt Johnson. Things didn't get really serious until "90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?"

During Season 3 of the spin-off, Mayfield revealed that she had a miscarriage off-screen. She soon discovered that it was caused by a rare blood mismatch. Paola has Rh-negative blood, and her fetus presumably had Rh-positive blood. In this situation, the mother's immune system can start attacking her fetus' blood cells. The solution is a RhoGAM shot, which helps prevent Rh-negative mothers from producing anti-Rh antibodies.

In the episode, Paola heartbreakingly revealed, "The happiness I felt when I found out I was pregnant was happiness I've been looking for my whole life." Luckily, she found it again later that year when she discovered she was pregnant — but this time there was the added fear. "I don't think a woman can ever recover from a miscarriage," she said (via People). "You don't want to think about it, but it's always there and now that."

Paola got the RhoGam shot, and the couple welcomed their first son, Axel, on New Year's Day.

Fans haven't always supported Paola Mayfield's marriage — especially after she had the blow-out with Russ over modeling lingerie. Fans believed her husband was hindering her modeling career, and she was stuck in Oklahoma with few opportunities. There was such a public outcry that he was forced to defend their marriage on Instagram.

Time ended up proving everyone wrong. Paola did get her Miami dream, which sparked the same kind of regurgitated backlash. This time, it was Paola who was the villain, as people thought she made Russ give up his career to move to Florida. Of course, that was far from the reality, and Paola laid it all out in a YouTube video.

"Russ never actually like abandon[ed] his career for me," she said. "Like, what you guys don't know, it's like my husband made decisions, but he's not a person who actually is trying to make it public for everybody to have an opinion about."

So what did happen? Russ lost his job in Oklahoma, and Paola made the executive decision to move to Miami to find "better opportunities." Those opportunities immediately showed themselves, and — through a fan who reached out to the pair — Russ found a new job in a new industry that wouldn't tie him to Oklahoma.

Fans watched Paola Mayfield struggle to find work in Oklahoma, but business has boomed in Florida. Over the course of the pandemic, Paola actually became her family's sole breadwinner — and she's thriving. According to various net worth reporting websites, the reality star is estimated to have a net worth between $450,000 to $700,000, which isn't as much as some "90 Day Fiancé" stars, but it's certainly not bad considering TLC supposedly pays "90 Day Fiancé" couples $500 to $1,500 per episode. She even basically employs her husband.

In a YouTube video, the reality star explained that Russ lost his job again during the pandemic, and he's supported her career ever since. "While I work, my husband actually stayed with Axel. He helped me with Axel and with things in the house, and not just with that — just to run the business, to be sure that we are answering all of our clients," she said. "... We're working together right now, but like, we're doing better guys."

A LinkedIn page that appears to belong to Russ shows he left his job as a technical product lead in June 2020. Paola, on the other hand, brings in money from her work as a model, personal trainer, nutrition coach, Zumba instructor, actor, wrestler, and influencer.

Like many couples, Russ and Paola Mayfield have had ups and downs. In fact, there was a point where Paola was certain that she wanted out. In an interview with Us Weekly that was published months before news of the pair's marriage problems surfaced in the tabloids, Paola revealed that she'd had a couple major blowouts with Russ that led her to believe "it was the end." 

"I looked for an attorney," she said. "It was very, very hard, and it was very strong fight ... There was a moment that I actually said 'no more.' I said, 'Okay, I cannot do this anymore.' I was very stressed."

So what kept them together? In Paola's words, Russ helps keep her grounded, and they don't want to co-parent. They'd rather raise their son together. "He's an amazing guy, you know?" she said. "Like, I know what I have."

If you haven't seen Paola Mayfield on the new spin-off "90 Day Fiancé: Foody Call," you might not realize she's actually a vegan. In other words, she doesn't eat any foods that come from an animal. The process was a slow transition, but in a YouTube video, the star revealed why she finally took the plunge.

Not long after moving to the United States, Paola developed stomach pain and bloating. Doctors couldn't exactly pinpoint the problem, so she decided to adopt a healthier lifestyle. It helped, but she didn't actually give up meat until she unknowingly ate something that disgusted her on Thanksgiving.

"They had these beans with meat, and I thought that that was beef ... and so I ate it," she said. "Then later I asked Russ, 'What was that?' And he told me, 'Oh, that was deer.' And I'm like, 'What?' Like I felt so bad because I have never tried deer before, and I would never do it.'"

From there, she flip-flopped between a vegetarian and pescatarian diet. She even picked up eating meat again during her pregnancy but landed fully on veganism when she learned more about the farming industry and animal cruelty. "One of my biggest, biggest thing is just about cruelty," she said. Now, her family eats mostly vegetarian, though Russ hasn't totally given up meat for good.

Paola Mayfield is hardly the most scandalous "90 Day Fiancé" cast member. Most of her career, she's managed to avoid controversy outside of divorce rumors — but that changed in 2019 when the internet labeled her an anti-vaxxer and COVID-19 conspiracy theorist.

According to InTouch, it all began when Paola announced she and Russ were hand-selecting her son's vaccinations to "avoid potential risks and side effects," despite the clear lack of professional medical knowledge. Fans later discovered that the star was reading a number of books promoting vaccine opposition. Still, Paola claimed she wasn't an anti-vaxxer, replying to a fan on Instagram, "Stop with stupid anti-vax comments jus bc a parent want to know more."

Things only got worse in 2020 amidst the coronavirus pandemic. According to The Hollywood Gossip, as Bill Gates fervently funded vaccine research, Paola posted one of his quotes about the importance of mass vaccination on Instagram Stories. It could've been a nice moment looking toward a rosier future, but instead, she overlaid the text "Not today, Satan." THG also reports that Paola seemingly ridiculed healthcare workers and shared debunked conspiracy theories claiming masks were dangerous. As a result, fans have tried to get brands to drop their sponsorships with the influencer, and she's poked fun at the outrage on TikTok. 

If anything, Paola is crafting an excellent narrative as a heel, an essential role in pro wrestling. One could only hope it's all for show.