90 Day Fiance’s Shekinah Defends Sarper Amid Falling Out With Her Family: ‘He Doesn’t Isolate Me’

Standing by her man. 90 Day Fiancé’s Shekinah Garner defended boyfriend Sarper Güven online amid her falling out with her family one day after her sister called out Sarper’s red flags during The Other Way season 5 tell-all.

Shekinah, 41, did a Q&A on her Instagram Stories after part 1 of the tell-all, which aired on Monday, December 4. During the special, the reality star revealed that she had lost contact with her mother and sisters because they did not approve of Sarper, 43. A fan asked Shekinah if she would consider doing “group therapy” with her family to work things out.

“Sure. But toxic is toxic,” Shekinah wrote. “Speaking with my mom is bad for my mental health and half of my sisters don’t even give Sarper a chance (yet I’ve been kind to alllll their toxic exes).”

The licensed esthetician continued on to insist that Sarper doesn’t “isolate” her from her family, but instead “strongly encourages” her to “try to connect with them.”

“But I can’t force them to be supportive or interested in my life,” Shekinah added.

Another fan asked if Shekinah felt any grief over losing contact with her family. She responded, “Of course,” but explained that it was more than simply “cutting them off.”

“My mom is so negative and toxic and you saw how negative my sister was who came to Turkey,” she said, referencing a visit from sister Shariyah where it was made clear that she did not approve of Shekinah’s boyfriend. “There such a thing as not agreeing with someone’s decision yet choosing to love and support despite that. I feel like most of my family members can’t be loving and supportive unless they agree with my decisions.”

Shariyah’s visit to Turkey played out during the October 16 episode of The Other Way season 5. She met Sarper for the first time and was immediately put off by the way he insulted Shekinah by calling her a ‘bitch” and a “slut.” She also admitted that Sarper seemed “controlling” over Shekinah.

During the tell-all, host Shaun Robinson played a video message from Shariyah. She said in the clip, “I don’t think that Sarper is a good partner for you because I haven’t seen anything from him that makes me think he is an honest person. He has no respect for women. That’s not the kind of person you want to have in your life.”

Shekinah met Sarper on a dating app while visiting Turkey with a girlfriend. They went on a date and instantly hit it off, so Shekinah made more trips to the country to see him. After a year of dating, she picked up her life in Los Angeles and moved to Turkey to be with Sarper full time. However, they argued over him not posting about their relationship online and not taking her seriously. They also disagreed about expanding their family, as Sarper wanted a child of his own, but Shekinah had a daughter and didn’t want any more kids.

In another moment at the tell-all, Shekinah played a voice memo that Sarper sent her that morning, telling her how to dress, how to act and what to eat. Despite her costars expressing concern that it was controlling behavior, Shekinah said it was a sweet message and that she didn’t feel “controlled by him” at all.