’90 Day Fiance’ Star Deavan Clegg’s Mom Believes ‘Cultural Differences’ Played a Role in Split From Jihoon

90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way star Deavan Clegg’s mom, Elicia Clegg, spoke out about her daughter’s split from estranged husband Jihoon Lee and revealed she thinks “cultural differences” played a role in the demise of their relationship.

“It’s way different than just American culture and Korean culture. You also have Utah culture,” Elicia explained while catching up with 90 Day Fiancé blogger John Yates and Monica from All About The Tea via video chat on October 7. 

The TV personality’s mom said Utah is “centered around children,” which was the opposite of their experience in South Korea, and that made it tough for Deavan to feel at home with her two kids. Deavan, 23, shares son Taeyang with Jihoon and she also has a daughter, Drascilla, from a past relationship. 

“It’s more expensive to raise children over there,” Elicia shared about the money issues that plagued the couple.

Elicia later revealed Deavan and Jihoon, 29, have been apart for longer than people may expect. “It’s been over since January,” Elicia said about the timeline. “I would actually even go further back … I saw them at the end of November [in 2019], and that’s when the relationship was over … It’s been that long.”

She noted that fans are getting to watch scenes on the show that were filmed over a year ago in August 2019. Deavan has since confirmed she filed for divorce from Jihoon and the reality star is now dating Christopher “Topher” Park. 

Fans were first introduced to the now-exes on season 1 of the TLC spinoff. Elicia pointed out that viewers have witnessed the duo’s highs and lows from the beginning, which gave some hope Deavan and Jihoon would always be together.

Elicia reflected on their “whirlwind” romance during the interview and said seeing it “crumble” has been far from easy, especially in the wake of abuse allegations against Jihoon and his parents.

Deavan previously alluded to the alleged abuse in an Instagram comment on September 3. “You don’t know what happened behind closed doors,” the season 2 star wrote. “I’m sick of being attacked and blamed and being told I’m [a] horrible person and I took my son away. You guys don’t know the half of it.”

Afterward, Jihoon fired back at the claims Drascilla was abused and said there was no truth to the allegations, adding, “There are no circumstances, evidence or reasons for that. It’s social media and the world making up falsehoods.”