Kenneth Niedermeier and Armando Rubio: Will the First Gay 90 Day Fiance Couple Make It? TLC
Channel: The Famous Room
Date: 2020-06-12

Fans are already choosing their favorite couples after 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way's Season 2 premiere introduced us to four of them.

Everyone loves Kenneth and Armando, the series' first gay couple. But can they stay together long enough to remind us that love is real?

Kenneth Niedermeier and Armando Rubio on Instagram
Kenneth Niedermeier is a 57-year-old grandfather (though he does not look it) from St. Petersburg, Florida.

90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 2 is following his story as he moves to Mexico to be with the man he loves.

Armando Rubio is 31 and from San Felipe, Mexico.

Both men are dads. In fact, that is how they met.

Kenneth Speaks to the Camera
Kenneth and Armando first met on a forum for gay dads.

Despite their 26-year age difference, they really hit it off.

Kenneth is a father of four adult children, including triplet daughters, via in vitro fertilization.

Armando has a young daughter named Hannah, who is just as cute as a button.

Armando Has Concerns
Kenneth was in two long-term relationships over the course of raising his children.

Neither of them ultimately panned out. That's how relationships go -- eventually, either they break up or someone dies.

Now, he's giving love another shot, even though his daughter Madison and grandson Cooper are currently living at home.

He loves his family, but he's willing to take the plunge in the name of love.

Kenneth is Excited
Armando's story is, frankly, heartbreaking. He was in the closet for most of his life.

His first relationship was with his friend, Hannah's mother.

He had grown up in an environment steeped in homophobia.

Because of this, Armando felt that marrying a woman and faking it was the only way to "be a man."

Armando Looks at Kenneth
When Armando came out to his then-wife, his family found out.

He was forced back into the closet.

For obvious reasons, he and his wife eventually separated.

It was not long after that separation that she was killed in a car accident, leving Armando as a single dad and, after a fashion, a widower.

Kenneth Niedermeier in the Sun
Kenneth and Armando, as we mentioned, found each other in a support group for gay dads.

Eventually, Kenneth was going to a wedding in California, so he found the time to spend a few days in Mexico with Armando.

These two are clearly head over heels for each other.

But Armando's business is on the same property where his family lives, and he warns that his community is homophobic.

Armando Rubio and Hannah Rubio
These two are going to have a lot of hurdles to jump, particularly when it comes to Armando's family.

But fans are hopeful that this potentially painful storyline will have a happy ending, unlike so many other couples.

(Real talk? There's a more than zero percent chance that I will cry during their story this season)

Will Kenneth and Armando make it on 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way?

Kenneth and Armando for 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way
There are a few clues, starting with Kenneth selling his house for $350,000 in July of 2019.

On November 30, he set off for Mexico, and even blogged about the trip.

As recently as April of this year, his daughter Madison made a social media post about how much she loves and misses her father.

These signs tend to point to a successful journey, don't you think?

Kenneth Niedermeier, Madison Niedermeier, Cooper
And there is more, because Kenneth and Armando have dropped one major hint that they're living happily ever after.

They have been doing interviews together -- multiple interviews -- while sitting side-by-side.

In light of the pandemic, interviews are all remote these days, but if they were really committed to hiding their endgame, they could have.

Armando could have done interviews in one room. Kenneth could have done them in another. None would have been the wiser, right?

Armando Rubio and Kenneth Niedermeier interviewed
Instead, we see them happily side-by-side. Honestly, this is a relief, because both men seem charming and unproblematic.

90 Day Fiance has enjoyed milkshake ducking its stars.

As Starcasm has noted, Big Ed Brown, Ricky Reyes, and Laura Jallali all came across as sympathetic and lovable when their seasons began.

But unlike those monsters, Kenneth and Armando don't seem to have any "other shoe" that's about to drop.

Armando Rubio and Kenneth Niedermeier, Couples Selfie
It's a shame, of course, that the franchise's first same-sex couple, Stephanie Matto and Erika Owens, got along so poorly.

The two are barely on speaking terms these days.

But now that the show has its first gay couple and first male same-sex couple, perhaps TLC is balancing out the drama.

No green card shenanigans, no gold digging, no creepers looking to exploit someone for sex. Just two gay dads in love.