Ben, 52, has planned a dinner in Mahogany’s hometown in Peru so they’ll finally be able to meet in this EXCLUSIVE preview of the February 6 episode of Before the 90 Days. Thirty minutes go by at the restaurant. Mahogany, 24, has yet to show up.
Ben is understandably frustrated about Mahogany’s tardiness. There’s no one else in the restaurant. At one point, the waitress asks if he needs anything else. Ben hasn’t gotten any texts from Mahogany. He wishes she would let him know what’s up.
Almost an hour goes by, and Mahogany still hasn’t shown up. Ben is starting to give up on this relationship. “I put so much of my heart into this,” Ben says. “We have three and a half months of texting and love and amazing conversations and a spiritual connection that I just cannot deny. But at this point, I’m starting to lose some hope here.”
Ben even starts to doubt that Mahogany is being honest with him. “I’m just thinking there’s a possibility that my friends are right, and she is not who she says she is,” Ben admits. “There’s a possibility she’s not even in this country. And am I just being set up? And am I’m going to look like a fool?”
Ben is a former pastor in a strict, conservative religious sect who broke free from confinement and marriage. After being homeless for a while, Ben found work as a model caught Mahogany’s eye after being featured in a fitness magazine. After Mahogany DMed Ben, that’s when their love story began.
They started to make plans to meet in person despite their 28-year age difference. Ben’s family and friends have worried about red flags. Ben and Mahogany have yet to video chat. However, Ben believes that God has brought them together and this is the path he is meant to follow. Before the 90 Days airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on TLC.