Why did Andrew Kenton and Amira Lollysa split? What are they doing now?

Season 8 of “90-Day Fiancé” promised to treat American and international viewers to a re-enactment of the historic friendship between France and the United States through the relationship between Andrew Kenton and Amira Lollysa. At first glance, the couple had all the qualities of all great couples in the show; they met on a dating app, one of them fell in love at first sight, and one of the partners gave themselves unreservedly to the relationship to the extent of moving across the world to give love a chance. Unfortunately, the image of the perfect couple was shattered even before it formed completely in the minds of the show’s fans and viewers, leaving them wondering when the curtain would fall on the tumultuous relationship between the mismatched couple. While the couple’s break-up wasn’t a surprise to any person who watched them interact for more than an episode, the long journey to the end of their short-lived relationship had some interesting twists and turns. Here’s why the couple split, and how Andrew and Amira are doing post-break-up.

Love at First Swipe

The story of how Andrew and Amira met is similar to so many stories on “90-Day Fiancé. Andrew, an American from Roseville, California, was on a dating site hoping to find love – love found him in the form of Amira, a French-Egyptian woman from Saumur. At the time, Amira, a passionate hairstylist and beauty enthusiast, was tired of her boring small-town life, and seeking to spread her wings beyond Europe. She hoped to find a metropolitan place where she could feel like she belonged after being made to feel like she didn’t belong to her town for years, due to her mixed heritage. Her quest to escape the picturesque town with century-old castles and winding vineyards led her to the same dating app that Andrew would join; as fate would have it, Andrew joined the site two days later. Always the go-getter, Amira made the first move, but her message was drowned in a pool of several messages from other women, hoping to get to know the early childhood expert better. Fortunately, Andrew saw Amira’s message.

Amira may not have known it at the time but her dream of meeting an international lover became a reality as soon as Andrew saw her pictures – the two had an instant connection. Before long, the two were getting to know each other and planning their first date. The couple had their first physical meeting in Las Vegas,  initially getting together for a romantic getaway, but Andrew, turned it into the promise of a life-long commitment when he went down on one knee and asked Amira to marry him, just three days after meeting her in person. She said yes, and, given her desire to move to a fast-paced region, readily agreed to move to the US, starting a rocky journey that had fans decide that the two were incompatible as soon as they started to tell their story.

A Sign or an Obstacle?

Andrew and Amira applied for a K-1 visa as soon as they became engaged. The process was seamless and the visa was approved, but the couple faced its first major obstacle just when Amira was about to travel to the US; the president restricted entry into the country. The move came as part of President Trump’s attempt to prevent the further spread of Covid-19, which was ravaging the entire world at the time. Remember, the couple had 90 days since the issuance of the K-1 visa to marry, otherwise Amira would lose her opportunity to move to the country to be with Andrew. While exploring different options to get Amira to America, a bizarre solution came up and she jumped at the opportunity to take a different route into the country by going to Mexico, and staying in quarantine for the required 14 days before meeting up with Andrew and going to California together.

What Happens in Mexico…

The detour to Mexico seemed like a good idea but, as viewers would learn, Amira’s experiences in the country put the first nail in the couple’s relationship. Andrew and Amira are not big believers in the popular lyrics, “What happens in Mexico Stays in Mexico,” which is fortunate for fans who were curious to learn the origin of Amira’s second thoughts about her engagement. The couple’s plan was simple. Amira would fly to Mexico, which allowed people from Europe into the country, unlike the US. From there, she and Andrew would travel North and marry within three months. However, the plan went awry when Amira was detained in Mexico City and later deported. While his fiancé was being held in detention, and later driven out of the country, Andrew was enjoying massages at a resort in Puerto Vallarta, before returning to California.

According to fans, Andrew did not demonstrate the level of distress or worry that one would expect from a person whose fiancé was in trouble with the authorities in the middle of a pandemic. He made his situation worse by going on a defensive rant on social media; in his tirade, he posted some messages he exchanged with Amira before the whole Mexico debacle, in which Amira asks Andrew whether he supports her decision to travel to Mexico and later shares her flight details with him. In the same breath, Andrew accused Amira of hungering for fame unlike him, who did not need a “silly television show” or fame. By disparaging the show, Andrew further alienated the fans, who were already fuming after watching his disregard for Amira and her safety, and had them taking Amira’s side in the couple’s battle to be perceived as the wounded party in the incident.

The Big Split

Amira did not learn her lesson after Mexico, or perhaps her determination to escape her hometown drove her to another attempt to get into the US through another country. For the second time, she chose to use the Serbian route. She flew to Serbia, hoping to stay in quarantine for 14 days before flying to the US. Unlike in Mexico, Amira received a warm welcome and met some nice people who made her stay in Serbia tolerable. However, eagle-eyed fans noted her lack of excitement. Some speculated that her dull mood was the result of a candid conversation she had with her father before leaving France, during which he expressed reservations over her decision, and termed her impending move a bad idea.

The staff at Amira’s hotel in Serbia were nice to her, but her fiancé wasn’t. The two argued incessantly the whole time, with Andrew angering viewers further by piling more stress on her while she was in a foreign country, away from her family, and on bad terms with her father. By the end of her stay in Serbia, Amira had to make a choice. She could fly to California and work on her relationship with Andrew or she could return home. Anxious viewers learned of her decision when a shocked Andrew called his mother to let her know that Amira had taken a flight to France to make peace with her father. At the crossroads, faced with the life she wanted and the life she had hoped to escape, she chose the latter, but their story didn’t end when she failed to choose him, in effect breaking their engagement.

When Amira went back to France, Andrew asked for his ring back, intending to sell it and recover some of the expenses he had incurred to push their relationship forward. In one of his classic tell-alls, he claims that Amira asked him to send over some make-up to France before she could dispatch the ring to him. He auctioned the ring off last year, driving the final nail into their relationship. Andrew and Amira last spoke in 2020, when she returned his ring.

“I was so proud to call Andrew my future husband and now, it’s over,” #90DayFiance star Amira said.https://t.co/dZuaf9jIZY

— In Touch Weekly (@intouchweekly) March 31, 2021

Beyond “90-Day Fiancé”

Andrew and Amira have moved on with their lives, and are both continuing with their search for their respective significant others. In January 2023, a Reddit user excited the internet with screenshots of Andrew’s profile on a dating app. From the pictures he posted on the site, Andrew has lost over 200 pounds, and is almost unrecognizable. While he’s moved on from the show, he uses every chance he gets to talk about his time on television, to insist that all the incidents that painted him in a bad light, such as the Mexico and Serbia incidents, were bad edits to raise controversy and increase viewership.

Amira, on the other hand, bounced back from her failed romance and made it out of Saumur to North America, even after her K-1 visa fell through. In November 2021, she was dating a mystery Canadian man, but the two broke up soon afterwards, and Amira moved to the US. Last year, she stirred the rumor mills after posting a suggestive picture with fellow “90-Day Fiancé” alumni David Murphey. The rumors died down when a fan found and shared screenshots of David’s Tinder profile. Since then, Amira has kept fans curious by posting small clues about who she’s dating without revealing his identity or pictures. Who is Amira’s mystery man? Stay tuned to the series to find out.