Brittany Banks will hardly be the first 90 Day Fiancé star to break the news to their partner that they’re technically already married to somebody else, but her situation comes with an extra complication. Her fiancé, Yazan abu Horira, is a devout Muslim — and that means he can’t live with someone he’s not married to.

When he first invited his future bride to move to Jordan, he figured they’d tie the knot right away, but she managed to stall the nuptials all while hiding the fact that she never actually got divorced from her first husband.

She figured she could finally tie up those loose ends during the Sunday, October 11, episode of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, but when she headed to the courthouse, she found out that a clerical error means she’ll still be married for a while longer. Fans will recall from the mid-season finale that this wasn’t the original divorce plan she talked about on the show, however.

So what exactly is going on here — and are all of her paperwork problems just another stalling tactic, even though they mean she’ll have to come clean to her man? I decided to take a look back at what we know so far.

In the Season 2 premiere of The Other Way, we met Yazan, a 24-year-old man living in Jordan, and Brittany, his 26-year-old American fiancée. They first met through FaceTime because their sisters were neighbors in the same Chicago apartment building — and when they finally met face to face after Yazan flew Brittany out to Jordan, he popped the question.

While both were smitten, they were also a pretty culturally mismatched couple. In the second episode, Brittany revealed that she’s pretty much dodged all conversations about potentially converting to Islam by complimenting her man’s grooming techniques.

She also avoided planning their wedding by telling her groom that she wanted her family to be involved and on board with their big day — but that wasn’t “exactly the truth,” as she later shared in a confessional. “I really want to get married to my fiancé, but I’m still married to my ex,” she admitted to an attorney.

In a confessional, she explained that she and her (still current) husband got married five years ago, but he was deported to Haiti, where he was born, just three months later. After they separated because of that, Brittany lived by an out of sight, out of mind policy.

“To be honest with you, I forgot I was married because literally right after we married he got deported, and it was… I counted it as a blessing and totally forgot about him,” she told the attorney. She claimed their relationship was not good, and she took his deportation as an opportunity to separate — but they never made their breakup official.

Now, she was looking to get her divorce done ASAP so she could move onto her next marriage. Unfortunately, if her ex isn’t game to play ball, the attorney informed her the process could take anywhere from half a year to nearly a full year if they have to get the Haitian government involved.

“Finding out that it could take 6 to 10 months for me to get a divorce is absolutely crazy,” Brittany said in a confessional. “Yazan’s family and Yazan actually know that I’ve been married before, but I made them think that the divorce was already final because I thought that it would be final by the time that Yazan and I decided to get married.”

From the second episode, Brittany realized she would have to come clean — after all, she might be sneaky, but it’s hard to be “6-10 months sneaky.” If she doesn’t ‘fess up and goes through with tying the knot with husband No. 2 without severing the knot with husband No. 1, she could be committing the crime of bigamy.

Her attorney advises her to have that tricky conversation before she touches down in Jordan, reminding her that she doesn’t want to end up stranded in a foreign country if things don’t work out, but Brittany doesn’t take that advice. By Episode 3, she’s flying out with everything still up in the air, except for the truth which is so far from being out in the open.

Commence shit hitting the fan nearly immediately in episode four. Not only does Yazan expect his bride to arrive with divorce papers in hand, so that they can walk down the aisle, he also gets quite the shock when she shows up with booze instead and hugs all the TLC production crew members.

They manage to put that drama aside only to be faced with more when confronted by Yazan’s parents. As the season progressed, Brittany continued to push back on the whole marriage-and-religious-conversion thing, but the issue remained. Ziad, Yazan’s father, didn’t understand why they hadn’t already tied the knot. Yazan, didn’t understand why Brittany refused to become Muslin. And Brittany steadfastly kept her legal relationship status to herself.

Ultimately, in Episode 12, Yazan seemed to make it clear to his family where they stood — or at least where he stood. They were waiting to wed so that Brittany would have time to learn more about Islam and about her future husband’s culture. Her dad was planning to come visit them in Jordan, and by the time they arrived, they would either have the wedding with Brittany’s family involved or she would make the decision that it wasn’t for her and go home.

Yazan figured that would happen by the end of the month, and his parents finally got on board.

But before that could happen, in Episode 14, Brittany got some unexpected news: She had a court hearing in Chicago for her divorce case in just three days. In a confessional, she explained that while she “forgot” she was married, she did remember to file for divorce during a period of time that she was living with her mom in Illinois. “I never heard anything back, so I just thought nothing came of it,” she said.

But when she got an email about her court date, she immediately booked a flight and apparently realized she was so sneaky she tricked even herself when it came to her separation.

Hoping that she could keep the ruse going for just a little bit longer and prevent her fiancé from ever finding out the truth (until he saw it on TV along with the rest of the world, apparently), she told Yazan she was heading home to the States so she could visit her pregnant sister.

He could tell something was up, but wasn’t sure what. His best guess was that she had decided their relationship and possible future together wasn’t a fit for her (wrong) and that she didn’t know how to be honest about what the problem was (right). She assured him that “of course” she would come back, but when the first half of the season ended, it left the couple hanging.

Now, in the second half, Brittany discovered that her Chicago divorce filing wasn’t exactly handled right, meaning she was in that same “6-10 month sneaky” spot she started in. So here are the facts:

• When Brittany was 21 or so, she got married to a high school sweetheart who moved to the United States from Haiti when he was three years old.
• After their relationship went south, she took her husband’s deportation as an excuse to cut and run, but actually getting divorced was too much of a hassle.
• Though she made at least one (half-hearted?) attempt while living in Chicago, she put off dealing with it until the very last minute.

It seems like Brittany really does love Yazan — and the feeling is clearly mutual — but they’re also on completely different pages when it comes to their relationship. Brittany has maintained that she won’t convert and doesn’t want to have to change anything about herself.

Yazan has told her several times that she “must” change for them to be together. While the American woman assured her fiancé’s parents that she does respect their culture and way of life, it seems more than a little like she’s trying to have her cake and eat it, too, by any means necessary.

By not being able to say “I do,” she is buying herself time to enjoy the dating aspect of her relationship, something she wouldn’t otherwise get (and something Yazan wouldn’t otherwise offer). Soon enough, though, there won’t be any time left to waste.

When Brittany heads back to Jordan, I suspect she will be faced with a seriously tough decision: Tell her boyfriend and his family she’s been lying to them this whole time or see just how far she can continue to stretch their patience. Based on the previews, however, it doesn’t seem like either option will go over well.

Images: TLC Screenshots