90 Day Fiancé: Love In Paradise star Alliya’s before and after photos reveal her transformation journey. Alliya from Rio de Janeiro has been in a relationship with Shawn Finch from New York for over three years. Alliya met the celebrity hairstylist on a dating app when she was still a man. Alliya used to be called Douglas at the start of her relationship and her transition led her to embrace her feminine side, creating obstacles in their long-distance romance. The Brazilian beachwear designer used to wear makeupbut still had “boy muscularity” and wore “boy clothes” as she was assigned male at birth.
90 Day Fiancé star Alliya was born male, but that didn’t fit with the way she felt inside. She started to identify herself with the feminine side of society and wanted to be free and open about her sexuality, to be able to express herself the way she wanted. Alliya’s birthname was Douglas, and she’s recently renamed herself as Alliya. She chose the name Alliya because it describes her sublime personality. Alliya is proud and grateful for the person she is today, but for a long time, in her life, Alliya had to hide who she was.
Alliya’s parents divorced when she was five years old, and she’d gone to live with her grandparents. Alliya’s grandparents were very conservative and religious. They had very traditional views of gender and sexuality. Alliya started to discover her sexuality and gender when she became a teenager. She felt very afraid of her family whenever she tried to express herself. They made her think she was committing a sin. Alliya couldn’t be herself because she felt that she was doing something wrong.
Alliya felt like she’d met the love of her life when she saw Shawn on the dating app.
Everything started to change a year and a half into Alliya and Shawn’s relationship. They were in Spain to participate in a gay pride event where Douglas was asked to be on a float. Upon discovering that Douglas had never been in drag or even put on a wig, hairstylist Shawn went wig shopping with her.
Douglas beamed and no longer was the shy and introverted person that Shawn had known her as. Shawn believes that was when Alliya was born. Alliya progressed in her journey and Shawn started feeling like was left behind.
Shawn had seen Douglas “as Douglas” and thought that Alliya was a persona that Douglas adopted on special occasions. However, things started to shift rapidly. Shawn didn’t understand what Alliya meant when she said there was no more Douglas. Shawn admitted he was in some sort of denial since he was the one who “opened the Pandora’s box.” Shawn was trying to understand where their future would go from there. Shawn had met her as Douglas, and now she was Alliya.
Alliya saw Shawn’s expressive face and thought to herself that she’d found the love of her life. They talked for a few months and started to take trips around the world. Shawn made her feel very happy in the three years that Aliiya was with him. Shawn made Alliya feel complete and loved. Alliya was excited to see Shawn as it had been eight months since they’d last met. Alliya was still Douglas the last time she’d seen Shawn. However, since then, Alliya had found the courage to live her life outside the same way that she felt inside.
Alliya didn’t know how Shawn would react to her looking “girly all the time” and wearing dresses with high heels. She called her transformation a “big change.” According to Alliya, Shawn liked to think that she was still Douglas and Alliya was a persona that came out during parties or in the “good moments.” She wanted him to understand that Alliya was not a character she was playing.
Alliya recalled how Shawn had always accepted her for the way she was since the beginning. She was scared about how she would react if Shawn told her not to be Alliya anymore. She wanted to be free and be whoever she wanted and trusted Shawn to understand that. Shawn had been the only person in Alliya’s life who had truly loved her. However, if he couldn’t help her be the way she wanted to be, Alliya decided that she wouldn’t continue the relationship.
A preview for 90 Day Fiancé: Love In Paradise season 4 showed Alliya and Shawn’s interactions in Rio de Janeiro. Shawn sees Alliya twerking while trying out outfits at a boutique and says that she is “way different” than what Douglas was. Alliya is seen crying and telling the cameras that she’s always been Alliya and that their relationship wouldn’t work out if Shawn didn’t leave Douglas in the past. Shawn loving her would mean him accepting her and Alliya and letting Douglas go. Alliya doesn’t see that happening.
Shawn never liked labels when describing his sexuality. He’s always liked girls and boys. He was married to a woman for 14 years and has been in relationships with men ever since. One of the first things that attracted Shawn to Douglas was his physique and his look so he was worried about whether his sex life would be affected by Douglas transitioning to Alliya. Shawn wondered if there would be some “weird mourning” once Douglas fully transitioned into Alliya and was “100% female.” However, Shawn wasn’t ready to give up on “Douglas.”
Shawn needed to know if Alliya was just dressing up in pretty clothes and wearing wigs or whether she had plans to fully transition into Alliya using hormones and surgery. Shawn worried that his feelings would change. It remains to be seen if Shawn accepts Alliya for what she has become and ends up giving her the support and confidence boost she needs. If not, Alliya knows that a breakup is imminent for their 90 Day Fiancé: Love In Paradise relationship.
Source: Alliya/Instagram