Standing by her partner, Shekinah Garner of 90 Day Fiancé spoke out on social media to defend her boyfriend Sarper Güven amid tensions with her family, a day after her sister highlighted red flags about Sarper on The Other Way Season 5.

Shekinah, 41, conducted a Q&A on Instagram Stories following part 1 of the show’s reveal, which aired Monday, December 4. In the special episode, the reality star disclosed that she had lost contact with her mother and sisters because they disapproved of 43-year-old Sarper. A fan asked whether Shekinah would consider attending “family therapy” to resolve the issue.

“Yes. But toxic is still toxic,” Shekinah wrote. “Talking to my mom negatively affects my mental health, and half of my sisters don’t even give Sarper a chance (while I’ve always been kind to all their toxic exes).”

The licensed aesthetician went on to clarify that Sarper does not “isolate” her from her family but instead “strongly encourages” her to “try to connect with them.”

“But I can’t force them to support or care about my life,” Shekinah added.

Another fan asked if she felt sad about losing contact with her family. She replied, “Of course,” but explained that it wasn’t simply “cutting off contact with them.”

“My mom is very negative and toxic, and you also saw how negative my sister was when she visited Turkey,” she said, referring to her sister Shariyah’s trip, during which she clearly disapproved of Shekinah’s boyfriend. “You can disagree with someone’s decisions but still choose to love and support them. I feel most of my family members cannot love and support unless they agree with my choices.”

Shariyah’s visit to Turkey aired in the October 16 episode of Season 5 of The Other Way. She met Sarper for the first time and immediately felt uncomfortable with the way he insulted Shekinah, calling her a “bitch” and a “whore.” She also admitted that Sarper seemed “controlling” toward Shekinah.

During the interview, host Shaun Robinson showed a video message from Shariyah. In the clip, she said:

“I don’t think Sarper is a good partner for him because I haven’t seen anything in him that makes me believe he’s trustworthy. He doesn’t respect women. He’s not the kind of person you want in your life.”

Shekinah met Sarper on a dating app while traveling in Turkey with a friend. They instantly hit it off, leading Shekinah to visit the country multiple times. After a year of dating, she arranged her life in Los Angeles and moved to Turkey to live with Sarper full-time. However, they clashed because he didn’t post about their relationship online and didn’t treat her with the respect she expected. They also disagreed about having more children, as Sarper wanted children of his own, while Shekinah already has a daughter and didn’t want more children.

In another moment during the Q&A, Shekinah played a recording that Sarper sent her that morning, instructing her on what to wear, how to behave, and what to eat. Although co-stars expressed concern that this seemed controlling, Shekinah described it as a sweet message and said she didn’t feel “controlled by him” at all.