Kimberly Rochelle has managed to stand out among the 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way Season 5 cast, and not for the best reasons. She notably moved to India and immediately struggled, with the latter not being too surprising, considering how little she knew of the culture. Now that she's had some time, the cast member feels comfortable enough to share details about her stay in the country. On that note though, Kimberly is currently taking heat from fans after making a comment about the body odor of people in India, which some feel had offensive undertones.
A video from 90SipsOfRealitea2 is making the rounds on social media, and it features a segment from a since-expired Instagram Live that Kimberly did while 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way was showing her time in India. One of the viewers asked her about the body odor of the country's inhabitants, and she replied with the following:
Is it true that people smell bad in India? Y'all, India doesn't have deodorant the way the U.S. has deodorant from what I understand. It's just something like Deo, which reminds me of like an Axe body spray kind of thing. And it's just like a body spray, and it goes away very fast, from what I understand.
The statement, on the surface, comes off as a sentiment from someone merely stating what they know about the situation and giving an honest answer. Many have pointed out, however, that there's a tone in the delivery and some body language that make the comments come off as disrespectful. Redditor u/tmcttf pointed out how Kimberly stopped putting on her makeup and looked directly into the camera before resuming her routine:
It’s the pause that says the most at the beginning.
Others agreed that the pause was a way of confirming a harmful stereotype that's been perpetuated when it comes to Indian people. While there were many on TikTok who found humor in the moment and/or made jokes, others were less than impressed. User S expressed frustration over what was said, perhaps both by Kimberly and other commentators:
The way racism against Indians is so casual and accepted is ridiculous. You would get canceled so fast for saying anything about any other race.
It's possible that some 90 Day Fiancé fans also believe Kimberly's video is tinged with malice due to how little she's enjoyed her time in India thus far. Her fight with husband Tejaswi "TJ" Goswami's brother Yash was wild, and her relationship with his parents became so bad the 90 Day couple nearly split ahead of the wedding.
And while Kimberly didn't necessarily do anything wrong in responding with her perspective to the question, some have questioned why she'd choose to answer the query at all. U/CommunistShawty noted that she could've skipped over it entirely or taken a different path to answering:
Anyone with a brain wouldn’t answer this question, whether they think it’s true or not. A simple 'I don’t feel comfortable answering that,' would have sufficed. She’s honestly an idiot and an asshole.
It all seems to be a matter of opinion regarding whether or not Kimberly Rochelle did anything wrong, and it's admittedly hard to make a firm judgment without the full context. As such, readers can take a look at the clip from the Instagram Live below and decide for themselves:
@90sipsofrealitea2 ♬ original sound - 90 sips of RealiTea
Kimberly generated a lot of drama during the tell-all when 90 Day Fiancé brought in past cast members to weigh in on storylines. Jenny Slatten and Sumit Singh, whose journey shared similarities with Kimberly and TJ's story, tried to offer their insight. However, they were quickly shot down by Kimberly, who called Jenny a slur. The whole segment ended with Jenny telling Kimberly to come to Jaipur, India, so they could continue the argument face-to-face.
It remains to be seen whether Kimberly and TJ will continue to be a part of the 90 Day franchise as they may not be invited back or be one of those wed couples that split after marriage. In the past, former cast members like Deavan Clegg have blasted the show for protecting controversial figures, and Kimberly could be one we'll see a lot more in the future. On the other hand, she could also be a one-and-done cast mate we'll only be able to rewatch using a Max subscription. There's really no way of telling until something happens one way or the other.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs on TLC on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET as part of the 2023 TV schedule. The tell-all is rolling right along, and I'm sure there will be many more big reveals by the time it's all over. Here's hoping for more confirmation on the status of couples and maybe a look ahead at what's next for them.
