90 Day Fiancé's Yara Zaya Breaks Down in Tears Over Her Body Insecurities

90 Day Fiancé's Yara Zaya shared the pressure she's faced from her family to look a certain way and how it's affected her self-esteem.

By Alyssa Morin Sep 15, 2023 10:17 PMTags
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For 90 Day Fiancé's Yara Zaya, beauty is more than skin deep.

The TLC star recently opened up about feeling pressured to look a certain way and how that mindset stems from her upbringing in Ukraine.

"For me, it's cultural," she said in a sneak peek clip posted by Entertainment Tonight from 90 Day: The Last Resort's upcoming Sept. 18 episode. "My parents, for example, always compared me to be somebody different. You need to be perfect."

The 28-year-old explained that she was criticized over her appearance at a young age.

"Growing up, my mom taught me that my nose wasn't so good or they'd tell me I'm chunky," she revealed, as tears streamed down her face. "It's just hard."

According to the reality TV star, something as harmless as gaining two extra pounds can often trigger her body insecurities. As she pointed out, "That's just something I cannot freaking cut off." 

Yara noted that her husband Jovi Dufren —with whome she shares 3-year-old daughter Mylah Angelina with—tries to be understanding of her struggles, but he doesn't fully get it because "he's really secure about himself."

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After Yara opened up about her appearance, castmate Molly Hopkins offered her words of encouragement.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Molly said. "And I know it's hard. I know how it feels after you've had a baby. But I need you to understand something. You are absolutely stunning. You look amazing. I think you're so beautiful."

Yara Zaya / Instagram

This isn't the first time Yara has detailed her body image struggles. Just a year after welcoming her baby girl, she candidly discussed wanting to get plastic surgery as a way to feel more comfortable in her skin.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Yara said during 90 Day Fiancé's season eight tell-all in 2021. "If somebody doesn't like something on themselves, change it. Yes, you need to love yourself the way you are but if you can't accept something, it's OK to change it."

Yara revealed she had dabbled with cosmetic injectables to feel better about herself. 

"I was not accepting myself when I looked in the mirror," she added, "and I had to fix the situation."