90 Day Fiance: The Other Way alum Deavan Clegg has announced her divorce from estranged husband Jihoon Lee has finally been finalized after a near "two-year battle."
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"This journey was very difficult and draining. After my ex had fired his lawyer, he never showed up to court nor took up visits. After almost a year of the judge postponing and extending dates for my ex to respond, we finally made it to court."
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Deavan expressed relief in finally being able to move on with her life from Jihoon.
"After a year of frustration, I can finally close this chapter. For people asking, I was awarded full sole and physical custody [of our son Taeyang]," Deavan revealed.
"I can finally speak out about my experience and the hell we went through as a family. I plan on releasing a video soon."
Hours later, Deavan conducted a Q&A with her Instagram followers, and one fan asked if Jihoon is currently in contact with his son.
"In October, it will be officially 2 years since he has tried to call or reach out to Taeyang. During the GoFundMe and divorce, he never reached out," Deavan claimed.
"His team tried to claim we were preventing him from reaching out, which was [proven] false. It was the other way around. We tried to reach out and even had to schedule Webcam visits, which we never got a response for."
Deavan clarified how Jihoon "hasn't spoken to [Taeyang] since he was 13 months old" and Taeyang is now three years old.
Deavan insisted Jihoon's alleged lack of responsiveness and care for Taeyang is why a judge awarded her full custody of Taeyang during the divorce, and she added, "Now it is permanent."
Deavan also claimed Taeyang's grandparents, Jihoon's mother and father, have also not attempted to talk to Taeyang or herself since the day she left Korea.
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Deavan, however, said it's typical for one parent to disappear after a divorce in Korea.
"Some people will pretend it never happened and move on with their lives. That's how it is over there. People don't want others to know of their mistakes over there so they pretend it didn't happen," Deavan claimed. "This is based on my knowledge, doesn't mean every case."
When asked why Jihoon -- who allegedly never paid child support, according to Deavan -- suddenly seemed to stop caring, Deavan replied, "I don't know. In my personal opinion, it was all for the show."
Deavan is currently pregnant with her third child. The former reality TV star revealed earlier this month she is expecting a baby with boyfriend Christopher "Topher" Park who is due in Fall 2022.
Deavan suggested in her Q&A that she's thinking about having Topher adopt both Taeyang and her five-year-old daughter Drascilla, whom she welcomed with a boyfriend prior to meeting Jihoon.
"He would very much love that... Blood doesn't make a father a father," Deavan shared on Instagram Stories.
She elaborated, "Topher has been in Taeyang's life for two years. Taeyang calls Topher dad and cries for him more than me. I think Taeyang only knows him. Unfortunately, that is what my ex decided. He had his rights and didn't take them."
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Deavan, who gave birth to Taeyang in April 2019, starred on Season 1 and Season 2 of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way in 2019-2020.
Deavan is pregnant with a rainbow baby one year after she had a miscarriage in April 2021.
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"I can confirm Deavan was pregnant and suffered a miscarriage at nine weeks [along]," Deavan's publicist Lindsay Feldman revealed to In Touch Weekly in June 2021. "This is a private matter that she is grieving over with the support of [Topher] and her family by her side."
Jihoon confirmed he and Deavan split in August 2020 after one year of marriage, which was around the same time Deavan started hinting she was in a new relationship by posting photos of an unidentified man on Instagram with his face cropped out.
Deavan officially filed for divorce from Jihoon in September 2020. She said since Taeyang lived in the United States longer than Korea, the divorce had to be filed in America because she had jurisdiction.
Deavan accused Jihoon at the time of dragging out the process by not signing the papers and cooperating.
In that same month, Deavan and the mystery man -- who turned out to be Topher, a Korean-American actor -- went Instagram official when Topher posted sexy photos with Deavan on social media.
Deavan revealed she actually met Topher in the Los Angeles airport while she was still in a relationship with Jihoon but the pair's first interaction was casual and they didn't follow up on anything until Deavan became single again.
After dating for a brief amount of time, Deavan and Topher moved in together.
A source told Us Weekly in November 2020 that Topher had "fully stepped [into] the father role," but Deavan told 90 Day Fiance Instagrammer John Yates one month later that she didn't want to rush into another engagement and was "just trying to get divorced" from Jihoon first.
"Deavan and Topher's relationship is absolutely amazing. Her children have really taken a huge liking to Topher," the source told the magazine at the time.
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Deavan gushed of Topher in May 2021 on Instagram, "I'm so thankful to have you in my life. I love you so much. You make this little family feel complete."
Deavan proceeded to write on Instagram that "love is wonderful" in reference to Topher in November 2021, and the following month, the couple spent Christmas together.
Deavan and Jihoon were shown working on their marriage on the first two seasons of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, and the Season 2 finale that aired in 2020 featured the pair enjoying a traditional wedding in South Korea.
"I feel like I'm making the right decision right now, and that makes it all worth it," Deavan told the cameras. "Before Jihoon, I've never felt what it's like to be in love with someone, and I can truly say right now that I feel like I really love Jihoon."
But the couple's marriage apparently began to crumble when they were forced to quarantine together in their small apartment with Deavan's two kids amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Deavan claimed Jihoon just played video games in his room all day and wasn't helping out with the kids.
"So, a lot of stuff has been happening. My marriage is kind of on the line. We've been fighting so much and so [many] differences have popped up that I see in both of us. I feel the only way to fix my marriage is to go back to America for one month," Deavan explained to the cameras.
"Being stuck in the apartment together has just been really difficult. I feel like I need to figure out how I really feel about him. I need time to reflect and think about all the things that have happened."
Jihoon said he felt "empty and sad" after Deavan left, and he worried Deavan might never return to his home, which he said would be "worst case scenario."
Deavan revealed in August 2020 she had moved back to the United States after trying to move to South Korea for the second time.
Deavan claimed "disgusting things" happened off-camera between Jihoon, herself and her children and that her estranged husband had done "the most vile thing possible" to make her want to leave South Korea.
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Deavan insisted in 2020 she was completely done filming with the 90 Day Fiance franchise after multiple bad experiences. Deavan said she was asked to fake scenes with Jihoon, and she also accused the editing team of making Drascilla look out of control.
Deavan also made the bold claim that 90 Day Fiance's production company had driven cast members to consider suicide.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
