In this televised mediation, host Karamo sits with Riana and her partner Everett to explore the collapse of their nine‑year marriage after the birth of their son. Riana describes emotional and occasional physical abuse, relentless accusations of cheating, and a history of substance‑use relapse for both partners. Everett alleges infidelity and drug involvement, while Riana denies cheating and admits a recent relapse. The couple has filed and later dropped police reports. Karamo unlocks Riana’s phone, revealing no evidence of infidelity. Throughout the session, Karamo probes the abuse dynamics, the impact of addiction, and the couple’s sobriety timelines, ultimately urging them to prioritize their child’s safety, consider co‑parenting without a romantic relationship, and break the cycle of abuse and relapse.
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Thank you for coming here today. So tell me a little bit about why did you come here? What help do you need from me?
Because I wanna save my marriage. We were best friends. We had a connection that I've never had with anybody in my life and we were inseparable. And then things just started to change after the birth of our son. And they started getting a lot of emotional abuse and it was physical at times, but mostly emotional. The accusations towards me are just too much and I wanna prove that I'm telling the truth to him.
In 2020, you two separated 'cause you've been together for 9 years.
Yes, that's correct.
And in 2020 you separated. Tell me what happened.
So before that, he, when things started to change, it was like I said, after the birth of our son and he started like getting more distant. He actually ditched me on Valentine's Day to go out drinking with the guys. So, you know, and it just started getting worse. And then he all of a sudden had to go work out of town. And during that time, that's when he started, like, he didn't want to video chat with me and our children. He was busy drinking with the guys. He—
But you were separated during this time, right?
No, not during this time. This is what led up to the separation.
Got it, okay.
So then he started accusing me of cheating on him all the time. And then it got so bad that finally Thanksgiving weekend of 2020, I asked him to move out.
What do you think changed?
I think he was seeing somebody the whole time that we were actually together and he turned it around on me. So I mean, 'cause I found proof in the past and I know he was talking to women online.
You lost your best friend, so this is killing you right now.
It is. And I'm tired of the accusations when I feel like, you know, he called me one night and asked me when we were separated if I had been seeing somebody else and 100% honest, I said, "Yes, I am." And you know, I had already filed for divorce, so we were legally separated, and it wasn't the same. I even told him, I'd like to work things out with you, you know? And he didn't want to. He's called me awful names, and now I am just a, pardon my language, but I'm a whore. He tells me I'm a fat, ugly bitch, and if I gain any more weight, no man's ever gonna want me. I'm a liar, I'm a cheater. On a regular basis.
Does he say these things to you in front of your child?
Yes.
Oh no.
And he says he doesn't care because he wants my son to know the truth about me.
So I know you said that you sort of washed the physical abuse under the radar. You're like, well, that doesn't bother me. But for me, that bothers me. No man should ever put his hands on a woman. Have you ever called called the police on him and filed a report?
I have a few times.
Wow. And did you ever file a police report to like get him arrested?
I have, and then I dropped charges. So, you know, maybe it is my fault, but, and I sometimes I wonder myself why I even want it to work, but I really do love him.
Why are you having issues? Why do you not want to be with her?
First of all, like she says that she didn't cheat on me like when we were married, but she cheated on me while I was working outta town.
I never did that.
Do you have proof that she cheated on you?
My children that were living with us at the time like were telling me just random men were coming in the house, so.
And that was a lie. They're known to tell stories, by the way.
Oh, they're known to tell stories, huh? All right. I felt like she was kind of being distant towards me and doing other things, which, you know, I found out some stuff, so.
What did you find out?
She was basically like using drugs and then she was involved with her dealer, so.
So is there a history of addiction?
For both of us, yes. And I had actually openly told him that I had relapsed. I wasn't sleeping with my dealer. My dealer was a female anyways, and he's an addict too, and we're both clean and sober.
So while the time that you got with this man, were you using?
Yes, I had relapsed after I had had him leave.
So how long have you been clean and sober?
I've been clean and sober about a month.
About a month, okay.
I mean, to use—
And how long have you been clean and sober?
I've been sober for a while, like, I don't know, like, About a year or so.
He's been sober since March. I sent him to rehab in February.
Yeah, I went to rehab and all that other stuff. But like, I mean, you know, that's my main issue was the infidelity and all that other stuff. You know, I know the name calling and like, you know.
Well yeah, we gotta get into that because that was something that was quite alarming. The physical abuse and also the verbal abuse.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So you're admitting that you were physically abusive and mentally abusive?
During the time, yes.
And do you think that behavior was okay?
No, I don't.
Before we show the results of me unlocking your phone, Riana, Everett, I wanna know, are you happy?
No, I'm not.
Why are you not happy?
'Cause I feel like I don't recognize her no more. Like at one point she was like my best friend and we did everything together and I just feel like it's lost.
I've been honest with you. I've been more honest with you than anybody else in your life. And you call me the biggest liar ever.
You said, "I don't recognize her." I don't think you ever knew her and she ever knew you because you met as addicts. And that's the truth.
Yeah, that's true. That's true.
All right, Everett, you wanted to unlock Riana's phone. Our unlock the phone investigator discovered That there was nothing in the phone that was sketchy. No texts, no social media, no messages, and there was nothing that showed that she had cheated on you.
There you go. Now what? This is all for nothing, dude. I love you. Like, I don't get it. I had to come on TV to prove that I'm being honest. Now what?
I don't know, like how far did you scrub back?
Oh my God.
There's something that I wanna say to you and this is honest. You have to stay to your gut here, okay? Yeah. And you have to stick to your gut, not just for you, but also for your child. You've been through addiction. I know you've probably had some trauma in your own life. And you don't want your child to have that as well.
Yeah, I've had a lot of that, so.
Yeah.
I've been through a lot of things.
I couldn't believe it. I didn't imagine it. But the thing is, is that you have an opportunity and I can see that you're trying to break that cycle. She's scared to break that cycle. And sometimes in relationships, one of you have to be a little bit more forceful and say it's done.
Yeah.
Because there can't be—
I still love her, like, you know what I mean?
I know, but that love can't keep y'all together. Yeah. Because it's unhealthy. You're being physically abusive. Mentally abusive, emotionally abusive. It's not healthy. And I think that if you stay together, the only thing that's gonna happen is you're both gonna relapse again. She's afraid and she needs time. But I want you to say to yourself and promise me that you'll do what's right for yourself and for your child. You can still co-parent without being together. Can you make that commitment to me today for you and for your child?
Like I don't wanna get involved, like, you know.
You're afraid still. So she's not alone in this. So until both of you make that commitment, you're gonna be in this cycle over and over again. And that's the only advice I can leave you with. Hold on, where you going? I'll tell you where you're going. Right here to subscribe and right here to watch more.
