90 Day Fiancé stars Paul Staehle and Karine Martins have had an on-and-off relationship since they married in 2017. Details about the couple and their kids explored.
90 Day Fiancé is an American reality television series on TLC that follows couples who have applied for or received a K-1 visa, available uniquely to foreign fiancés of U.S. citizens, and therefore have 90 days to marry each other.
One of the series alums are Paul Staehle and Karine Martins. The duo had a successful season on the dating show, got married and started a family of their own.
The 40-year-old Kentucky native and his 27-year-old Brazilian partner are popular for their tumultuous relationship, including public fights, cheating scandals, kidnapping accusations, and a custody battle for their children, that didn’t end well.
On August 31, 2023, Karine Martins claimed her husband Paul Staehle is missing in Brazil, sparking shock and worry among fans.
But following series of drama between the couple, fans are curious to learn whether they’re still together, more about their kids, current jobs, and net worth. Read on for more.
When did Paul Staehle and Karine Martin get married?
Paul and Karine married in November 2017, in Brazil, close to Karine’s family.
Paul was 34 years old when he met Karine, 21, who lived with her family along the Amazon River, on a Latin dating app. During 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season 1, Paul went to meet Karine in person. He did not speak Portuguese, and Karine didn’t speak English, but that was the least of their relationship troubles.
Karine and Paul had a tumultuous relationship including public fights, cheating scandals, kidnapping accusations, and a custody battle for their children.
Karine and Paul have hurled allegations at one another at various points since leaving the show, with Karine claiming that Paul had been abusive and Paul suggesting that Karine had tried to have him killed.
A video got online that seemed to show Karine allegedly assaulting him while another appeared to show her unconscious and out of sorts in front of the children.
Paul Staehle and Karine Martins got fired from the show due to abuse allegations.
Are Paul Staehle and Karine Martins still together?
Since leaving 90 Day Fiancé, Karine and Paul Staehle have generated plenty of headlines for their tumultuous relationship.
Paul and Karine’s marital troubles started in 2020 and in in December 2021, they had their first separation. Prior to that, Karine filed for divorce in November 2019.
The two split up and then got back together again, and then split up again, leading the Department of Child Services to intervene and remove their two sons from their care.
The 90 Day Fiancé duo announced they were back together in April 2023, after their children were put in foster care. But from that time till now, their relationship status; whether they are together or have divorced for good, remain unknown.
Paul’s mother, who in the past had supported her son, has decided to cut him and his new family off. Karine has been disappointed that the family hasn’t been able to receive the support they have from her own family in Brazil.
What happened between Paul and Karine?
Police were called to the married couple’s home on Thursday, July 30, after a heated argument that began when Karine allegedly consulted a Brazilian attorney about divorce.
According to Cinema Blend, Paul “alleged that Karine had shoved him and that she had also been with another man drinking at his home.” The situation escalated when Paul updated fans on Instagram, implying that Karine had run away with their son Pierre.
Later posts showed that Paul had been tested for STDs, leading some to wonder whether either Karine or he had cheated, and he later shared a protective restraining order that Karine had filed against him.
The document stated that Paul had physically and sexually assaulted Karine, and had raped her. Following Karine and Pierre’s disappearance, the 90 Day Fiancé star updated her own fans on her Instagram account, saying that the two of them had to leave Paul because “I feared for my life and my son’s life, which led me to ask for help.”
Karine expanded on her need to “be rescued from an environment that no longer was healthy for none of us involved in the situation,” and said that she’s now “getting the best help I could ever get and I’m really thankful for all the people involved in it. I also thank the people that worry about me for the support I have had.”
“It have [sic] been a big part of my recovery,” she said.
How many children do Paul Staehle and Karine Martin have?
Paul and Karine are parents to two children – all sons. The names of their kids are Pierre Martins Staehle and Ethan Martin Staehle.
Pierre was born in March 2019. His birth was documented alongside the couple’s romance in the TLC spin-off 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way.
90 Day Fiancé alums Karine and Paul lost custody of their kids in December 2021. The couple had split up at the same time after a video showing them engaged in a domestic fight had been leaked online.
Since losing custody, Paul moved back to Brazil in September 2022 and has not seen his sons since. Meanwhile, Karine is still in the United States and is only allowed to visit Pierre and Ethan once a week. Both parents have argued that CPS has treated her unfairly due to her status as an immigrant.
Paul shared his side of the story in November 2022, when he told fans that he and Karine were working together to gain back the custody of Pierre and Ethan. The reality star claimed that they lost custody because he let Karine see their sons even though that violated their original custody order.
Paul once declared Karine missing
On Aug. 1, 2020, Paul claimed in his Instagram Stories that Karine left their home with their son while he wasn’t there and that he feared for their safety. Because of that, he claimed they were missing and he was concerned about where they were and if anything terrible had happened to them with no way of contacting them himself. And, as with most things regarding Paul, the ordeal spiraled way out of control.
Despite Paul claiming on Instagram that Karine and Pierre were both missing, she cleared things up on her own Instagram on Aug. 2, a day after Paul had taken to social media to tell his side of things. Karine explained that the police knew where she was and that she had to leave home and leave Paul out of her own concern for her safety as well as her baby’s.
“All this past days I had a lot going on,” Karine wrote on Instagram. “I had issues where the police was called because I feared for my life and my son’s life which led me to ask for help and ultimately be rescued from an environment that no longer was healthy for none of us involved in the situation.”
So while, to Paul, Karine and Pierre might have been “missing,” it was for a reason he hadn’t clearly disclosed himself and Karine seems to be accounted for now.
In August 2023, Karine declared Paul missing
In a post on her Instagram Story from Aug. 31, Karine asked for prayers for Paul. She wrote that he is currently in Brazil and had been missing for at least a day. Karine, who is a native of Brazil, does not appear to be in Brazil with Paul, and instead posted a photo of herself at a Kroger after posting the message about Paul. She also posted a phot of her stomach, but didn’t provide any context as to why.
More recently, she posted what appeared to be a tribute to Paul, which seemed to suggest that Paul had died in Brazil.
“Not all of our memories were bad. Our children loved you very much. We will never forgot you or the good memories we all shared,” she wrote over a slideshow of pictures of Paul with their children. The implication seems quite clear, although she has not shared any additional details about what happened to Paul.
For her part, Karine has been acting fairly normal on Instagram, posting photos of her groceries and other things. The whole thing seems a little odd, but we don’t have much more information than that.
Paul liked one of Karine’s post on Instagram four days ago, but has not been actively posting on his own page recently. Here’s hoping that Karine’s most recent post doesn’t mean what it seems to mean.
Paul has had past legal issues outside of ’90 Day Fiancé.’
Dealing with the law and the repercussions of his potential actions is nothing new to Paul. During his time on shows across the 90 Day Fiancé franchise, it came out that Paul had been convicted of arson prior to being on TV and he once admitted to breaking a restraining order taken out against him by a former girlfriend.
It’s unclear what Paul and Karine’s latest split will mean for their relationship or for Karine and Pierre’s future in the U.S. But if it wasn’t obvious before that they just don’t work together and Paul had no business starting a family with no plans on how to support anyone else financially or mentally, then it’s definitely clear now.
What do Paul Staehle and Karine Martins do for a living now?
Paul, who has in the past worked as a K9 Handler and IT guy, has been having trouble finding new work on account of his criminal record. These days, he’s making some money from online appearances on Cameo and Taki, and by influencing some children’s clothes through PatPat.com.
As for Karine Martins, her ex-husband revealed in 2023 that she has found a new job in a post he shared on his Instagram.
In 2021, Karine ventured into beauty and attended a cosmetology school in Curitiba, Brazil. Also, she had turned into a social media influencer in 2022 with her Instagram currently boasting close to 500,000 followers.
What are Paul Staehle and Karine Martins’ net worth?
Paul Staehle net worth is estimated to be between $1.8 million while his estranged spouse Karine has at least $500,000. They accrued their fortune from their primary careers as reality stars as well as their individual jobs.
Following the departure from the show, they ended up going all out. They created various videos on their OnlyFans account. Recently, Paul has talked about how much the ex-couple earned from their brief stint in the adult movie business.
During her 12 months on the platform, Karine made $200,000 – according to Paul, who claims she already spent it all.