Chloven Fever: Why the Whole 90 Day Fandom Is Shipping Chloe Fabiano and Steven Frend

The 90 Day fandom has a new obsession, and it comes with a ship name: Chloven. It started the way every modern reality-TV romance does — with a pattern in an Instagram feed. Chloe Fabiano and Steven Frend, both filming 90 Day: Hunt for Love Season 2 in Puerto Rico, kept posting selfies featuring just the two of them. Then a fan wrote the comment that detonated the fandom: “I wish Chloe and Steven would be a couple. They would be so adorable. Get over the icks!” Steven slid into the replies with five words that poured gasoline on the fire: “don’t make assumptions ;)” The fandom has not been calm since.

Steven Frend during his original 90 Day Fiancé Season 6 run in 2018 — the era the fandom can’t forget. (TV Season & Spoilers)

A Crossover Nobody Saw Coming

Part of the mania is how little sense the pairing makes on paper — and how much sense it makes in a fan’s heart. Steven is a 90 Day Fiancé Season 6 veteran from 2018: the controversial young dad who married Olga Koshimbetova, divorced, and now shares two kids with his ex. Chloe is The Other Way’s breakout sweetheart, who walked away from Johny Fernandes earlier this year, according to reports. Two different franchise eras — shipping them is a multiverse crossover episode. Then there’s the oldest fantasy in reality TV: the reformed “villain” redeemed by the right woman. Steven has spent this season insisting he’s a changed man, and Chloe is the fanbase’s chosen proof.

The Comment That Broke the Fandom

That viral comment is doing a lot of work. “Get over the icks!” isn’t just shipping — it’s an instruction. Both Chloe and Steven have spent the season tripping over icks of their own making, and the fandom is done watching them fumble. Then came Steven’s reply. “Don’t make assumptions ;)” is not a denial — it’s a wink in text form, and in reality-TV language, a wink is practically a press release. He could have said “we’re just friends.” He didn’t.

Chloe Fabiano looking stunned at The Other Way Season 7 Tell-All — her resort options haven’t gone much better. (The Ashley’s Reality Roundup)

The Escape Hatch Theory

Here is where the shipping stops being delusion and starts looking like strategy. On the show, Steven says he’s “locked in” on newcomer Iris Castillo: “I focus on one person at a time, and that’s it. Nothing else, nothing in between. And Iris is one that I’m focusing on right now.” The problem? Iris isn’t locked in on anyone — according to reports, she’s keeping her options open with both Razvan Ciocoi and Michael Ilesanmi. Steven’s one-woman strategy risks leaving him holding an empty bag. Meanwhile Chloe’s other lanes are on fire: Landon’s cheek kiss went full “courtship-core,” and Brian got twerked on by Emma and ended up wearing her lipstick — the ick, twice over. On the resort’s love map, “Chloven” is suddenly the only lane with no traffic jam.

Chloe Fabiano pulling a playful kissy face at the Tell-All. Are fans reading real chemistry — or just proximity? (The Ashley’s Reality Roundup)

Or Have Fans Shipped Too Far?

Time for the cold water. Steven’s words about Iris were explicit and recent — on camera, not in a comment section. Puerto Rico selfies between castmates at the same resort are, according to reports, extremely normal. And the icks the fandom chants about “getting over”? Those were Chloe’s real reactions, not a bit. There’s a difference between chemistry and proximity, and the edit loves to blur it. Shipping is the fandom’s favorite sport — but the players are real people, and the season still has episodes to air.

So here’s the question that will split your group chat: is “Chloven” the real love story of Hunt for Love Season 2, or the fandom’s most beautiful delusion? Team Chloven — get over the icks! — or Team Let the Season Play Out? Drop your verdict in the comments. Steven is reading them. We know this now.