A 45-year-old mother who is dating a man 20 years her junior got into an explosive row with her partner after revealing she’d converted to Mormonism in secret – meaning they could no longer have sex.
Shorna, from south-east London, fell for Albanian national Adnand, 25, while on holiday in Crete two years ago with her 15-year-old daughter.
The charming hotel worker came to Shorna’s aid when she found herself locked out of her room – leaving her so charmed, she returned to the Greek island on her own the next month to get to know him better.
Appearing on 90 Day Fiancé, the couple gushed over their fairytale romance – until Shorna dropped an explosive bombshell on her partner.
After a year apart, Shorna and Adnand were reunited as she flew out to Crete to see him – but she didn’t kiss him on arrival. Later, she explained to her partner, who is Muslim but not practising, that she now followed the Church of Latter Day Saints – which believes that sexual desires should only be fulfilled within heterosexual marriage.
When Shorna first broke the news to her partner she thought he was joking – but his bewilderment soon turned to anger that she’d hidden it from him.
Despite the row, the pair had initially been besotted with each other – with Adnand describing Shorna as ‘super hot’ and boasting that they were having ‘a lot of sex’.
However, when the couple spent some time apart due to the thousands of miles between them, Shorna underwent a huge life change without telling her partner.
She began to attend Mormon lessons, was baptised and committed herself to the Church of the Latter Day Saints and its conventions, which ban alcohol, tobacco and cigarettes, and sexual activity outside of marriage.
Shorna, 45, from south east London, was on holiday in Crete with her 15-year-old daughter when she first met Adnand, 25
Adnand – who originally hails from Albania and is a year older than Shorna’s eldest daughter – described his older girlfriend as ‘super hot’ and said they have ‘a lot of sex’
On 90 Day Fiancé, Shorna spoke about converting to Mormonism and is seen reading The Book of Mormon
Speaking to MailOnline, Shorna – who believes ‘age is just a number’ – said shefirst came across Mormonism when an Instagram post popped up on her feed after she came back from her romantic Greek trip. She said she was ‘intrigued’ by what the faith could offer her, after wanting to re-discover religion.
‘I didn’t exactly want to become a Mormon. EveryChristmas or New Year’s Eve, I would write things that I want to achieve, the goals I want to set, and then I would put them in a little jar,’ she said.
‘I thought this was the time for me to draw closer to God because things weren’t working out for me.I wasn’t married, I’m a single mum and I thought if I centred myself around God more I would be in a better situation with my life, so that was my initial goal.’
Shorna reached out to the church and started attending Mormon lessons – and found she liked the message it was promoting.
‘I [saw] the community vibe [and] everyone was lovely. It was such a welcoming experience to me, I felt connected to the church and to my brothers and sisters.’
But she realised that it was a big commitment and questioned whether Mormonism was worth giving up the ‘party’ lifestyle she had always known.
Shorna said: ‘One day they invited me to a baptism at church and I witnessed the baptism and I felt something come over me, I started to cry, I was uncontrollably crying.
‘I couldn’t stop and they took me away and said the reason why I was crying was that the holy spirit was speaking to me and they said they thought it was my time to get baptised. I got baptised two weeks later.’
She prayed Adnand would accept her religious calling and respect that she would not be able to be intimate with him until they are married – despite the fact they’d already had sex.
But Adnand was left in a state of shock at his lover’s revelation – after initially thinking it was a joke. He later told the camera: ‘I am angry with Shorna because she didn’t tell me before about her religion’s rules.’
Shorna – who believes that ‘age is just a number’ – said that she first came across Mormonism when an Instagram post popped up on her feed
Adnand did not know that she had already converted to Mormonism and was shocked when she revealed her new faith
Adnand said he was ‘angry’ with Shorna because they had previously been able to kiss and have sex and now they cannot until they decide to marry
He sensed that something had changed, noting he didn’t feel the same ‘chemistry and passion’ as he had the last time they’d seen each other.
After Shorna apologised for not being honest with him, Adnand said: ‘I am very disappointed and I don’t know what to do or what to think.’
He then retaliated: ‘I didn’t tell you before, but I am Muslim, I can have six wives. I will start to practise it tomorrow.’
But an agitated Shorna argued the situation was not ‘tit for tat’ as the pair spiralled into a furious row.
Later, a ‘sad’ Shorna reflected on their disagreement and admitted she understood why her partner was upset by the news.
‘We were in a physical relationship and then I saw him a couple of months later and say that we can’t have sex before marriage so I know that it was a massive thing thrown at him,’ she said.
‘[I suppose] it’s like we’ve gone back in our relationship rather than moving forwards.
‘[What he said] hurt me, because I’m thinking, hold on, I’m not competing with six wives, it’s just me, me only.
‘The reason I wanted to do it face to face is so that I could be there for him and for whatever highs and lows he was experiencing, we could go through it together. Which is why I felt like it was more appropriate to tell him face to face.’
Eventually, Adnand decided to choose ‘love over sex’ after reflecting on the ‘good time’ they’d had together before Shorna converted.
Shorna – who owns her own cleaning business – and Adnand have a two-decade age gap between them, but this has never bothered her.
‘When I met Adnand, I didn’t ask his age, we had an instant connection, I felt like I had known him for years,’ she said. ‘He was a gentleman and the conversation was flowing. We were enjoying the moment, we were enjoying going out to town and holding hands, walking along the pier.’
Shorna – who owns her own cleaning business – and Adnand have a two-decade age gap between them, but this has never bothered her
Shorna said she only realised that Adnand was 25 by the time she had arrived back in the UK but it was ‘too late’ because they had already built up a strong connection
Shorna says it doesn’t phase her that Adnand still goes out and parties in Greece because ‘you can’t have a relationship without trust’
Shorna said she only realised that he was 25 by the time she had arrived back in the UK but it was ‘too late’ because they had already built up a strong connection.
She added: ‘Isaid to myself that age is just a number, if you’ve made someone and you’re happy and you feel like this relationship can go further, why not?I don’t care what people have to say, it doesn’t matter to me.’
Shorna’s youngest daughter, who was there when the couple met for the first time, approves of Adnand and thinks he’s a ‘nice person’, whereas her eldest child believes that he is too young for her.
‘I think because there is a year or two age gap between [Adnand and my eldest daughter], she looks at life differently. She thought it was a holiday romance,’ she said.
‘She said “Mum, we are the same age, I like going out and partying. What makes you think he’s not going to do the same? He’s young, he says he wants to get married but is he ready to commit to you?”
‘My eldest daughter was not behind the relationship; she thought he was too young for me.’
Shorna says it doesn’t phase her that Adnand still goes out and parties in Greece because ‘you can’t have a relationship without trust’.
‘He’s young, if he wants to go out partying, I don’t mind, as long as there’s no cheating,’ she added.
Despite Shorna going through a party phase where she would fall asleep at the club and ‘kissing everyone’, she claimed that she didn’t miss going on a night out and getting drunk alongside her boyfriend.
Shorna is pictured chatting with one of her daughters on the show90 Day Fiancé UK
Shorna is confident that she has met ‘the one’ and wants to spend the rest of her life with Adnand – despite their large age gap.
‘He’s so caring, he’s so thoughtful, he makes me feel safe, he makes me feel secure. He calls me to make sure I’ve eaten and to make sure I’m okay,’ she said. ‘I felt like this is what I wanted from a relationship, this is the person I’ve been looking for all my life.’
Shorna said she would love for Adnand to become a Mormon so that he could ‘experience my faith, we could go to the temple together and do things with the church’.
In the show, the business owner said she had planned an idyllic bike ride to the top of a mountain in a bid to get them to reconnect without having a sexual relationship.
However, she admitted that she found it hard to stop staring at his body while he was bent over the bike, as she peddled behind him.
When asked if she found it hard to resist her urges, Shorna said:’There were times where I was thinking, “Okay, we are going to get married so maybe we could kiss because if he’s going to be my husband, then God’s not going to judge me and it’s going to be okay”.
Shorna is confident that she has met ‘the one’ and wants to spend the rest of her life with Adnand – despite their large age gap
Shorna said that she would love for Adnand to become a Mormon so that he could experience my faith, we could go to the temple together and do things with the church’
‘I questioned my faith many times as well, I was thinking if this was the right path for me, I was wondering about what would happen if I had sex with Adnand. How would this affect my life and my relationship with God? I was questioning myself because I didn’t want to upset the church, God, or myself.
‘Sometimes I would read the Book of Mormon or read the Bible to help me strengthen my faith because I’m not perfect. Even though I decided to get baptised, I still make mistakes; I’m not perfect.
‘Once you repent your sins and you’ve forgiven yourself, then I know I can move on and put it aside. It was quite difficult at times, I’m not going to lie. It was very, very, very difficult.’
The mother-of-two said that the only things she misses from her old life are drinking tea – which has caffeine in it – and having sex before marriage.
And it seems Shorna is keen to tie the knot after she was convinced he was going to propose to her at the top of the mountain.
‘At one point I thought I was going to get a ring but I didn’t,’ she said on the show. ‘The view was perfect and then we could’ve got married and then had a sexual relationship, so simple.’
Shorna is currently going through perimenopause and has told Adnand that she cannot have children.
She said: ‘He was happy with that. He met my grandson over video call and said that even though I can’t have kids, he was happy to be a figure in my grandson’s life.
‘I don’t think he felt disheartened that we can’t have kids. We were looking forward to getting married, for him to come to the UK to meet my family, settle down and have the family life that I had always wanted.’
90 Day Fiancé UK S4 is streaming exclusively on discovery+ now with weekly Sunday episodes
