90 Day Fiancé star Elizabeth Castravet is paying tribute to her dad, Chuck Potthast, after his death.
“Two weeks ago, tragedy struck our family and it has left us completely shattered. My sweet, loving, and caring dad went to heaven. We’re trying to figure out how to navigate our lives and move forward without him,” Elizabeth, 34, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, November 23, in a joint post with Andrei Castravet.
The message concluded, “Please respect our privacy during this extremely difficult time.”
Potthast was featured on several episodes of 90 Day Fiancé, where viewers watched the ups and downs of Elizabeth and Andrei’s relationship since their season 5 debut.
The couple, who initially crossed paths on a dating app before meeting in-person in Dublin, tied the knot in 2017. Elizabeth and Andrei, 39, have since welcomed daughter Eleanor and son Winston in 2019 and 2022, respectively.
Two years later, Andrei joked during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly that Elizabeth’s family is “like a cult.”
“We should put you on an escape-a-cult-type of franchise,” Andrei quipped in 2024. “She’s doing great! I’m very happy to have you back.”
While laughing, Elizabeth claimed that her family is “not that bad.” The pair shared that they only speak with Chuck and her sister, Becky Potthast.
“The rest we didn’t speak for many years,” Andrei said, while Elizabeth explained that keeping distance from her family has resulted in less tension in her marriage.
“We don’t fight as much, for sure,” she said. “They did come in between us. We have so much more peace in our home in general.”
While reflecting on her dynamics with her family, Elizabeth explained what led to their rift.
“Everybody would just get together and would talk about my decisions. It just got to a point where it was too toxic,” she shared. “I’m really only speaking with my dad and Becky, and sometimes my mom. Honestly, once I took some time apart, I saw how good it was, and you just see life in the world differently. I don’t want to go back into that toxicity.”
In Andrei’s eyes, just because they are family doesn’t mean they have to stay in the “toxic” environment.
“You’re not going to sacrifice your life,” he said. “You have to think about yourself too.”
While Elizabeth eventually realized her family members were doing her a “disservice,” she noted that it’s possible “way in the future” that she could reconcile with her family. At the time, however, Elizabeth shared that she was content with the space.
“At some point, I feel like it’s bound to just come up or there’s going to be some situation, but right now, no,” she said. “Are they going to change? Do people change? I don’t think that they change.”
Andrei, for his part, shared that he thinks her family will “never be changed” despite the time and space.
“The people will not change,” he said. “I’m not accepting that kind of toxicity in my relationship.”
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