90 Day Fiance’s Debbie Johnson Says ‘Separation’ From Son Colt Is a ‘Good Thing’

90 Day Fiancé star Debbie Johnson reflected on being far away from her son, Colt Johnson, as she lives in Canada with her boyfriend, Tony Starcevich. The mother-son duo previously agreed to distance themselves from each other after developing a codependent relationship.

“Colt and I have had some challenges in our relationship,” Debbie, 70, admitted during the Monday, February 12, episode of 90 Day Diaries. “We had a really bad fight a couple of years ago when I first started dating Tony. At the last tell-all, we were able to work things out, so everything has been OK since.”

Debbie added that she and Colt, 38, don’t communicate as often as they used to, and rely on text messages to stay in touch. “Colt and I communicate three or four times a week, mainly in text,” she continued. “Sometimes we’ll call. But, I think it’s probably a good thing to have the separation, and we’re good with that.”

Fans have gotten to know Debbie and Colt over the years on the TLC franchise, where their close bond has been a deal-breaker in some of his relationships. Both Colt’s first wife, Larissa Dos Santos Lima, and second wife, Vanessa Guerra, admitted that their relationship issues were linked to Debbie living with them.

After Colt and Vanessa, 33, tied the knot in February 2021, they confirmed they briefly split in January 2022 before revealing they were back together in a May 2022 episode of 90 Day Diaries.

Colt later addressed his decision to distance himself from Debbie during the season 3 tell-all of 90 Day: The Single Life in 2022. “I feel like my mother has always been more of a friend,” he said, while Debbie added, "I seem to make Colt upset every time he sees me, so it's probably better off that he disconnects from me."

While Debbie and Colt aren’t as close as they once were, she is currently happy living with Tony. After connecting online, Tony traveled to Las Vegas to spend time with Debbie in person. They became so serious that she even moved to Canada to be with him during season 3 of 90 Day: The Single Life.

During the latest episode, the couple celebrated their one-year anniversary by attending a yoga class. “We seem to be cohabitating OK,” Tony told the cameras as he updated viewers about their relationship. “There’s the odd difference of opinion, I guess, periodically.”

“Wow, you sound like it’s very negative all of a sudden,” Debbie responded, noting that living together has been “an adjustment.” She continued, “It’s something a lot of older people don’t want to do. They’re afraid to make a big change like that. It’s scary, and you don’t know — what if something happens?”