Exclusive: Paul Staehle Reveals What Really Happened to Him In Brazil

Reality TV star, Paul Staehle, has opened up on his "disappearance" near the Amazon River in Brazil in an exclusive chat with Newsweek, where he promised what happened was not a publicity stunt.

"It's all one big misunderstanding. If I wanted attention I would have gone on Instagram Live... when I found out about all the attention I was trying everything I possibly could to keep it from blowing up any further," Staehle told Newseek.

Concern for the whereabouts of the 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days were triggered last week when his estranged wife, Karine Staehle, posted on Instagram that he had gone missing in her native Brazil and then followed it up with a cryptic post hinting he had actually passed away.

What followed over the ensuing days was a web of confusing narratives as his mom and friends tried to figure out what was going on. Celebrity blogger, John Yates, shared screenshots of messages Staehle had sent to him mom asking for help because he was stranded in a remote river with little cell service.

Once he was confirmed to be alive and well, and returned back to the city of Manaus, the capital of Brazilan state Amazonas in the north-west of the country, some people on social media accused the Staehles of faking his disappearance for attention.

But according to Staehle, nothing could be further from the truth.

"There was a fan that had invited me on a day out, so I could clear out my mind and get everything together," Staehle said, explaining they headed out on a small boat to see the former Floating City of Manaus. It was a former city complete with floating homes and churches on the Rio Negro (Black River) near the Kennedy Holmes Island.

Staehle went on the trip as he wanted to clear his mind as he and Karine battled Child Protective Services in Kentucky to win back custody of their two children, Pierre, four, and Ethan, two.

"We went out there and there was a little hiccup in between getting to where we started at the beach at Manaus to the floating area we were going to see near the jungle."

Staehle then proceeded to "freak out" thinking they were in dire trouble and decided to use what little reception and battery power was left on his cell phone to contact his mom.

"I don't have my charger or anything and there was no power, so I started to text people at home, people here. And there's piranhas and all kinds of things in the water so I'm freaking out," he said.

Once they eventually got to the jungle, Staehle was able to charge his phone and he realized he'd become a headline as people presumed he'd gone missing, with his mom even contacting the U.S. Embassy in Brazil for help.

"I had no idea, it was crazy. Just utterly, utterly insane," he said of the attention his 'disappearance' had caused.

Staehle had traveled to Manaus in late July to work as a freelance scout for TV producers to find interesting stories in the Amazon to turn into a series. He plans on returning to Kentucky next month.

"I'm here to do my life and my thing, which is kind of weird because she's [Karine} in United States and although we swapped places she loves it there and I love it here so it's fine," the reality star said.

He also told Newsweek how once he got back to Manaus, he went to the police to let them know he was fine and they could withdraw the missing person's report that had been filed. But thanks to some miscommunication and media reporting in Brazil, the fire department was still dispatched to the area where the boat broke down to try and find him.

As for how this episode blew up online, Staehle explained his mom probably, but understandably, panicked and spoke with Yates and Karine, who posted it on social media. But he also assigned some of the blame for it getting "blown out of proportion" on the people who help Karine with her social media.

"It should never have got to the point that it had, they kept pushing and pushing, and feeding into the drama and [probably] saw they were getting views and more followers from it," he said.

As for the accusations, the incident was a hoax contrived for attention, Staehle said nothing could be further from the truth.

"I tried to pull back [from the attention] and keep things off the radar... because we've got a lot going on," he explained, and added both he and Karine had been busy completing court-ordered courses in order to get their kids back.

In fact, it was a missed court date in Kentucky this week that also fueled fire to the hoax theories. It "rang warning bells" for Yates who said in a YouTube livestream that it seemed odd Staehle would be in another country when he was due in court to win his kids back.

Stahle explained Karine attended the court date, and he was able to access it via video conferencing service Zoom when he could not be there in person.

The TV star admitted the custody battle was causing a lot of "stress" and it was "one of the reasons to get away that night" to try and take his mind off things.

He also gave an update on his relationship with Karine and while they are still married, they are no longer together but are trying to remain amicable for their children's sake.

"We're just trying to make sure we have a good relationship so that in the future, we can have a good co-parenting relationship," he said.

"We want the best possible life for our children where they don't have to deal with the toxicity and the arguments and the fighting because we did fight really bad. We acknowledge that and we realize that sometimes we just don't get along."

Staehle added: "Karine's changed her life, she's not the same young girl she used to be, she's really developed and she's not the same person by any means."