'90 Day Fiance' stars Russ and Paola on brushing off the haters: You have to 'be true to yourself'

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'90 Day Fiance' stars Russ and Paola on how reality TV changed their lives

'90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After' stars Russ and Paola talked to Fox News about the birth of their son and how reality TV has changed their lives.

NEW YORK – When "90 Day Fiance" stars Russ and Paola Mayfield signed onto the reality series five years ago, they struggled with the sudden attention they received from being on television.

Five years later, the married couple and new parents have gotten used to the limelight after appeared on the TLC series' various spin-offs including this season of "90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?"

"At the beginning, for me, it was really hard," Paola told Fox News. "My English was really bad so I needed to ask my husband what these people were [saying] about me."

But the couple said they've now learned to brush off the negative comments.

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"Now this is my fifth season. It's like, no matter what you do, people are going to talk bad or good and you just have to deal with it," she shared. "You can be the best version of yourself but some people are not going to agree with that.

"You are who you are and be true to yourself. That's what I try to live by."

The Colombian-born beauty has faced her fair share of negativity online -- from being called out for having a pit bull while expecting her son to fans who say her marriage to Russ is just for TV and for her often-sexy photo shoots, Paola has heard it all.

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As for Russ, he said he tries to stay off of social media as much as possible because "it really is distracting because you get engulfed in it."

The new parents are now fully focused on baby duty after welcoming son Axel in January.

"Having Axel has been a challenge but it's an amazing adventure, experience," she gushed.

Russ agreed, telling us, "It's definitely a huge life change."

Paola, who has had a career in modeling, said she is working on getting back into her pre-baby shape but her No. 1 priority is being healthy while she breastfeeds.

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And while she's not ready to goodbye to modeling completely "if the right opportunity" comes, she is more focused on developing fitness programs.

"After having a baby, I gained some weight and I'm not in the process to lose that weight right away because I'm breastfeeding and my baby is first," she said. "I'm going to start focusing more [on] developing more fitness programs.

"I want to lead more into helping people get back into shape or reach their fitness goals," she shared.

"90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?" airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on TLC.