90 Day Fiancé: Božo’s mysterious professional basketball career, explained

90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season 7 introduced a new couple in this week’s episode: Bosnian-American Vanja and her Croatian boyfriend Božo – with the latter having a claim to fame outside of reality TV stardom. Božo is described as a professional basketball star, but information about the 38-year-old is difficult to come by – so is the claim too good to be true?

Božo and Vanja’s story

Before the 90 Days‘ latest episode followed Vanja, an American citizen who originally hails from Bosnia, before she met her boyfriend Božo in person for the first time. Although she visited his home city of Split, Croatia, several years ago, the two made contact when she was swiping through a dating app on the trip, with Božo responding after she had left.

Vanja had attempted to visit Božo before, but the Croatian broke up with her and told her that he wanted to date someone else. He later got back in touch with Vanja after breaking up with the woman and wanted to resume dating her. Much to the disappointment of Vanja’s friends, she decided to give him another chance – although with some heavy skepticism. The last scene of their first appearance saw an increasingly anxious Vanja awaiting Božo to pick her up at the airport upon her arrival in Croatia, with her boyfriend not answering his phone.

Božo’s basketball career

Božo, real name Božidar Vrdoljak, is currently a member of the KK Adriatic Zadar 3×3 basketball team in Croatia’s third league (treca liga), as of October 2024, according to EuroBasket. The now-reality TV star plays point guard for the team, having played 252 games.

Božo’s athletic stats also taught 90 Day viewers some information about the Croatian native. The 38-year-old is 5’10 (notably short for a basketball player) and ranks 3,194th in the world for the sport, according to the 3×3 website. The Croatia team is ranked 46th in the world out of 47 countries.

Vanja offers some mixed views on her boyfriend’s career

In her first appearance on the show, Vanja described her Božo as a “basketball player who is very successful,” describing him as an “athlete”. When visiting her friend Fabiana, who recalled their previous breakup, Fabiana said the athletic type is a “box” Vanja likes to tick when looking for a potential partner.

While talking to another friend while packing for her trip, the Bosnian-American told her friend that he was a professional player when asked if he gets paid for playing the sport.

“But he’s a basketball player in Croatia, it’s not like he’s in the NBA!” Vanja added. The 41-year-old also revealed that he does not own an apartment, with the trailer for the next episode revealing that he currently lives with his mother.

Vanja’s later statement seems to contradict his previous statement about Božo’s successes in the sport, but this could be some well-earned skepticism towards the Croatian and his representation of himself to his long-distance girlfriend. Only when Vanja gets to meet Božo in person will she know for sure.