When reality star Steven McBee Jr met influencer Allie Eklund, he was certain she was the one.
Only two weeks into his romance with Eklund, the Midwest cowboy went so far as to say that he was ‘probably gonna marry her,’ cementing his whirlwind relationship as the focal point of season three of the famous family’s hit Bravo series, The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys.
With the season currently midway through airing, the show follows the high-stakes tribulations of the McBee clan as they run their embattled Missouri farming and cattle business, McBee Farm & Cattle Co, while their patriarch Steven McBee Sr’s serves a 24-month prison sentence for crop insurance fraud.
The arrival of Texas native Eklund, 29, as a new face on this season has added another layer to the storyline. But while we see the younger McBee, 33, falling in love, we also hear warnings from his family over how ‘fast’ the new couple are moving.
Perhaps wise, because by the time the first episode of season three aired in June, their six-month romance had imploded in a storm of cheating allegations behind the scenes, igniting a bitter and very public back-and-forth that has only continued to spiral.
Only two weeks into his romance with Eklund, McBee had told his famous family that he was ‘probably gonna marry her’
McBee accused Eklund of cheating on him at the music festival Stagecoach in April
McBee and Eklund started dating after meeting through a mutual friend and chatting on social media, going public with their relationship in November 2025 when the cowboy posted a series of since-deleted photos on Instagram with the caption, ‘Never been so certain.’
Meanwhile, cameras captured every major milestone in the early days of their romance: their first kiss, Eklund’s trip to Gallatin, Missouri, to meet the McBee family and talks of relocating together permanently to Eklund’s home base in Texas.
But their picture-perfect love story quickly unraveled when the pair went to California in April this year for the three-day country music festival Stagecoach.
McBee left a day early – and it was then that he claimed Eklund had cheated on him.
At the time, he took to Instagram to publicly accuse Eklund of being unfaithful, sharing a screenshot of footage that he claimed exposed her supposed infidelity and alleging that she was seen dancing with another man at the festival. In a since-deleted video, McBee also alleged Eklund was ‘handholding, grinding, dancing’ at an afterparty.
Eklund has denied the allegations, and the Daily Mail has now learned who captured the footage of the influencer at Stagecoach: fellow reality star Sydney Groom, who rose to prominence as a runner-up on season one of the reality dating show Farmer Wants a Wife.
‘Sydney claimed to have taken the video,’ a source told us. ‘She’s jealous of Allie. She was boasting to people that she took the video. The motive is attention. She didn’t get far from her show and didn’t get that many followers.’
Nashville-based Groom, 25, posts lifestyle and fashion content on TikTok and Instagram, but with just 40,000 followers on Instagram she has failed to garner as much attention as Eklund, who has nearly 450,000.
McBee posted a screenshot of a video that he alleged was proof of Eklund’s infidelity
Groom, who shared a snap of herself at the festival on Instagram, is said to have been the one who filmed Eklund at Stagecoach
‘Allie was a pretty big influencer prior to [The McBee Dynasty] and was making a lot of money and had great opportunities well before it,’ a separate insider said. ‘She’s a hustler with an entire team helping her get deals.’
The source claimed that Eklund ‘makes about $150,000 a year on links and affiliates’ in addition to deals with brands like Aritzia and commissions earned via LTK, a shopping platform that allows creators to link their clothes and other products for followers to buy. Eklund, the source continued, also ‘makes about $300,000 to $400,000 a year at minimum, but that’s probably a conservative estimate.’
And while Eklund and Groom ‘don’t have a relationship at all,’ Groom and McBee do know of each other, the first insider said. It is unclear, however, exactly how they would have met.
‘I’ve seen Steven and her talking and hanging out in social circles,’ the source said. ‘They don’t follow each other on social media, but they definitely know each other so that is interesting.’
The insider also noted that there was ‘nothing’ in the video of Eklund and the man she was supposedly seen dancing with. ‘Were they together and was there flirtation? Sure. But she didn’t cheat,’ the source insisted.
Eklund, for her part, has denied the allegations of infidelity, posting footage from the festival on social media and saying that she was with ‘a group of long term friends.’ And, she made a string of damning accusations of her own.
Eklund was a new face on season three of The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys
The couple’s romance became a focal point of the latest season, with premiered last month
In a lengthy statement on Instagram she accused McBee of having a ‘history of verbally abusing me while he’s in a heightened emotional state.’
Eklund explained how she refrained from addressing his accusations immediately because she ‘felt it was more appropriate to have a private, levelheaded conversation once emotions had settled.’
‘Unfortunately, that opportunity wasn’t given to me before he decided to make this situation public and it’s even more disappointing that he made references to promote his tv show, as this situation is very real for me and my family, who prefer to live privately.’
She described the situation as ‘painful’ and declared, ‘I’d like this to end here.’
Texts from McBee, of which Eklund shared screenshots, were explicit in their vileness, branding her a ‘slut,’ ‘whore’ and ‘bitch’ and claiming she ‘just wants to be at every party hooking up with every guy possible.’ He ended the repulsive tirade by telling her to get out and to ‘have a good life f***ing slut.’
Meanwhile, McBee’s ex Calah Jackson – whose resemblance to Eklund did not go unnoticed by his family – also spoke out, claiming that his behavior was not ‘new’ or ‘circumstantial’ but ‘unfortunately who he is.’ She said it was ‘just a small glimpse into what I experienced over the course of my three year relationship with him.’
McBee later apologized for the texts to Eklund in a statement on Instagram, calling the messages ‘cruel and degrading’ and saying he was ‘ashamed.’
‘To anyone who has been on the receiving end of such words, I am truly sorry. I recognize that the criticism I am receiving is fair, and I am listening,’ he said, adding that he intends to seek therapy and is ‘taking advanced steps to ensure I react better when faced with adversity.’
Eklund shared screenshots of texts from her ex, calling the influencer a ‘slut,’ ‘whore’ and ‘bitch’ and claiming she ‘just wants to be at every party hooking up with every guy possible’
Eklund responded to her ex’s cheating claims with a lengthy statement on Instagram accusing him of being verbally abusive
Eklund and McBee have since called it quits, but the story of their short-lived romance will continue to play out on television as the third season of the reality series airs
In the aftermath of their bitter split, Eklund has also been accused of using her relationship with McBee and time on his family’s reality show for fame. Our second insider, however, insisted that the couple’s connection was indeed genuine.
‘Allie and Steve’s relationship was real,’ the source said. ‘She didn’t want it to be public for a while but he did.
‘Steve went hard for Allie and sold her a dream. He wanted her on the show and to claim her in a way. She’s adamant she didn’t cheat. She isn’t that kind of a girl. She sounds pretty done with him.’
The Daily Mail contacted representatives for Eklund, McBee and Groom for comment.
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