Just because 90 Day Fiance alum Nicole Nafziger is done with Azan Tefou doesn't mean that she's no longer famous.
She has a lot of followers and a lot of people who remain interested in her life.
Nicole, already a mother to 7-year-old May, recently teased exciting news and posted a sonogram photo.
However ... she is not pregnant, and is apologizing for (once again) misleading fans.
"Surprise!" Nicole wrote on a post and on a matching Instagram Story this week.
Her words accompanied an ultrasound photo, a tell-tale sign of pregnancy.
Fans -- particularly those who did not follow the link back to pregnancy news about another reality star -- were confused and had questions.
“No, I am not pregnant,” Nicole clarified on her Instagram Story, deleting the original misleading update.
“Sorry for the confusing post," she expressed.
"Hope everyone is staying safe out there!" Nicole wrote. "Peace and love to all.”
Why would Nicole post something misleading only to apologize for it? We can explain.
Public figures can use third parties, usually a manager, to better monetize their social media.
This is fairly common for reality stars, especially those who are less prominent (not a Kardashian or a Real Housewife).
While big-name celebrities like Selena Gomez or Beyonce can make six figures for a single Instagram ad, 90 Day Fiance stars aren't quite there.
Instead, they can do Instagram product endorsements.
We have all seen Nicole do these from time to time. Those aren't free -- they are paid.
Additionally, they can share links to news that their followers may -- or may not -- find interesting or relevant.
Sometimes, these are right on the money, like sharing a link to an interview that they just gave.
Other times, these can be misleading, inspiring outrage in those who click the links and confusion in those who (for some unknown reason) do not.
A few years ago, Deavan Clegg's management shared a link in her Instagram Stories.
She received backlash from some fans and went on an angry rant after because the article had briefly mentioned the political realities of immigration.
Most of the time, however, when these links cause anger, it is purely from feeling misled.
More recently, Loren Brovarnik briefly feuded with Ashley Martson over a link.
Ashley's management shared a link that included a photo from Loren's first pregnancy announcement, when she was pregnant with Shai.
Somehow through the grapevine, Loren ended up mistakenly believing that Ashley was stealing her photo for her own announcement.
These days, Danielle Mullins Jbali is back in headlines after appearing on The Single Life.
But when she and Mohamed Jbali first broke up, there was nothing in the 90 Day Fiance franchise for a single like her.
For a while, however, she was prepared to launch a full-body makeover spinoff reality career on another network with a new manager.
However, Danielle and her would-be manager, Gina Rodriguez (yes, Mama June Shannon's manager) parted ways on sour terms.
According to Gina's side of things, Danielle was reportedly difficult or impossible to work with.
According to Danielle, however, this management wanted to be able to post links and ads on her social media, and she refused.
With all of that context, we can infer that Nicole likely had no idea that this was posted to her account.
Most of the stories that she shares are related to 90 Day Fiance and do not elicit this kind of blowback.
But every now and then, there's one of these weird teasers -- usually a sonogram or an "RIP" -- and Nicole finds out the hard way.
Reality stardom is complicated, and very few people are in this without hoping to improve their finances.
Nicole is a single mom, working to support her daughter and also taking classes to further her education.
That is all commendable. It doesn't make random, misleading ultrasounds any less baffling, but we at least understand how this happens.