TLC is known for its reality drama shows, but none of them managed to come close to the popularity that 90 Day Fiancé generated. From accusing foreigners of marrying for a green card and then showing Americans trying to fit into different cultures, this show has become the epitome of Trash TV.
First seen in 2014, 90 Day Fiancé features couples who are going through the process of applying for a K-1 visa, a type of visa that’s specifically issued for fiancés of American citizens. Once they apply for it, these diverse couples will have a period of 90 days to decide whether they’d like to marry each other or break off the engagement.
Up until now, this 90DF franchise has managed to air more than ten seasons, each featuring new long-distance couples hoping to meet in the US soon. Besides the main series, 90 Day Fiancé also has several other spin-offs, like Happily Ever After, The Other Way, and many similar series.
While they focus on different kinds of relationships, something that all of these spin-offs and the main show have in common is the dramatization of every problem that comes up between couples.
Lashing out at their partners, asking for huge amounts of money, and making strange & creepy requests, many such situations were seen on the decade-old reality series.
Some of these dramatic confrontations might be believable, but some just seem completely random and weird, even if it’s part of Trash television. Few of the couples from the 90 Day Fiancé franchise have revealed the truth behind the realness of these unhinged interactions.
Is 90 Day Fiancé Scripted? The Reality Behind The Dating Show
Over its 9-year run, 90 Day Fiancé has had tons of new couples every season. Not all of these men and women have said the same thing, but based on what they’ve revealed on their social media platforms, it is safe to say that 90 Day Fiancé isn’t exactly scripted; some aspects are staged to create drama and entertainment for viewers.
So many insane moments have happened on 90DF, and the scene involving Chris, Annie, and Nikki from season 5 is a part of it. One of the couples for this season was David Toborowsky and Annie Suwan. David’s close friend, Chris Theineman, had been trying to help the couple obtain Annie’s visa quickly and would even provide them with the money.
Ok, who else thinks the lip gloss was planted by a producer?
Who else thinks that Gino really didn't know where it came from?
Who else thinks that Gino and Jasmine knew and this was one of their more obviously scripted plots? #90DayFiance 🤔 pic.twitter.com/XV38Jmkktv
— Kat Targaryen (@KRodOfficial) November 13, 2023
Chris’s wife, Nikki, admired her husband for it. In one of the scenes from season 5, Chris asks Annie for a Thai massage right in front of his wife. Nikki didn’t have a major reaction, and the whole conversation took an awkward turn.
Nikki and Chris later revealed that producers from TLC wanted to create fake tension and had already asked them to talk about the Thai massage beforehand. This explains why Nikki reacted so calmly when her husband asked an inappropriate question.
Most couples have claimed that TLC edits the footage in a way that makes it look more dramatic than it really is. The abrupt cuts and camera zooms are added to make the situation look unexpected. Sometimes, they’re added to label one of the partners as the bad guy in the relationship.
Former cast like Ben Rathbun and Erika Owens say otherwise, as they believe TLC shows the ugly truth between such couples. This, however, is not accepted by most of the other crew members.
Another example is Cassia Tavares, from season 2, who married Jason Hitch in the series. Tavares said that while the couples were genuine and not actors, the situations created between them were mostly staged. They would be informed by the 90DF crew to talk about a certain topic and act a certain way so that there’s a fight or disagreement.
Tavares had to take a pregnancy test while being filmed, although she and Jason were already aware that she wasn’t pregnant. The most recent couple that spoke about TLC’s fake plots are Deavan Clegg and Jihoon Lee. Deavan claims that Jihoon and her were already married when she was shown to be flying to South Korea to be with her partner.
As seen in 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, Clegg and Jihoon had already lost interest in living together by the end of season 1. Since TLC had already paid them for another season, Deavan and her South Korean partner had no choice but to continue filming for the cash.
In conclusion, 90 Day Fiancé doesn’t always feature fake couples or actors, but instead, it creates exciting drama by staging certain situations and prepping for the fallout beforehand. This doesn’t make 90 Day Fiancé less interesting to watch, as the diverse couples and new cultures also add tons of entertainment.
