The flagship show in the franchise finally returned when Season 8 of 90 Day Fiancé premiered on Sunday, December 6, and it brought with it plenty of ghosts of relationship drama to come. On the first episode, we were introduced to four of the season's couples — newcomers Brandon and Julia and Jovi and Yara and returning stars Mike and Natalie and Rebecca and Zied — and got our first look at all the messiness viewers look forward to on the TLC show. Some couples, however, seemed messier than most.
In the wake of just how many reality TV relationships go up in flames on this show, I decided to look out for all the many red flags — and then tally them up. All in all, some of the pairs came out looking more than a little worse for wear. Let's see how everyone stands.
Mike and Natalie: 2 (New) Red Flags
Natalie and Mike were one of the returning couples after they were featured on Season 7. We saw plenty of their ups and downs last year, and now they're back with more.
The Surprise Visa
On the previous season, we saw the American make the decision to go visit his Ukrainian fiancé on her home turf after their K-1 visa process was taking too long. This year, they've got the opposite problem. Her visa has finally come through — but now they're not technically still engaged, and she won't even say that she loves him. After shit went sideways during his trip abroad, she gave him the ring back, and now they've got 20 days to decide if they're stable enough for Natalie to move stateside — and just 90 days after that to commit to tying the knot or sending Natalie home for good.
The Stranger Situation
Another complicating factor is Mike's Uncle Beau, who lives with him and helps tend his farm. Despite the fact that he may or may not become family in just 110 days, Natalie considers him a "stranger," and not only does she not want him around while they're getting their relationship back on track, she won't even stay in the house if he's there. Mike isn't exactly ready to kick out someone who actually loves him in favor of someone who might maybe one day love him under the right circumstances, and he told Natalie she "might just have to suffer a little bit" as they cross paths.
The word "suffer" came across particularly harsh (seriously, Mike, you couldn't tell her she should "tolerate it" or "put up with it" instead?), though, especially when Natalie realized he wasn't joking. He assured her she won't be "alone" with Beau, but both of them ended the phone call seeming pretty miserable. Natalie even tried to make him promise that they would both be nice to each other before they hung up.
Rebecca and Zied: 3 (New) Red Flags
The other returning couple, Rebecca and Zied, were featured on Season 3 of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days. Despite some kinda-sorta-catfish-adjacent shenanigans, the two found love and went on to get engaged, but their journey is far from over.
The Green Card Relationship
If you watched Before the 90 Days, you already know the deal, but if you didn't, Rebecca was more than happy to explain her backstory on the new show — and it included an unfortunate relationship fail. In one of her previous three marriages, she tied the knot with a younger man in Morocco, but when she brought him to the States on a spousal visa, she discovered that he was more interested in his green card than he was with her. The fact that she's now hoping to bring another younger man to America on a fiancé visa is sure to throw up red flags not just with the audience, but with the actual government officials they'll be dealing with.
The Disapproving Sister
Another card in the deck stacked against them is Zied's sister, Wiem, who is not exactly on board with the relationship. She and Rebecca butted heads when the redhead traveled to Tunisia to spend time with her man, and there's still plenty of conflict between them. For now, the tension is simmering just below the surface, but Wiem's silence when Rebecca said that she hoped Zied's visa would get approved spoke volumes.
The Concerned Kids
Rebecca's family isn't exactly on board either. Her daughter Tiffany has offered to let the couple move in with her and boyfriend Mycah, but before Zied and Mycah were even on the same continent they were already butting heads. Zied is worried about his would-be-wife living with another unmarried man, and Mycah is preemptively annoyed that his girlfriend's soon-to-be step-father isn't making any effort to assimilate to what Mycah sees as his future culture. Tiffany is also worried that history is repeating itself, leaving both Rebecca and her daughter feeling disappointed.
Brandon and Julia: 5 Red Flags
Brandon and Julia are one of the new couples, and their completely different backgrounds (and expectations for their relationship) seem to have them set for disaster.
The, Uh, Tight-Knit Family
Right off the bat, you could tell Brandon's parents were going to be little too involved with his relationship. Even his introduction on the show was filmed as he sat sandwiched between his mommy and daddy as they all but held his hand through it. While they didn’t technically set him up with his current fiancé, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. They signed him up for a farmer’s dating site — but it just so happened that he had slid into a go go dancer’s DMs just in time.
That said, it’s clear how this is all going to play out from the second that Brandon says mom Betty is controlling, she tries to qualify that statement, and dad Robert doubles down on it. “Hahaha,” she cackles. “I am a controller. I am.”
The Independent Spirit
One of the things Brandon said he liked best about Julia, his Russian fiancé, is that she understands how important family is — but they don't seem to be on the same page about living with his parents. "When I come, what you think? We stay with parents little time, yes?" she asked him over FaceTime. He hesitantly confirmed that was the plan so they could "save a little bit of money," but she wasn't convinced. She didn't seem to be asking if that was the plan but instead pushing Brandon to confirm that it would only be for a "little time."
She admitted she worries that Betty will pressure them to stay and that Brandon will give in, and then she teased him about waking up together in the morning, turning to Brandon to say hello and then turning to Brandon's mother to say hello. He didn't have an issue with her teasing — but he admitted in a confessional that his "worst case scenario" involved her hating living with his parents. We can see danger on the horizon already.
The Daunting Debt
The fact of the matter is, they might not be able to afford their own place as soon as Julia likes. While Brandon made sure to emphasize to her that he's just a little old farm boy who may be rich of spirit but it poor of cash, he also splashed out when he paid for his and his lady's Paris trip and their trip to Iceland, in addition to paying all of the fees and covering the costs of the K-1 visa process. He mentioned that he spent about $10,000 in seven months ... and then he promised to buy Julia whatever clothes she still needs once she moves stateside and cover her living expenses since she'll be out of work. He may think he's prepared her for a little life on the farm, but we get the feeling both of them are in for a rude awakening.
The Bedroom Dilemma
Aaaaand they'll get that awakening right away when they literally wake up in different bedrooms. Betty and Robert have put their foot down when it comes to the couple staying together, something Brandon already knows Julia won't like... which is why he conveniently hasn't told her. And it's not even that he's hoping his parents will change their mind at the last minute — he explicitly admitted in a confessional that he pretty much just doesn't want to risk Julia never getting on her flight if she finds out ahead of time.
The Unprotected Issue
The most alarming thing, however, might be the fact that he and Julia are "not being safe" when it comes to their sex life. Julia is anti-hormonal birth control (and apparently also all other kinds of birth control), and Brandon doesn't want to take on the "responsibility" of using contraceptives either. They're just not as "fun."
Apparently, no one has told him that having a baby involves are lot more responsibility (and a lot less time for fun) — but they've pretty much decided that they're not worried about the risk, leaving his parents in shock (and his mom hitting speed dial for her gyno's office). He tried to tastefully hint that they are using the, uh, pull out method, but it didn't fly, and his mom ended up legit making that call to secure Julia a doctor's appointment before she'd ever even stepped foot in America.
Jovi and Yara: 7 Red Flags
While Brandon's parents make his and Julia's storyline stand out, Jovi and Yara, one of the other new couples, took the lead when it came to tallying up potential issues. These two are going to have quite the road ahead of them when it comes to making it work.
The Automatic Assumptions
The American first set off alarm bells as he spoke about his relationship with Yara, a Ukraine native he met while traveling abroad. While he initially figured they would have a little fun hooking up, they started a whirlwind, worldwide romance that apparently got a little too free-wheeling when they found out Yara had accidentally gotten knocked up.
Instead of realizing that maybe he should've been a little more careful and taking responsibility for his role in the pregnancy, he immediately jumped to the conclusion that she was trying to "trap" him to guarantee her "ticket to America." When the couple ended up losing the pregnancy, Jovi immediately started rethinking that whole engaged-and-getting-married-and-moving-Yara-to-the-States thing — and while he's back on board with the plan now, we doubt this was the one and only wild accusation we'll see between these two.
The Ticking Clock
The fact that they're only going to have about 60 days together instead of the usual three months also doesn't look good. Jovi's work schedule means he'll be gone for a full 30 days just two weeks after Yara arrives. She may get a taste of what her life in America is like, but they won't have an idea of how their actual marriage might look as they move in together while he's away at work. That might be a good window into what their reality might be, but it doesn't give either of them much time to get to know each other in a non-vacation frame of mind.
The Wary Friends
The fact that none of his loved ones have had a chance to meet Yara is already concerning enough, but they fact that they don't even know if Jovi is ready to settle down is a completely different story. When he visited pals Sara and Kline, the most positive spin they could put on the whole situation was that watching it play out "should be interesting." They called his situation bizarre — and Sara especially stressed that she "never" thought Jovi "out of all people" would settle down. She thinks he's still in party mode, and he doesn't seem to disagree. He insisted that he's still pretty much gonna do whatever he wants to do... and Sara said it all: "Yikes."
The Floral Demands
When it comes to airport reunions, we all know that flowers can make or break a situation. And I have to say, I think it is a plus for Yara that she made it known ahead of time that Jovi needed to make sure he had a bouquet waiting for her. But the fact that she told him he didn't need to bother showing up if he was going to come empty-handed iiiiiiiiis a little eyebrow-raising. So is the fact that, in general, Jovi says she's "very high-maintenance." He's also hoping his apartment is up to her standards, but is concerned about the fact that he has "zero potpourri" there for her (because that is apparently what women like?).
The Travel Troubles
Those high standards came into play approximately three hours later when he met her at the airport and the production crew asked them both how they were feeling. While Jovi was clearly overjoyed to be reunited with his lady, Yara insisted that not only did she feel "tired" after her 30 hour trek, she was so tired that she had no room left to feel excited. She couldn't muster up a single shred of gratitude for the fact that she and her man were finally back together and instead seized the opportunity to point out how he was "economic" in how he booked her flights, then scolded him for not being as careful as he could be with her bags.
The Lack of Attraction
In general, she seemed happy to rag on her man. When the producers asked her what she loved most about him, she couldn't come up with anything nice to say — but she had no trouble thinking up some more critiques. She answered by saying that she doesn't know exactly what she loves about Jovi other than maybe the fact that he has "a good body" ... only she then went on to clarify that, actually, he doesn't have that anymore. "Not now," she said. "Before."
The Lackluster Reunion
In general, these two seemed bound to start their time together on the wrong foot. Yara explained in a confessional that "nothing" is "easy" or "perfect" with Jovi, and she didn't go on to say how their love was still worth fighting for. In fact, she just explained that it's not even the kind of love that makes you want to "jump from the mountains." And their first night seemed headed for disaster. After that 30 hour travel time, Yara said she only wanted to shower and go to sleep, but Jovi insisted that he was going to show her a proper New Orleans night out. When they finally pulled away from the curb in the back of their car, they both looked frustrated with where they stood.
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Images: TLC