Of all the many spinoffs from 90 Day Fiancé, The Other Way is the one that flips the script
the most as it follows Americans who move to the homeland of their foreign-born love
interests. But what else is there to know about the show?
In the original 90 Day Fiancé, the foreign half of the couple visits the United States
on a K-1 visa, giving the duo 90 days to either make or break the long-distance relationship
they'd been nurturing.
The Other Way, however, reverses the format by following Americans who travel to the homelands
of their significant others, setting aside the lives they've built in the U.S. to be
with their spouses-to-be.
Other than that, in a lot of ways this is still the same old show, following along as
travellers from far away struggle to make sense of a new culture while also trying to
navigate a relationship that had up until then been predominantly virtual and is now
face to face.
"This is wild s---. Like, what? What? I mean, what?"
Throughout it all, the Americans encounter an array of challenges as they undertake an
international relocation, ranging from communication difficulties to trying to impress their soon-to-be
in-laws. As TLC's press release put it, "Will uprooting their lives in the United States
pay off or be the biggest mistake ever?"
The Other Way proved to be yet another hit addition to TLC's wildly successful franchise,
resulting in the show being brought back for a second season in 2020.
For the show's sophomore outing, only two couples from the first season returned for
the second go-round: Jenny and Sumit, and Deavan and Jihoon.
Joining the returnees were four new couples:
Yazan and Brittany, who left her home in Florida to move to Jordan to be with her fiancé;
57 year old Kenneth, and 31 year old Armando, whose 26-year age difference didn't prevent
Kenneth from upending his life in the U.S. and moving to Mexico;
Melyza and Tim, whom the show follows as he relocates to Colombia;
And Ariela and Biniyam, a native of Ethiopia being joined by his new fiancée, leaving
her home in Princeton, New Jersey to start a new life in Africa.
The challenges the couples face would be as overwhelming as those experienced by the participants
in the original 90 Day Fiancé, but this time it's the Americans who find themselves with
cultural obstacles to overcome.
"I don't know what we're going to do. I can't live in a place that has no bathroom, and
no kitchen!"
"We can — you listen to me, shut up." "I'm not f---ing staying here, I told you that!"
The first season of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way concluded with the couples coming together
to share updates on their relationships in the two-part "The Couples Tell All" special.
One participant that was conspicuously absent was Brazil resident Karine. Her husband, Paul,
appeared solo to film the special.
The reason why she didn't appear apparently became clear when Paul subsequently issued
a mysterious post on his Instagram Story that suggested Karine had initiated divorce proceedings
in Brazil. That was followed by a brief video clip of the couple's son, with Paul telling
the child, "Daddy's gonna miss you."
But don't cry for this lost love just yet. After Paul's solo appearance in the tell-all
special, the two seemed to have reconciled. In another Instagram Story post shared a few
months later, which was archived by an Instagram fan account, Paul shared a photo of his wife
with a heart drawn around her midsection and the word "baby" above her head, indicating
that they may be expecting a second child together.
Tiffany and Ronald, who struck out for a life together in South Africa, both appeared together
in the first season's tell-all special. But just a few short months later, the couple
had apparently called it quits.
As reported by E! News, both Ronald and Tiffany issued social media posts in January 2020
announcing they were splitting up. Tiffany thanked the show's fans for following their
journey, and insisted that she and Ronald still love each other — but she also mysteriously
added,
"Some things are just irreparable."
Meanwhile, Ronald likewise made an announcement on social media, writing his side of the story
by saying,
"Thank you for following our story but unfortunately it just didn't work for me. I'll be filing
for divorce in [South Africa] since she isn't even registered in [the] USA as married. Talk
about adultery."
Tiffany denied the cheating allegations and claimed she'd been, quote, "taken for granted."
As viewers of The Other Way's first season noticed, the relationship of Laura and Aladin
was a problematic one.
"Aladin, do you think Americans in general complain a little bit too much?" "Yes. Laura,
she's Mr. Complain. She complain about everything."
In addition to their cultural differences, there was also a substantial age gap between
the American and her Tunisian husband.
When they appeared together in the season-ending tell-all special, they candidly discussed
the troubles they'd had in their brief marriage, including her dissatisfaction with their sex
life. But despite it all, Laura still declared that she was committed to the relationship.
“You said, 'We're gonna end the marriage.' Have you just decided to get a divorce?"
"I am not ending the marriage."
That didn't wind up being the case. In the 90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined spinoff,
Laura revealed she was living in Ecuador with a new online boyfriend, a 25-year-old California
man named Tony.
Aladin confirmed the breakup, telling In Touch Weekly,
"Laura and I separated in late July 2019. There is no possibility of reconciliation."
"Pbht. Right."
"Are you for real? Do I disrespect you like that?"
One of the two couples coming back for Season 2, Jenny and Sumit, had more issues to overcome
than their 30-year age difference.
As viewers will recall, her world was rocked when she discovered that Sumit had been keeping
a whopper of a secret from her: He was married. Yet when they appeared on the "Couples Tell
All" special, they were still together — just not physically, with Jenny having returned
to the U.S.
In a subsequent interview with TV Insider, Jenny explained that she was able to put Sumit's
deception aside. According to Jenny,
"We never broke up, that never happened. [...] I knew that he was going to get his divorce
so I just went back and waited for that to happen."
"I am way too trusting with strangers."
90 Day Fiancé stars can certainly expect a certain degree of fame — but not fortune.
A source told Radar Online that the couples on the show and its spinoffs are typically
paid between $1,000 to $1,500 per episode. According to the source, couples who catch
on with fans and return in a subsequent season can receive a raise. Even then, the source
added, the dollar amount doesn't go up that much.
There are other variables that might affect the income, but again, it all seems kind of
lower than you might expect, considering all the gross details the shows often expose.
In an interview with Newsweek, blogger John Yates claimed that a couple who appears on
Before the 90 Days may split $500 an episode, while couples on Happily Ever After receive
a lot more, between $2,000 and $7,500 an episode. Reality Blurb also reported that couples are
paid an extra $2,500 to appear in the tell-all special.
"I feel like such an idiot."
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