TLC's 90 Day Fiancé has become one of TV's most talked-about reality shows, spawning
several successful spin-offs.
90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days was a smash hit — but in 2020, the series received extreme
backlash over one participant's sordid past.
This is the untold truth of 90 Day Fiancé's Geoffrey Paschel.
"I think this is all a joke to you.
I am your free ride to America."
TLC's announcement of the 2020 season of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days introduced
the upcoming season's couples, including Geoffrey Paschel and Russian radio personality, Varya.
According to the network's press release, the two met on a quote "international dating
site."
And in a promo for the season, the Knoxville, Tennessee native admitted,
"I have never met Varya in person.
So I decided to go to Russia."
"I want to hear your voice and to see you."
Paschel flew to Moscow for their first face-to-face meeting.
He revealed the details about how they met during a confessional, admitting that their
story began when he created a profile on an international dating site.
Paschel, who revealed he'd previously been married more than once, and claimed that he
had it tough in love, then declared that he and his new girlfriend were destined to be
together.
"There is no perfect package, until I met Varya."
According to a network press release, Paschel faced an unimaginable tragedy when his young
son, Kazhem, passed away at 13 months old.
He revealed in the season premiere,
"I've had a lot of heartbreak in my life, but by far, the absolute worst is what happened
to Kazhem."
Paschel explained that Kazhem suffered a seizure while in his care, ultimately passing away
a few days later at the hospital.
Paschel added,
"Losing a child is the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to you.
There's going to be a hole in my heart for the rest of my life, but I know Kazhem's all
around me.
And that gives me peace in my heart to know that."
"They had him on life support, and I held him as they pulled the plug."
In February 2020, Paschel shared a tribute on Instagram to commemorate what would have
been his son's third birthday, writing,
"There is not a moment that goes by whereas he is not encompassing my every thought."
Weeks before the premiere of Paschel's season of Before the 90 Days, Knox News reported
that he made a court appearance in late January 2020 stemming from an arrest, just months
before.
The bust came after an alleged violent altercation with his then-girlfriend, who claimed in her
petition,
"He repeatedly bashed/slammed my head into the hardwood floors of my home.
He dragged me through the house by my hair and continued throwing my body into walls
and furniture."
His ex sought medical attention at a Knoxville hospital and was diagnosed with a concussion.
In addition, the woman accused Paschel of disabling her phone.
She finally managed to escape, and called 911 from a neighbor's phone.
The woman was granted a restraining order, while Paschel entered a plea of not guilty.
During his court appearance in January 2020, Paschel waived an arraignment and was formally
charged with, "aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault, interference with emergency calls
and vandalism," according to Knox News.
But according to his ex-girlfriend, this wasn't the first time she'd allegedly been the victim
of Paschel's violent behavior.
In her petition seeking an order of protection, she also accused Paschel of physical violence,
as well as threatening her four times since the fall of 2018.
Meanwhile, the alleged attacks apparently continued after Paschel was placed in custody
the following June.
According to Starcasm, Paschel reportedly tried to quote "kick out the windows of the
patrol vehicle," which led officers to determine he was the primary aggressor.
"There's no reason I should be interrogated like this."
Paschel denied charges, telling authorities his ex's injuries were self-inflicted.
After the 2020 hearing, Paschel told reporters his ex-girlfriend's allegations were her way
of sabotaging his child custody battle with his estranged wife, from whom he wasn't yet
officially divorced.
"So many failed marriages, it's made it really hard to trust people again."
Paschel's June 2019 arrest impacted his ongoing custody battle with his estranged fourth wife,
Brittany, as their divorce agreement was being worked out.
According to legal documents obtained by Starcasm, the co-parenting agreement between Paschel
and his ex granted her custody of their son, Cayvan, one week per month, with Paschel having
custody for the remainder.
Paschel's son was with his mother, who had moved to Canada and could not legally enter
the U.S., when the reality star was arrested.
While the two parents were scheduled to attend a court hearing days later, Starcasm reports
that Paschel never showed up.
After his ex learned he'd been arrested on domestic violence charges, her attorney filed
an emergency motion to suspend their co-parenting arrangement due to the allegations.
The judge in this case ended up granting Brittany temporary physical and legal custody, and
amending their previous agreement.
Paschel would then be the one to have custody just one week per month, while Cayvan would
live with his mother for the rest of the month.
"Does she know everything about you?
Your past, more specifically."
"Um, well no."
Paschel's arrest and accusations of violence were just one piece of a larger picture that
began to emerge when Starcasm claimed to have obtained the divorce papers filed by ex-wife
number two, in 2004.
And those legal documents contained some very disturbing allegations.
Among the numerous claims from Paschel's second ex-wife were quote "various physical assaults,"
which the filing claimed had been documented through medical records and court orders.
In addition, this unnamed ex alleged that Paschel:
"Committed assaults [in] the presence of minor children as well as committing acts of violence
towards the minor children themselves, [and] further threatened the lives of [his ex-wife]
and her family numerous times."
Hidden amidst these accusations was a particularly heinous one: a claim that Paschel had assaulted
his ex-wife multiple times, even threatening her life.
A 2013 divorce filing from yet another one of Paschel's ex-wives contained even more
shocking allegations.
According to Starcasm in February 2020, he and that wife also had a child together.
This ex, reportedly his third, similarly filed a motion for a protective order, which requested
that Paschel quote "not have co-parenting time" with their son, and claimed,
"He is a danger to the child due to his practice of selling opiate medication and historic
involvement of his children as a 'cover' or 'mule' in his illegal activities."
Starcasm's report also included the transcript of a deposition allegedly given by Paschel.
When asked if he was ever convicted of drug trafficking, the reality star reportedly admitted,
"I was convicted of something…but I'm not sure it was drug trafficking."
As of April 2020, the exact charges in this case against Paschel remain unclear.
"I'm really worried that Varya will not accept me for who I am once she finds out everything
about me."
Early 2020 saw Starcasm continue to dig into Paschel's past.
That February, the gossip site claimed to have discovered his lengthy criminal record
dating back to 1997, when he reportedly faced several drug charges at the age of 19.
This was supposedly followed by an arrest in 2000 on charges of larceny theft.
Paschel reportedly spent some time in prison, serving time in a federal pen from 2001 until
2003.
While the charges on which he was convicted hadn't been unearthed, Starcasm did find documents
indicating that, at the time of his arrest, Paschel reportedly,
"Had in his possession, five pounds of marijuana, two ounces of cocaine, $15,000, and a firearm."
All that said, as Starcasm emphasized for all of these cases,
"These are the charges at the time of Geoffrey's arrests and should not be interpreted as guilt."
Still, in 2013, Paschel was reportedly arrested after a Home Depot security camera captured
him putting more than $500 worth of lights on a dolly and heading out the exit door without
paying.
Starcasm reports that Paschel pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor shoplifting charge and received
a probationary sentence.
"The last few years have been extremely hard.
And I just wanna find happiness again."
Before a single episode of the 2020 season of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days even
aired, the revelations about Paschel's past left some fans unsettled.
If a gossip site could find out this information, they wondered, why hadn't TLC?
Viewers who found out about Paschel's arrests and the allegations surrounding them let their
feelings be known on social media.
One fan tweeted:
"I am boycotting Geoffrey and his dumb story.
No interest in hearing anything from him!"
Another fan, self-identifying as a quote "connoisseur of garbage television," similarly tweeted,
"I can't believe 90 Day Fiance is airing Geoffrey Paschal's segments, considering the accusations
against him."
One viewer was angered enough to launch a petition on Change Dot Org, titled "Remove
Geoffrey Paschel from TLC shows."
Listing the various accusations surrounding Paschel, the petition's goal was that he be
booted from the series while ensuring he appears in no future TLC program.
The site stated,
"We would also like to make advertisers aware of what they are supporting, and hope to see
that your companies will not stand for promoting such atrocities as these."
"I won't know, until I actually meet Varya, if she's everything that I've built her up
to be in my head.
And there's a lot that she doesn't know about me."
The shocking allegations about Paschel's past boiled over just as the new season of 90 Day
Fiancé: Before the 90 Days premiered in February 2020.
Viewers of the series who had become aware of the accusations were stunned to see that
Paschel had apparently neglected to tell his Russian paramour, Varya, that he'd been arrested
and was facing charges of kidnapping, domestic assault, and other crimes, or about the restraining
order his former girlfriend had taken out against him.
"I truly believe that Varya and I are meant to be together."
Fans took to Twitter to point out the corner Paschel had painted himself into, with one
viewer tweeting:
"Yes…when Varya finds out you're a serial abuser, Geoffrey…she's not gonna be happy."
And another simply wrote,
"Varya better be careful."
A different Twitter user also added,
"Nearly spit my wine out when Geoffrey's friends said he has 'impulse issues.'
With a criminal history like that, I'd say so."
It looks like we'll have to wait and see how this all plays out on-screen.
Paschel's alleged criminal past and 2019 arrest weren't the only details the star seemed to
be keeping from his Russian girlfriend.
It looks as though he also neglected to tell her that he was actually still legally married,
since his divorce hadn't yet been finalized.
"I was surprised because he didn't tell me about that."
Starcasm then dug up more on Paschel's estranged ex, Brittany.
The two reportedly met in 2014, when he was 36 and she was 19, and during the course of
their marriage, the couple had two sons.
At some point, the marriage broke down, and in 2017, Brittany allegedly took their two
sons and returned to Canada.
In a court filing that year, she claimed she removed the children because of housing uncertainty
and fears that her husband…
"Would expose the children to a grave risk of physical or psychological harm."
That same court filing also revealed that Brittany was barred from entering the U.S.
for 20 years, while Paschel was reportedly prohibited from entering Canada due to his
criminal record.
Several of Geoffrey Paschel's Instagram posts seem to be taken on film or TV sets, including
one featuring such giveaway hashtags as "acting, tv, actorslife, onset, talent, filming, actor,
and casting."
In another since-deleted post, he shared a photo of himself with Matthew McConaughey,
presumably taken on a film set.
Paschel's IMDb boasts numerous on-screen credits, but many of those projects appear to be true-crime
TV documentaries, in which Paschel acted in staged reenactments.
In the series Homicide Hunter: Lieutenant Joe Kenda, Paschel portrayed numerous characters,
including a uniformed cop, a police detective, and a victim.
"This is gonna go nowhere."
Professional acting appears to have been a fairly recent endeavor for Paschel, with his
earliest screen credit dating to 2017 for the true-crime series, Murder Chose Me.
He played a convenience store manager on the show.
The controversy over Geoffrey Paschel has continued to engulf the 2020 season of 90
Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days.
However, as of April 2020, TLC has not addressed the controversy.
"I'm done.
This is bulls---.
I'm failing myself.
I should have been smarter than this."
For his part, Paschel finally issued a response of his own in a lengthy Instagram post shared
on March 5, 2020.
While he confessed to having a checkered past, the reality star neither admitted the accusations
were true nor denied that they weren't.
He wrote in part,
"I hid so much about myself, whether it be my age, my history, or even my relationships…With
the path I chose, it cannot EVER be reversed.
Everything about me is out there for the world to see, whether it is true or fantasy…And
honestly, I would not have it any different."
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