One might think that landing a spot on a reality TV show
is a quick way to getting rich and famous
But a very few cast members go from rags to riches following their participation on 90 day fiancé.
Unlike the Kardashians, Real Housewives or Sister Wives,
most of the cast members who had appeared on 90 day fiancé have quickly fallen into obscurity,
and in addition to that, they weren’t paid that much at all.
Despite 90 day fiance’s popularity and high ratings,
the amount of money made by cast members is shockingly small.
In this video we will be talking about how much money do 90 day fiancé cast members make per episode
and provide some interesting facts from behind-the-scenes.
The amount of cash 90 day fiancé cast members receive vary depending on the spin-off of the franchise
and whether they had already participated on some previous seasons.
According to the leaks, the lowest paid spin-offs are "Before the 90 days" and "The Other Way"
where the rate per episode varies from $500 to $1,000 dollars.
The original 90 day fiancé pays $1,000 to $1,500 per couple per episode.
Filming for the "Tell All" special would bring the cast members additional $2,500 per couple.
Reportedly, filming for "Happily Ever After?", "The Single Life" and "Pillow Talk" brings much more money to the cast members,
as they have already participated on the previous seasons.
The exact range of earnings for those shows is unknown,
but reportedly it goes from $2,000 to $7,500 per episode
We need to keep in mind here, that most of the cast members don’t appear on every single episode of the season.
For example, Sasha and Emily from season 7 of 90 day fiancé
appeared on nine episodes out thirteen plus the "tell all" special,
making their joint income from that season to likely be $11,500 or higher.
While e.g. Tania and Syngin appeared on twelve episodes of that season out of thirteen plus on the "Tell All" special,
so their income started from $14,500.
In Tarik’s bankruptcy statement he listed his income for TLC/Sharpe between June and December of 2020
as just over $17,000.
One of the first cast members to come forward about their earnings on 90 day fiancé was Danielle,
originally from season 2 of 90 Day Fiance
In 2018 she wrote via social media
“We don’t make millions from doing the TV show,”
“For those of you questioning what happened to my show money.
I bought my home, bought appliances, did some repairs to the home, paid for a STNA class, put down a payment on a newer car.
It was not spent foolishly.”
In an interview with the Domenick Nati Show,
Danielle shared more insight about the money she makes from the franchise.
"It's close to around $10,000 if you are in all episodes for the season,”
When she first started the show in 2014, she got paid half up front and half at the end.
90 Day Fiancé's Tiffany confirmed, that the payments are the same way right now
According to Danielle, if a 90 day fiancé cast member breaks their non-disclosure agreement [NDA],
“they don’t get the rest of the money.”
Danielle claimed their NDAs must be honored until nine months after their last episode or they won’t get paid.
Due to the circumstances, the star has “always” kept her job as a reliable source of income.
"Before the 90 days" season 4 stars claim however, that they are still under NDA
For their appearances on the show in the Spring of 2020
90 day fiancé's Paul revealed in 2020 that each instance of breach of NDA
has a penalty of $50,000,
which is much more than the cast is even paid for the season.
It’s no wonder why 90 day fiancé cast members are so tight-lipped when it comes to talking about their earnings from the show.
Interestingly, the production company behind 90 day fiancé haven’t sued any cast member for breaching their NDA,
despite some of the cast members clearly spilling too much.
For example, Stephanie from 90 day fiancé season 8 revealed that her storyline was fake.
90 day fiancé's contracts also stipulate that the cast members cannot enter certain other contracts
without the written approval of the network.
For example, Larissa was released from her contract with TLC due to doing a live аdult show on CS.
90 Day Fiancé Season 7 Star Blake was also unhappy with the contract’s stipulations
and wanted to “pull a Larissa” to get out of the contract.
Having friends and family on the show is an unwritten, yet mandatory requirement for 90 day fiancé cast members.
However, most of the secondary cast members who came forward,
claim that they have not been paid for their participation on the show.
In May 2018, Chris and his wife Nikki participated in the show in David and his now-wife Annie‘s storyline.
They were friends with David, one of the main cast members, and even let the crew film in their house.
However, the couple claimed they only got “one dinner”
and reimbursement for the cleaning fees they paid to have their house tidied up after production left their home a little dirty.
On the other hand, Larissa’s now ex-friend Carmen who appeared on "90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?"
said that she wouldn’t have participated for the show for free, implying she was paid.
One Reddit user claimed that their friend was paid $500 for a day of filming to pretend to be Natalie’s friend.
While 90 day fiancé cast members don’t make a lot of money for filming,
they get an all-paid vacation to the exotic destination where they film, right?
In reality, most of the cast members who have opened up a little bit about their experience on the show,
claim that they had to pay for their own tickets,
though accommodations are most often paid for by the production.
More often than not, when the cast members dine out on the show this is also paid for.
A popular myth about 90 day fiancé earnings states
that only the American part of the couple gets paid for their participation on the show.
However, this is only partially true.
On the original 90 day fiancé the foreigners don’t get reimbursed for the filming at all.
This is because, they cannot legally work in the United States on a K-1 visa.
Additionally, even after they get married to the American
they need to wait until they obtain a work permit to earn money from the show.
However, in the spin-offs like Before the 90 days, where the American goes abroad,
the foreigner actually can legally get paid,
Since if they film in their own country, they are legally allowed to receive income.
Similarly to the cast, TLC sometimes employs translators for the show abroad and they are getting paid as well.
According to Ricky Reyes from "Before the 90 days" season 2
he received $1,000 per episode for his participation of the show,
but he admitted he had to pressure the production to pay his now ex-girlfriend Ximena,
who ultimately also received $1,000 per episode.
On the original 90 day fiancé the filming most often starts a few days before the foreigner arrives on a K-1 visa to the U.S.
and concludes after they get married within 90 days.
Ashley Martson from 90 day fiancé season 6 revealed
that she and her then husband Jay were filmed for 3-4 days every other weekend or so.
For Before the 90 days, most often the filming lasts 2-4 weeks, or before and during their vacation abroad.
Some of the confessionals on that show are also filmed during the trip abroad.
For 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way there is a huge disparity between how long do the cast members get filmed for.
For example, Ellie and Victor on season 3 were filmed for a over a week,
after the category 5 hurricane Iota struck the island of Providencia.
90 day fiancé's Deavan claimed that during her first season of "the Other Way" she was only in Korea for 9 days,
while on the second season their story span over the better part of the year.
Ariela and Biniyam also filmed for season 3 for approximately almost a year
While the filming for "the Other Way" can take months, the camera crew is not stationary in the country where filming takes place,
instead they're arriving for weeks at the time to film before leaving and coming back again.
One could think if the filming doesn’t take a lot of time
and will surely bring at least 10K per season, it’s actually not that bad.
However, filming for the highly edited, internationally broadcasted show comes with a lot of downsides.
For example, 90 day fiancé's Evelin came forward on Instagram,
saying that she has unsolicited visits from the show’s fans to her house.
Also, sometimes the cast members need therapy after the filming.
According to some 90 day fiancé cast members, like Deavan
the production does sometime offer to cover expenses for therapy following the filming.
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