90 Day Fiance is a hit reality show for a reason … and part of that reason is that it attracts some intriguing characters.
A lot of them are just people who are in this for the best of reasons, and are deeply in love. Some are lovestruck fools.
Then there are the gold-diggers.
And the people who just want US residency, the liars, and the Americans who are looking for a mail-order spouse.
And some of these people are truly scandalous.
There are revenge porn accusations, arrests, and some scammers so sleazy that they’ll make your hair stand on end.
Here are the biggest and “best” scandals that 90 Day Fiance has to offer … so far.
Let’s start with Larissa’s arrest
Larissa Dos Santos Lima, when she flew from Brazil to Las Vegas to marry Colt, was probably not expecting to end up behind bars.
The two had a huge fight
Colt wanted to keep things vague on social media to avoid spoiling for viewers that they’re still together, which Larissa found hurtful. This apparently culminated in an intense argument
Colt tried to diffuse things, and that’s when things got worse
Colt says that he took Larissa’s phone in the hopes that she’d calm down, but instead she panicked and locked herself in the bathroom and begged fans for help. Police arrived and handcuffed Colt, but ultimately arrested Larissa for domestic battery. But they decided to stay married
And then there’s Angela
Angela Deem is known for being gregarious but also having a short fuse. Now, she’s also known for having gotten a DUI. After being pulled over for doing 60 in a 35 zone, she accused the officer of being “racist” and of targeting her because his brother dated her daughter.
And speaking of Angela Deem’s daughter …
Scottie Deem also appeared on 90 Day Fiance. Scottie’s personal history is enough of a mess that she’s appeared on Maury — TWICE. Unfortunately, the reason for her arrest is much more serious. She’s been charged with over a dozen counts of child molestation. This is upsetting and truly unspeakable. And curiously, she had been arrested before TLC ever filmed her.
And then there’s Jorge Nava
His relationship with his wife Anfisa Arkhipchenko was complicated enough BEFORE he was arrested
Jorge was pulled over in Arizona
He had a tremendous amount of marijuana in his car. He grows marijuana for a living, which is totally legal in California. It is emphatically illegal in Arizona, and now he’s facing about two years behind bars.
Anfisa was not with him
She is still a full-time student, and she’s having to cut back now that he’s going behind bars. Tough times for a self-professed gold-digger.
Still, Anfisa is standing by him
We guess that we’re all supposed to ignore that time that she slapped Jorge in front of 90 Day Fiance’s cameras.
Ashley and Jay really went through the wringer
See, after Jay’s (first) cheating scandal, when he downloaded Tinder and was caught video chatting with a girl just days after his wedding to Ashley Martson, they had a few months of peace.
And then Jay got caught red-handed
Jay accidentally went live ona n Instagram account that had been “leaking” photos of him and Ashley. They had received a lot of sympathy over those leaks, and fans and castmates alike felt disgusted and betrayed.
Could fans believe ANYTHING anymore?
There was a time when, unfortunately, some fans vocally questioned if anything at all was real. Some even suggested that Ashley didn’t have lupus, which is a cruel accusation to make. Ashley and Jay made an error in judgment, that’s it.
Well … that was it for them as a couple, anyway
Less than a year after Ashley and Jay got married, Ashley took to Instagram to reveal that Jay had cheated on her yet again. Following the initial April 15 post, she filed for divorce, claiming that Jay had not only been cheating on her for months, but that fans would be “shocked” when they learned the whole truth.
Now for Ricky Reyes
He’s a dad who just wanted to meet an impossibly beautiful Columbian woman. From the start, everyone thought that he was being catfished.
Melissa was real … but there’s a catch
Melissa was real, but then she vanished on him, so he met up with Ximena, who is also a real person with real feelings.
That’s right — he had a back-up fiancee
Nobody was arrested in Ricky’s story, but that doesn’t make him any less of a creep. To think that we all started off feeling sorry for this dude.
Karine had to grapple with a revenge porn scandal
Poor Karine seems cursed to find herself with terrible men, and Paul is only one of those (the dude has a criminal record and it’s not for traffic tickets, folks). Paul took to social media to announce that a former lover of Karine’s was putting up revenge porn of her.
That story got wilder
The man spoke up the very next day, saying that he’d posted chaste photos with Karine but never anything raunchy. He then made himself a little less convincing by boasting about allegedly having a ton of photos and videos of Karine doing “all type of wild s–t.” Karine deserves better than that, folks.
And then there’s Luis Mendez’s (newest) marriage
Luis married Molly Hopkins, but that’s not Molly in the wedding photo. He got hitched again just a few months after his divorce was finalized.
Luis confirmed that he got married
The story broke five months after he and Molly were officially exes, but he got married just four months later — and seemed proud of it.
Molly was not thrilled to hear it
She says that this was all proof that he just used her to get into the country, to which some replied “duh.”
Molly wondered if Luis had this side piece all along
Or if he just jumped to the next available American woman in the effort to stay in the States. We don’t know enough about this woman to know the truth.
But Molly is hardly blameless
On top of her frankly terrifying driving record, Molly was accused of domestic battery against Luis. A vague but unpleasant video surfaced after their split in which Molly may have been abusive towards him.
At least they’re apart, now
Luis and Molly may not be model citizens, but their toxic relationship was more than either of them deserved.
And then there’s Jon and Rachel
This couple seemed so peaceful and non-problematic, but there was a conspiracy theory about Rachel’s daughter
It’s the opposite of usual paternity theories
Usually, people think that a woman’s fiance is NOT the father. In this case, the theory was that he WAS the father, and that Rachel and Jon lied about when they first met in person. The couple has shot down this rumor time and time again.
But we know the truth
In real life, of course, Rachel found out that she was pregnant shortly after she began her long-distance relationship with Jon. He was supportive and the two remained in a relationship. It happens. It’s not as interesting as a lie, but it happens.
Jason and Cassia’s relationship took an ugly turn
Jason Hitch and Cassia Tovares had an off-and-on relationship, but ultimately Cassia broke things off after an incident in which Jason was arrested for domestic violence.
Cassia didn’t want it to end that way
She didn’t press charges, admitting that she pitied him. But she said that it wasn’t the first incident of violence, and that she couldn’t stay with him because she now understood that he’s a mean person. We’re so sorry that Cassia had that experience.
Those are the biggest scandals … for now
Face it: from gold-diggers to people just looking for Green Cards to people who go fishing for mail-order spouses, 90 Day Fiance is rife with interesting characters. Unfortunately, there will be more 90 Day controversies in the future.