90 Day Fiance Season 8 turned out multiple memorable moments and incredible storylines in a tough situation.
But that doesn’t mean that everything was resolved during the K-1 visa period.
The stars sat down to film well over a dozen hours for the Tell All special, all condensed into a few hours.
At the Tell All Part 1, Mike and Natalie had to address Mike’s infamous cold feet and how things are now.
Things don’t sound good, and fans think that things are much worse than they claimed.
Brandon and Julia also spoke, where Julia seemed to take the blame for a couple of things in her season.
Was she telling the truth, or just trying to take some heat off of her in-laws?
Yara’s reaction to Jovi’s bachelor party video was to cry. She did not expect it.
And everyone talks about cosmetic surgery … revealing a darker side to Julia.
Stephanie Davison of course is not there because she may be suing TLC.
While some couples are taking a back seat until Part 2, Part 1 already had plenty of tension.
The Tell All Part 1!
After this wild but unusual season, the Tell All — reportedly filmed in February — was able to meet in person, but with plenty of COVID-19 precautions including face masks, distanced seating, and more.
They arrived invidiually
Julia and Yara had actually touched base already on social media. They were both standout stars from this season, so it only makes sense that they would get along.
Enter Shaun Robinson
The incomparable host walked in wearing a face shield. Notably, face masks are to prevent infecting others, and they’re what everyone around her was wearing. Face shields are more to protect the person wearing them, and Shaun clearly had to navigate through a lot of people — plus get her makeup done.
Yara and Jovi opened up on being new parents
Yara swelled up with love talking about how heartwarming it is to see Jovi doting on and loving their daughter. Also, they confirmed that Jovi is totally playing his role as a parent, including diaper-changing.
Everyone was touched by that
Julia joked that Yara had given her baby fever. She was, however, only joking.
Speaking of Julia and Brandon
Shaun asked if things were easier now that they’re married, and Julia related that somehow Betty has used their marriage to impose even more rules and expectations of Julia.
And, of course, Mike and Natalie
These two had perhaps the most controversial storyline this season, largely because fans in general couldn’t tell who of them was the bad guy. Last that we saw, they got married on the literal last day of the K-1 visa … just two days after Mike called off the wedding on the morning of.
So how are things now?
Natalie rates their marital status a “six” out of ten. Mike rates it a “seven.”
Natalie isn’t wearing her ring
Almost half of the cast raised their hands to show that they, too, have been known to go without their ring for specific reasons (fear of it being stolen, needing to clean). However, given that this was filmed in February, it’s likely that Mike and Natalie were separated by then and merely had to answer questions as if they were still together to avoid spoiling Happily Ever After? (which premieres on April 25)
So, what does Mike have to say for himself?
Mike has never had a good answer to why he called off the wedding that day. He’s just said that he had cold feet and wasn’t ready to marry her that day.
And this time?
Well, Mike said the same thing at the Tell All. Is that a satisfying answer? No. It never was, but it’s the only answer that he has. The only thing that he added was that Natalie had accused him of cheating on her the night before the wedding — after we saw them — but fans are hard pressed to see why that made Mike want to continue the relationship but not go through with the wedding.
And there’s more
For hours before their appointed wedding day, Mike vanished — going for a drive and hanging out by the water to clear his head. Or attempt to. In the mean time, Natalie says that when she asked Tamara if she knew where Mike was, Tamara suggested that he might be at a bachelor party. This is apparently what prompted her cheating suspicions.
Jovi asks Mike to see things from Natalie’s perspective
He suggests that Mike would not like it if Natalie vanished for hours the night before the wedding. Mike agrees. Notably, Jovi will get a taste of this during the Tell All as well.
Yara reveals a private pain
Her own mother has never gotten to meet her baby because of the pandemic. We hope that they can remedy this as soon as it is safe.
Then Yara sees the scene of Jovi’s bachelor party
Watching him go upstairs with the stripper was, well, a lot for her. She was unprepared for the moment (remember, most of the time, couples will tell each other things that they expect to play out so that no one gets blindsided)
But no, he didn’t cheat
Jovi confirms that there was no touching, just a brief topless dance (obviously). And Tarik confirms for less worldly stars and viewers that nothing suspect would be happening.
But Jovi does regret hurting Yara in this way
Something to remember is that each couple gets to define what is and is not cheating for their relationship. Sex workers, from full service to stripping or custom cam vids, might or might not be considered cheating by some couples. Communication is key. Also, when Jovi is asked how he’d feel if Yara had been in a room with a (straight) male stripper, he acknowledges that it would not be happy … but says that he felt that going to the strip club was just a natural thing to do. For him, it is.
This is when Gwen chimes in
Easily one of the best mother-in-laws to ever grace this franchise, Gwen acknowledges that Jovi’s whole life has been a bachelor party for a full decade now. (GOSH I love Gwen)
Backstage
During one of the show’s many breaks (remember, we only see a few hours but they film for well over 10 hours to make a Tell All), Julia tells Brandon that she’s not judging Jovi’s situation, but reminds Brandon that he should not repeat Jovi’s mistakes. Yara comes over and says that she’s done with that subject, which is fair.
Back on stage …
Julia advises everyone to never live with someone else’s parents if they can help it.
Yara cannot imagine
Yara talks about how sometimes you just don’t want to wear clothes at home (she is SO relatable) and adds that she also doesn’t want to worry about keeping quiet during sex — both problems for living with someone’s parents.
It was Julia all along?
She shares that it was her fault, in part, because Brandon showed her some apartments that were within his price range, and she shot them down as substandard. She was probably right, but considering the alternative … maybe they could have made different choices.
Time to hear from Betty and Ron
As Gwen is one of the best in-laws ever shown in the franchise, Betty and Ron are among the worst. But Betty insists that their rule against Brandon and Julia sharing a room was “nothing personal” and would have applied to anyone, not just to Julia. They fail to understand that this still makes them 100% the bad guys. The rule was bad, no matter why. It’s so disrespectful.
The subject moves on to her work
Julia has held many, many jobs, one of which was a go-go dancer. Some assumed that this meant that she was a stripper (Betty and Ron were apparently fixated on that fear, and they may reflect a solid chunk of the viewing audience), but she wore clothes and simply danced at clubs. (Also, this led to a great moment when multiple stars discussed how strippers are normal people with difficult jobs — it is SO important to quash stigma against strippers and all other sex workers)
Natalie had some good moments
Natalie had some great things to say about Julia. Say what you will about Natalie as a partner, but the way that she gestures with her hands is captivating and I’d love to see her do mocap on her arms for something.
Julia has had some clashes with Betty
Julia, with a wink and a nudge in Betty’s direction, says that having her and Betty under one roof was naturally a problem, but joked “I’m boss.”
Not so fast
Yara chimes in, noting that Julia’s 90 Day Farmhand experience is not exactly girlboss behavior.
Again, Yara is so relatable
She notes how repulsive the chores that Julia was assigned to do are. Seriously, she’s right.
Wait, that was Julia’s choice?
Yes and no. Julia shares that she did the farm chores hoping to have more time with Brandon — so that he wouldn’t have to do them when he gets home from work. That still makes Betty and Ron the bad guys in all of this, and makes Brandon look worse frankly for how he kept trying to reframe it as “feeding cute animals” when Julia wanted to stop.
Yara has great advice
Julia was clearly trying to go above and beyond to be nice to the Gibbs family, but Yara reminds her that she doesn’t need to prove herself to anyone. When is Yara getting her own advice show???
Mike’s mom, Trish, dials in
Trish admits that she asked Tamara, Mike’s neighbor, to object to the wedding. Tamara refused, on the grounds that she didn’t want to ruin things (an objection can have straight up legal consequences — do not do that as a prank) and had seen that the two had real love between them.
Trish challenged anyone to say they’d do otherwise
Rebecca took that challenge, reminding Trish that she has three adult children and would never try to sabotage their wedding day.
Speaking of Rebecca
Rebecca clearly got some work done — on her face, plus some weight loss surgery, with more to come. She’s down two pants sizes and it looking beautiful (which she always has) and a little younger. It’s always good to see someone look more like they want to.
Natalie admires her for it
Natalie reveals that she wants to get her nose done. While she is welcome to, everyone (even Shaun) very correctly assured her that her lose looks just fine and that she’s already beautiful.
Yara is the most vocal and sensible on this topic
Noting that she has lip fillers and previously underwent a nose job, Yara strongly encourages people to love themselves, and that if they see something in the mirror that they don’t like and can’t accept, they’re free to fix it if they can. That is very sensible.
Julia is so wrong about this
Echoing some worrisome comments from Episode 2, Julia imagines that simply joining a gym can fix these problems. People try to explain — first, that exercise doesn’t remove excess skin that comes from weight loss. It’s also worth noting that the human body is designed to store energy and, biologically, views combos of diet and exercise the same way as starvation and simply adapts while redoubling efforts to store fat. You can lose a lot of weight with a caloric deficit, but that will get harder over time as your body adjusts. Julia doesn’t understand this. Many people don’t.
Julia, NO
She even calls out people getting these surgeries as lazy. Maybe she doesn’t mean it as an insult and something is lost in translation?
Julia keeps digging this hole
There’s something underlying this beyond a weird sort of body-shaming, and it ties into her reluctance to get birth control (100% her choice, but it’s not unrelated). Julia seems to want things to have “natural” solutions and, for her, they do — only because she is very lucky.
That’s her opinion
But, as her castmates note, something being an opinion doesn’t mean that it’s fair, accurate, or not hurtful.
“Your opinion sounds like judgment”
Seriously, Yara is so good, I’m so glad that we’re getting a whole new season of her. I’m also glad that we’re getting a new season of Julia, but this judgmental nonsense is the worst that Julia has ever been and she needs to educate herself and also just be less judgmental.
Zied pipes up
He suggests that maybe he will do this too, since he never wants to stop eating pizza.
AGAIN, Julia makes someone else’s body her business
Right, weight loss surgery is not “natural.” Neither is a C-section or an appendectomy or taking vitamins or taking antibiotics. You know what IS natural? Death. Cancer. You know what else is natural? Like one out of every eight babies (12%) dying before they turn one year old. Seriously — and those aren’t numbers from the middle ages or pre-history, those are from the 1700s.
Finally, Amira tunes in
This is at the end of the episode and clearly intended to tease Part 2 of the Tell All, and it works, because Amira tunes in … and immediately asks that Andrew leave because she is afraid of his manipulation tactics (some of which we saw for ourselves during the season) and does not want to let him control her ever again.
A producer obliges
They ask Andrew to just step off of the stage for a bit, and he objects immediately.
FINE!
Andrew storms off of the stage, but not to go and wait. He announces that he’s leaving in a huff.
Oops!
Andrew then turns around and asks if he can get a ride back to his hotel. Moment ruined, dude. We’ll see more of this mess (and much more of Tarik and Hazel) on Part 2!