90 Day Fiance Season 9 is all but over. Now, we’re in the Tell All.
Two of these couples are pregnant.
One of them has already welcomed a child since the season wrapped filming.
And, of course, all of the couples from this season are married.
When the Tell All was filmed in mid-June, they were all still married.
The cast begins to arrive!
Kara Bass and Guillermo Rojer show up. Producers and Kara both took care to hide her torso a little, and it’s no big secret why.
Yvette Arellano and Mohamed Abdelhamed are in a weird place
Already, there is tension in the air as they walk in. Yve speaks to the cameras about how there is a strain on the relationship, but she suggests that it’s from being the breadwinner. That’s an issue for sure. But this Tell All was filmed in mid-June. Mohamed’s alleged texts leaked in late July. It is entirely possible that Mohamed was already cheating on her when the Tell All filmed, but that she wasn’t willing to say it out loud just yet. You know what we mean? Sometimes, there’s a tension before you allow yourself to process what’s happening.
Then came Ariela Weinberg and Biniyam Shibre
These two have had a host of problems over the years, but Season 9 was actually relatively drama-free compared to the nightmares of their two seasons of The Other Way. Ariela speaks to the camera about the sexist double-standards that viewers (and, let’s be honest, the show’s editing teams) apply to the couples. We can’t say that we’re Ari’s biggest fans, but she’s right on the money.
Patrick Mendes and Thais Ramone arrive
They make less of an effort to conceal Thais’ body, but we all know that she and Kara are in the same boat. Meanwhile, Patrick tells the cameras that he and Thais have moved yet again, and are now residing in Las Vegas. That makes three moves, one international and one between states, for Thais in less than a year. We can’t help but notice that Patrick is worried about what John might say. Does that mean that he’s no longer their roommate?
In the Tell All backstage, some members of the cast meet for the first time. One topic of discussion involves the strain on marriages that the non-American partner’s legal inability to work causes. Yve seems to be more affected by this, while Kara strongly emphasizes that it’s not her husband’s fault. It’s a frustrating situation, but there’s seemingly no one to be mad at.
Shaeeda Sween and Bilal Hazziez arrive. Apparently Bilal has banned the word “lecture” from Shaeeda’s vocabulary (one assumes through another lecture), so she finds synonyms like “mansplain” to accurately describe his behavior. Let’s guess — does he not like being called “controlling” either? Meanwhile, Bilal claims that he is “not worried about what anybody says.” A bold claim from a guy who is policing how his wife accurately describes his behavior.
Emily Bieberly and Kobe Blaise roll up.
Kobe and Emily both acknowledge that they’re not perfect, and they think that their amount of fighting is normal. Notably, they don’t have either Koban or their daughter (surprise!) with them as they enter the building. Anyway, Emily says that she knows that she has some “bullets” aimed in her direction after the season.
The twins have arrived!
Jibri Bell and Miona Bell are in matching outfits even before they change clothes, which is honestly amazing. In that part of their relationship, more power to them. Jibri comes ready to fight, which has to mean that he’s angling for another season on the show so that he can promote his brand and, one assumes, Miona’s blackfishing … um, influencer brand.
This is the best decision that production has made ALL SEASON
Tim Malcolm and Kenneth Niedermeier were not on this season. Obviously. Both are alums of The Other Way (and Kenneth is living happily ever after with Armando), but they’re here because of their roles on Pillow Talk. They will be providing on-the-scenes commentary and they are chomping at the bit to do just that.
On the Tell All stage
The couples, now dressed in their flashy Tell All outfits, sit on the stage alongside Tell All host Shaun Robinson, who looks drop-dead gorgeous as always. Right off the bat, she delves into a 90 Day Fiance first: two pregnancies.
Kara and Guillermo are expecting their first child!
After a pause, she reveals that she is pregnant. Some other cast members was suspects, including Emily (no Baby #3 yet). Thankfully, the cast either didn’t spend time grilling Shaeeda or editors tastefully left out what would have been a painful moment for her.
Thais and Patrick are also expecting!
Both Kara and Thais are sixteen weeks along. Both Kara and Thais are due in November of this year. Shaun jokes that perhaps the couples coordinated.
Speaking of babies …
Emily and Kobe have an actual baby, Scarlet. Kobe is now working. Emily, who was working during their season, is now a stay-at-home mom with both kids. Kobe is working with asphalt and “racking up that money” with overtime.
“When you shine, people try to dim your light!”
Jibri and Miona are extremely defensive of their marriage. And, as we noted, Jibri seems eager for a fight. Miona observes the “weird energy” with Jibri’s mom, Mahala. Ariela suggests that Jibri may be the best candidate to handle this. This leads to Jibri laying into Ari for being “the most jealous person.” Ari hits back with “If I’m jealous, can’t I recognize jealousy?” A fair point. He and Ari butt heads, Kenny and Tim crack up as they watch it go down.
Bini has some good news to share
He now has his green card. Presumably, for the first time. As fans know, he previously met, impregnated, and married a different American woman before she accused him of cheating and divorced him. Jibri can now work. Of course, his plan is to “continue with my MMA.” As previously discussed on the show, MMA is unlikely to be a viable long-term career. Though Ari has not tried to stop Bini from doing this, he seems to bristle when she mentions “being realistic” about this career path. Jibri then confronts Ari about being jealous (again), warning them that they will not “work out” if she stays this way. You can tell that Jibri is projecting his band ambitions onto Bini’s MMA stuff.
The group discusses jealousy
Emily admits that she’s a jealous person, and Kobe strongly agrees. Kara points out that Ari isn’t being “supportive” when she picks a fight with the woman against whom Bini is sparring (and Ari agrees). Patrick points out that Thais would not react well if she found him wrestling with a woman on the floor. She confirms that. But Emily shares that communication helps her with Kobe. He doesn’t keep secrets from her about his long hours at work, and it helps. However, she notes that DMs from fans — thirsty fans hoping to lure Kobe to them — present a unique problem for the cast.
Why is Emily so secure in their relationship?
It turns out that Kobe is not shy about proclaiming his affection for Emily. For years, he worked as an underwear model. That is how they met. Now he’s using that trade to reinforce his marriage. Weirdly, we do not see Bilal or Shaeeda during this, but Jibri exclaims “Bilal got jealous!” It is unclear if that is what happened, or if this was merely Jibri’s interpretation.
On to Yve and Mohamed
Mohamed is no longer shaming her for her clothing or demanding that she not dress in certain ways, she reports. She says that he is even complimenting her outfits. Mohamed claims that he never told her to change her clothes before … which is untrue. Shaun can’t always say what she and the rest of us are thinking (she’s a professional and she’s there for a specific role), but she does point out that we all saw him do just that on camera.
Thais’ pregnancy was a real surprise
Patrick found that he had a non-existent sperm count a year ago, a result of his steroid use during his years as a weightlifter. He had told Thais about this when she was still in Brazil. He admits that he should have told her sooner. It turns out that Thais also waited to tell him that she was pregnant, because she wanted to be absolutely certain — and took six at-home pregnancy tests, then visited a gynecologist to confirm it.
There are lingering insecurities and double-standards
In addition to this pair of communication delays, she makes him wait to read the thirsty DMs in his inbox while she reads hers. Why? Because he cheated in the past and was dishonest about it, so she knows that he needs to be transparent with her now. That puts some of her early-season behavior in perspective. (He says that he didn’t consider them exclusive at the time … but he insists that heavy drinking prevented him from sealing the deal. C’mon man)
Kara and Guillermo speak about their relationship
There are times when the characterization is that Kara treats Guillermo “like a child.” While she and he have the exact same age gap as Jibri and Miona, it was a recurring issue during their season. This leads to Shaun asking who feels like the “grownup” in the other marriages.
Naturally, this leads to Bilal and Shaeeda
He insists that he sees her as his “equal,” but we have all watched time and time again as he whatever-you-want-to-call-lectures her. He then calls her naive and lists life milestones that she has not experienced because she lived with her family.
Then the pot goes after the kettle
We have to assume that he endless hours of raw footage would contain a segue that editing removed for time, but Patrick then calls out Kara for being “condescending” during her argument with Guillermo over the computer purchase. He’s right — actually, Kara and Guillermo were both right, but Kara was hostile about it and could have been more respectful. But should the guy who planned his wedding and hired a stylist without his fiancee’s real input be the one to talk about controlling behavior? Anyway, he then accuses all of the American women in the room of being controlling.
Shaeeda explains that some things are still hard
The “prank,” which was really a test, was a hurtful introduction to their new life together. Kobe points out that Bilal put her in a can’t-win situation, one in which anyone would react poorly. He set her up to fail.
Guillermo compliments Bilal on apologizing so much, but …
Patrick immediately points out that Bilal saying “sorry” is a manipulation. It’s a trick. He praises Bilal as a salesman, but it’s a backhanded compliment, because he’s sitting there and watching Bilal twist every argument and criticism in order to deflect it. That is extremely accurate.
“We all sell at the end of the day”
Bilal once again twists the criticism levied against him into something else in order to redirect the conversation. This is when Shaeeda agrees, noting that Bilal never accepts criticism but always says something back “to win that conversation.” Yeah. Even when Shaun chimes in to point out his pattern, Bilal counters “no, not really.”
Now, about that prenup
Remember how they amended it to include plans to have a baby together by the time that she’s 40? Well it turns out that the contract doesn’t really have any provisions for what happens if they don’t. It’s unclear what the point of including the language in the prenup is even meant to be.
Shahidah, Bilal’s ex-wife, joins the Tell All
She and Shaeeda are not getting along, which has caused problems for her co-parenting relationship with Bilal. Shaun quickly asks about the end of that erstwhile marriage, which leads to Shahidah admitting that Bilal acted more like an authority figure than a partner. Yes, he was “lecturing” her, too. That is why she ended up asking for a divorce. She agrees that he is a “neat freak.”
Shaeeda has not even looked at Shahidah this whole time
While we can all understand not wanting to even look at someone whom you dislike, Shaun does ask about it. Shaeeda shakily explains that she still doesn’t like how Shahidah “came at” her about the prenup. Shahidah explains that it’s a necessity for her to talk about it, because she and Bilal share children. Jibri notes that the tension in the room is palpable, quipping “y’all hurt.” Clearly.
Is this conversation helping?
On the positive side, having his current and ex-wife describe him in the same way does push Bilal to say “those are things that I’ve probably done.” But … we can’t help but wonder if he’s changing tactics now that Patrick called him out. Meanwhile, Shahidah was “sad for him” over the way that Shaeeda reacted to the dilapidated house — the place where she lived with Bilal for two years.
Mohamed talks about his own growth
Of course, Yve explains that there are still … moments. For example, if she goes to the store in a tank top, he will ask why she is dressed that way — as if she doesn’t live in a scorching desert city. Kara notes that policing how someone else dresses is just too much. Jibri defends Mohamed, giving him credit for “adapting.”
Mohamed also complains that Yve is emotional
She notes that he will say hurtful things to her, like threatening to find a new sponsor or return home to Egypt. Emily and Kara both note that Mohamed has treated Yve that she is “replaceable.” Moments later, we hear Mohamed excuse some of his controlling behavior by calling it “protective.” Bilal comments on this, highlighting the difference between religion and culture. And then Mohamed says that his family “got upset” about Yve’s outfits, and she recalls the things that he said to reassure her.
Moving on, they bring out Kara’s ex, Chris
Chris appeared on the show when Kara and Guillermo went to her high school reunion. Chris, dressed like a cartoon character, is clearly hoping to make a splash with over-the-top behavior (and his whole look). He then doubles down on claiming that Guillermo is “not man enough” for Kara. Guillermo calls him a “motherf–ker.” More to the point, he affirms that he is not threatened about his masculinity.
Moving on to Patrick and Thais, her dad joins the chat
Joining the Tell All remotely, Carlos admits that it was initially difficult for him to accept that his daughter was having a baby with Patrick. He didn’t love them marrying, either. He’d have liked for them to wait a few years before having a baby. Patrick then announces, in Portuguese, that they are having a baby girl. Carlos notes that it’s not important how much he likes Patrick, because Thais is the one who needs to love him. True enough. Thais misses and loves him, and plans to visit when she gets her green card.
Uncle John joins the Tell All
Okay, we’re being a little premature here, but John already has huge “uncle energy” to him, you know? Anyway, he admits that he got drunk and spilled Thais’ pregnancy news to a friend. He then forgot having told her. So this woman wrote “congratulations” on Thais’ Instagram, confusing her and Patrick because … how did this stranger know before so many family members?
Sparkles
Jibri then asks John if he’s “drunk right now.” John claims that he is not, but admits that he “had six last night.” John then tells Jibri that “your spah-kles are blindin’ me, bro.” He says that Patrick is “whipped,” which doesn’t really sound accurate given some of his unilateral decision-making. He again gets into conflict with Jibri, saying “I’m just glad you don’t have that cah-boy hat on.”