In the realm of reality television, TLC, the supposed “learning channel,” has made quite a name for itself over recent years. With shows such as 1000-lb Sisters, My 600-lb Life, MILF Manor, and Dr. Pimple Popper, the channel’s primary identity has become a sort of televised carnival sideshow; the primary formula for a successful show on the network seems to be to find a group of odd or disadvantaged people, ideally both, and put them in front of a camera. Audiences, correspondingly, devour it wholeheartedly.
The most successful of these shows, by several country miles, is 90 Day Fiancé. The show, which covers international couples, is at times one of the least oddball things TLC has aired; some couples, such as Jovi & Yara or David & Annie, are surprisingly normal. However, as the show’s avid Reddit community has noticed, a number of the couples on the show really stretch the boundaries of good taste.
10 Gino & Jasmine
This couple, introduced in Before the 90 Days season 5, sparked their flame when Gino, 52, met Jasmine, 34, on a dating app. After flying to Panama, Gino was shocked to find that Jasmine had a rather strong temper; however, they were able to withstand their frustrations with each other, and are seemingly still together as of 2023.
While Jasmine is practically normal by 90DF standards, Gino makes up for it with his hat fixation. As /u/BowlFluid761 stated, “Gino is a… NEVERNUDE (sic) with that hat;” he quickly attracted amusement for his refusal to take off his hat, only amplified when this culminated in Jasmine slapping the hat off of his head to reveal that he was completely bald (and that it did not suit him). Gino alone ensures that this couple is one of the more memorably weird ones to grace the franchise.
9 Caesar & Maria
Caesar, a nail technician from Jacksonville, North Carolina, was introduced in Before the 90 Days season 3 seeking the affections of Maria, a much younger Ukrainian woman he had met online. Despite paying nearly forty thousand dollars to Maria, he had never once seen her in real life. Regardless, Caesar doggedly insisted that Maria was, in fact, real and in love with him.
Fans quickly latched on to Caesar, and multiple Reddit users noted him as weird. It’s easy to see why; even the camera crew, in a show that typically attempts to remain neutral, expresses their incredulity several times. The show, in a break from its usual format, takes a Catfish-like turn in pulling the thread of whether Maria is real or not, and that alone makes Caesar and Maria memorably odd.
8 Benjamin & Akinyi
Introduced in Before the 90 Days season 3, Benjamin, a single father from Arizona, traveled to Kenya to attempt to win the heart of Akinyi, a nearly-decade-younger woman he’d met online. After securing her family’s approval and paying the customary dowry, Benjamin was alarmed to find out that he was now married, rather than engaged, to Akinyi under Kenyan law.
/u/Maleficent-Wasabi359 sums up the problems at hand perfectly, if impolitely: “I have no idea what they had in common. She was a brat and he was the most socially awkward person.” While innocuous compared to others, the two almost entirely lack visible chemistry, making their segments a bizarre experience.
7 Ella & Johnny
Debuting on season 5 of Before the 90 Days, Ella is a 30-year-old woman from Idaho Falls, Idaho, in a long-distance relationship with Johnny, a single father living in Jinan, China.
Ella and Johnny immediately attracted Internet infamy, due to Ella seemingly embodying every possible negative stereotype of the “otaku” subculture. Ella’s complete lack of understanding of Johnny’s culture, and the uncomfortable sexual nature of many of their segments, render their time on 90 Day a bizarre experience. /u/DweedleDee69 noted them in all caps, and it’s easy to see why.
6 Angela & Michael
Introduced in Before the 90 Days season 2, Angela is a fifty-something woman who sought the affection of Michael, a much younger Nigerian man. Despite turbulence early on (and later on), the two married and have become mainstays of the franchise.
While Michael is relatively innocuous, and often ends up playing the straight man, Angela is one of the most chaotic people ever to grace reality television. /u/MustBeConfused21 summed her (and others) up accurately as an “old white woman who falls in love with an Arabian/African prince and expects them to be subservient.” Her quick temper and boorish behavior result in her being one of 90 Day‘s strangest characters to date.
5 Jenny & Sumit
Introduced on 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Jenny is a middle-aged American woman who travels to India in order to marry Sumit, a much, much younger man.
While wholesome by the standards of 90 Day, simply for the fact that they seemingly genuinely love each other, the age gap alone makes this relationship notably odd. This is only highlighted by the resulting clashes with Sumit’s family that make up a bulk of their segments. However, as /u/iloveeatpizzatoo put it, their relationship “surprisingly works!”
4 Steven & Alina
Steven was first introduced on season 3 of The Other Way traveling to Russia to meet Alina, whom he had met on a language exchange site.
While initially seemingly wholesome, Steven and Alina quickly proved to be one of the more dramatic 90 Day couples in recent memory. Steven began exhibiting awful behavior in stark contrast to his image as a clean-cut devout Mormon, very quickly, sending things into crisis. /u/Mediocre-Set-4223 said “I just want to shake her and ask her what she sees in this,” and it’s hard to disagree.
3 Paul and Karine
Paul and Karine were introduced to audiences on the first season of Before the 90 Days, when the former went to Brazil in order to seek the latter’s hand in marriage.
Paul’s behavior can only be described as strange. With such acts as him running off into the Brazilian wilderness after admitting to being a convicted arsonist, leaving Karine and the camera crew to be robbed (yes, that really happened), he quickly became memorable to audiences in the worst way possible, and things only went downhill from there. Eventually, after several years of marriage and chaotic life in America with Karine, Paul was publicly fired from the show, as serious allegations of abuse came into play. As /u/strengthofstrings put it, “the abuse, the security cams, the hoarding… the Disney… need I go on?”
2 Big Ed and Liz
Big Ed, first introduced in Before the 90 Days season 4, was introduced traveling to the Philippines to meet Rose, the supposed love of his life. Quickly, audiences realized that Ed was a strange, unpleasant person, with his behavior and his use of mayo as hair product alike turning audiences away. Rose, too, realized that Ed was not the one when it was revealed that he had been lying to her about his vasectomy.
This made it incredibly surprising when Ed reemerged from his cave on 90 Day Fiancé: The Single Life with a new, American partner, Liz. As /u/Maleficent-Wasabi359 put it, “I kept thinking it wasn’t going to go further… and it kept going further.” This was only made even worse when serious allegations of domestic abuse began emerging against Big Ed in May 2021, prompting an ongoing boycott of the shows he continues to appear on.
1 Colt & Anyone
First introduced in season 6 of 90 Day Fiancé, software engineer Colt was introduced as the husband-to-be of Larissa, a single mother from Brazil. When things with Larissa didn’t work out, he moved on to Jess, also from Brazil. When things with Jess similarly imploded, he finally found a long-term partner in Vanessa (depicted on The Single Life), an American dog trainer.
Colt’s disheveled appearance makes him immediately off-putting, but his behavior is what truly tips the scales against him. As /u/BowlFluid761 words it, “Colt is unbearable.” His bizarre Freudian living situation with his elderly mother (only made worse by the franchise’s increasing focus on her own sex life), coupled with his deeply unpleasant manchild-esque behavior depicted on-screen, makes for someone who is equally memorably weird no matter who he’s partnered with.
