The Secret to 'Happily Ever After?'s Success (2024)

90 Day Fiancé offers versatile cast members who certainly know how to provide entertaining reality TV, but sometimes the supporting cast members are equally important in a couple’s plot. 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? is coming to an end. The infamous Season 8 couples are about to appear on-screen at the Tell All after the drama that resulted in a few couples parting ways.Big Ed Brown and Liz Woods are officially over. She's moved on to someone new, who will be appearing at the Tell All. Angela Deem is still suspicious of her husband, Michael Ilensamni. Maybe she’ll finally learn the truth, as the private investigator has a report of over 150 pages about Michael that he'll also share at the Tell All.

Then there are couples like Gino Palazzolo and Jasmine Pineda or Sophie Sierra and Rob Warne, who ended the season on rocky ground, but their status is still unclear. However, positivity can be found within the 90 Day Fiancé franchise amid all the drama, outbursts, and tumultuous relationships. In fact, their closest family members were alongside many of these Season 8 stars. While some family members have a knack for rubbing cast members the wrong way and creating more drama, many proved to be an essential asset to the couples and their storylines this season. Thanks to many of the supporting cast members and family, Happily Ever After? stars were able to keep their heads on their shoulders and work toward their goals, with the support and guidance of their extended families.

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?

TV-14

Reality-TV

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? catches up with some of the most memorable couples from 90 Day Fiancé as they now face the next chapter in their marriages.

Release Date

September 11, 2016

Cast

Elizabeth Potthast , Andrei Castravet , Angela Deem , Paola Mayfield , Russ Mayfield , Michael Ilesanmi , Chantel Everett , Pedro Jimeno

Main Genre

Reality-TV

Seasons

8

Family Members Became Central for 90 Day Fiancé Stars

In many cases, family members and supporting cast stars often cause more trouble and drama for stars. This was the case with Debbie Johnson, Colt Johnson's tyrannical mother, and Claire Sierra, Sophie Sierra's overbearing mother. Both stars had no problems sharing their thoughts and opinions, even when it wasn't welcomed. However, this season, family members proved to have each other's backs and smooth over drama, no matter the reason. In Happily Ever After? Season 8, Patrick Mendes still hadn't earned his father-in-law's respect. Even though Patrick was already married to Thais Ramone, and they had a child together, Carlos Roberto wanted Patrick to ask for his blessing. Happily Ever After? Season 8 star Patrick thought the entire situation was silly, especially since he did ask for the blessing and was denied. As a result, no one was on the same page.

Thais kept pressuring Patrick to ask for the blessing. Patrick wanted more time with her father to connect. Her father kept avoiding Patrick because his feelings were hurt. This led to a day on the lake where Carlos and Patrick's brother John McManus would go off and talk about Patrick. Carlos admitted his hurt feelings, to which John swooped in and stood up for his brother. John explained that Patrick could have a hard time trusting and opening up. Listening to John's perspective changed Carlos’ attitude as the rest of the day went more smoothly than the morning. By that night, Patrick finally got the blessing he wanted. If John had never stepped in and stood up for his brother, then Patrick wouldn't have gotten the blessing. John, being the middleman helped Patrick and Thais’s marriage, and helped them with their relationship with Carlos.

Family Members Pushed 90 Day Fiancé Stars for Answers

Another great aspect of family and supporting members is that they can help stars see their situation from a different perspective. When couples are constantly bickering and fighting, family members can help mediate the situation and help them see the problem from each other's perspective. On the other hand, if a star was delusional and was ignoring red flags, family members could help push stars for more answers. The latter occurred most often in Season 8. Ashley Michelle's sister, Sienna Jones, and their mother, Stacey, pushed Ashley to get more answers. Ashley wanted the conversation about finances with Happily Ever After? Season 8 star Manuel Velez to end without knowing what happened to the thousand dollars she gave him. But they refused to let Manuel continue avoiding the conversation. Additionally, Angela's daughter, Skyla Rae, was also a helpful supporting cast member.

While Skyla knew how to antagonize her mother and could sometimes add to the on-screen drama, she also reminded her mother to not be naïve. Even though Michael was officially in America, he still could've been scamming Angela, and Skyla made sure her mother would get the answers she deserved. What made the show better was that family members were also there for their in-laws. For instance, Alexei Brovarnik hasn't been getting along well with his wife, Loren Brovarnik’s family, lately. However, they didn't agree with Loren's “natural mommy makeover” either. Despite not being on the best of terms with Alexei, Loren's parents supported Alexei by pushing for more information and vetoing the surgery. They also helped him while Loren recovered. These cast members not only supported their families, but they helped them find the answers they were looking for.

Family Members Pushed Stars to Grow

Most of all, though, family members were beneficial in helping the cast do one thing: grow. It's important, especially as a couple, to learn and evolve together. Couples needed to get out of their comfort zones and act in the best interests of their family, especially if kids were involved. This year in Season 8, families helped the stars do just that. For example, Emily Bieberly and Kobe Blaisehave been living in her parents' basem*nt for the last five or so years. They had two kids and got pregnant a third time under that roof, despite the parents' wishes. However, by the end of their segment, they were looking for a house so they could move out. Emily's parents helped them build their nest thus far and welcomed Kobe into their home.

They even accepted a second child under their roof, but now it was time for the 90 Day Fiancé couple to venture into the world on their own. This also occurred right after Emily's parents helped the growing family with their vacation in Cameroon. Emily's immediate family is very supportive of their marriage and kids, but also know when it's time to push their kids out of the nest. The same could be said for Liz's mother, Patty. Patty traveled with Liz to Arizona so they could pack the rest of her belongings from Ed's home. Dealing with the breakup and moving out with her daughter Riley was one of the hardest things 90 Day Fiancé star Liz had ever done, but thanks to her mother, she was able to grow and leave their toxic relationship behind.

Oftentimes, the supporting cast and family members are overlooked, especially if they don't cause much of a ruckus in the franchise. Occasionally, moms like Jovi’s mother Gwen Eymard would earn the best parent or in-law of the year title. Some costars are so likable and authentic, like John McManus, that they earned an honorary spot on a spin-off. More often than not, though, riotous in-laws like Karen Everett and Debbie earn more screen time thanks to their overbearing behavior. Luckily, since Happily Ever After? focused on couples after their marriage, their time with their families was highlighted more and fans could see the integral part of family members played in a couple's progressing relationship. Although all the stars were adults, many of them wouldn't have gotten to where they were and would have been successful this season if it weren't for their supporting family members.

90 Day Fiancé and its spin-offs series air on TLC, and are available to stream on Max.

Watch on Max