While there are many reality shows about dating and romance, from awkward first dates to planning a wedding, there's nothing on TV quite like 90 Day Fiance. This unique TLC series shows what it's like for couples when one partner is American and the other is hoping for a K-1 visa so they can live in the U.S. The deal is that the couples have to get married within 90 days. It's a good premise that does make people interested in watching more.
Fans of the show have seen a lot of wild scenes and dramatic relationships, from Paul and Karine's marital problems to Stephanie the "cougar."
How did 90 Day Fiance come about? Let's take a look at the beginning of the series.
Pitching The Idea
Fans enjoy keeping up with the couples who have appeared on 90 Day Fiance, like Elizabeth getting ready for a second wedding to Andrei.
But how did this show start in the first place?
It was K-1 Visas that sparked the idea for 90 Day Fiance.
Matt Sharp, the CEO and founder of Sharp Entertainment, told Glamour that pitching the idea for the show wasn't successful at first. He said the reaction was "no, you're crazy."
The winning pitch was when Sharp talked to Howard Lee, the general manager at TLC, in 2013 at a conference called Realscreen. Lee said, "We're doing this."
Sharp shared with the publication that he was interested in K-1 visas and people dating from different countries after he saw a story on the TV news in 2012. Sharp explained, "We discovered that once people found [others] abroad and traveled to meet them, they would then propose. The most interesting part of all, to us, was the K-1 visa process. We were blown away that after these people meet and fall in love, they go through all of this process for the visa. The second they hit U.S. soil, there’s a ticking clock. They had to be married in 90 days or leave the country."
E! News reported that when Sharp went on the podcast "Reality Life with Kate Casey," the networks weren't interested. He explained, "all of the female networks looked at the pitch and thought it felt too male, and all the male networks thought it felt too female."
Lee explained to Glamour that TLC was about family reality series at that point and having a show about love seemed interesting.
According to Vulture, Howard Lee called the 90 Day Fiance franchise "our version of a Marvel Comics Universe" as there are many spin-offs.
Lee told Vulture that he liked the premise for the show: "But if both parties don’t agree to marry, that person who’s the foreigner must return to their home country. I found that intriguing. And I could understand what the finale would be: They’re going to have to make a decision whether or not they’re getting married."
Lee said to Matt, “Please don’t show this tape to anybody else. I think I want to go to series on this, contingent on if we find a great cast." Lee ordered six episodes and that when the show began airing, people started chatting about it on social media in real time. Lee explained to Vulture, "When you go on social media, everybody is in for a viewing party and they really want to be there to outtalk each other or to comment on top of another person."
Making The Show
According to E! News, Sharp explained that when it came to casting 90 Day Fiance, they chose people who were in the process of getting a visa.
The couples had already been in a relationship as well, so the show wasn't responsible for creating relationships or finding singles who could date. It's good to know that the couples on the show are totally real as this might be something that fans wondered. Sharp said, "We don't put people together. Everyone we feature on the show, they found themselves organically."
Fans are most likely curious about the salaries that cast members make. Everyone is paid $1,000 for each episode.
According to The List, that is for 90 Day Fiance. When the couples appear on the special episodes that are 90 Day Fiance: The Couples Tell All, they each are paid $2,500.
It's also good to know that the couples have to finance their own flights, according to BuzzFeed.
It's fascinating to learn how 90 Day Fiance started. It was definitely a good idea for a show, judging by how many seasons it has been on, how much people talk about it, and the impact it has had on the reality TV world.