Sunday night’s 90 Day Fiance Season 10 premiere began with Ashley in a state of panic. As the episode went on, we understood why.
She and Manuel are not the only new couple whom we met on this milestone season’s first episode.
Rob and Sophie are gorgeous, but might not be a great match. And Nikki and Justin have a long history … but will it work in their favor?
And then, of course, there are Gino and Jasmine. Their story got buried beneath these new couples, but they’re both lying to each other until they meet up in person.
Meet Ashley and Manuel
The season kicked off with Ashley Michelle having a panic attack in the car. We knew that something was wrong — but what?
Viewers eventually learn that Manuel’s visa expires the day after he arrives. That is (one assumes) his K-1 visa.
We don’t know why they’re cutting things so close, but Ashley hasn’t heard from him since he touched down in Miami. Her fear is that he didn’t get past customs — one officer having a bad day could force them to restart their K-1 journey.
Before she knows about the looming crisis (she knows that he’s cutting it pretty close, but not that he’ll drop out of contact), Ashley introduces herself.
Though she went to school for biology and business, she does a lot of work doing things like tarot readings. And this isn’t just a job for her, let alone a hobby.
Witchcraft is her passion. This spiritual practice is often misunderstood (or maligned), but it brings her fulfillment and joy. It’s also somewhat related to how she met her love.
In college, Ashley had a profound dream in which she was working with nature. She felt that this was a calling. And she followed that calling to Ecuador.
That’s where she met Manuel, who works construction there. They had an on-again, off-again romance.
Though she admits that Manuel is a bit of a “f–kboy,” she loves him. And since he proposed, he is now her fiance.
During the premiere, Ashley met up with friends. There, they asked her questions and expressed their concerns. Ashley shares some of those worries.
Will she be happy once he arrives, or will she regret this? She doesn’t know. Will Manuel, who doesn’t really understand her spiritual practice and would prefer that she be Catholic, respond well to her witchy life? She doesn’t know.
She’ll find out … assuming that Manuel makes it through customs in Miami and then makes his flight to Rochester to see her.
Somehow, Gino and Jasmine have returned
Then, we see Jasmine Pineda and her friends partying it up in Panama. It’s her bachelorette party.
There is extra meaning to the celebration. Her friends and family will not be able to attend her wedding in Michigan.
Clearly, she had a blast. Jasmine dances with an inflatable cartoon penis that’s wearing a Gino hat. She also more or less moons passersby from inside the bus.
Jasmine’s booty is looking a little different these days. It’s because she, after some weight loss, underwent a Brazilian butt lift.
She says that it’s to please Gino. Jasmine always says this. Gino’s public comments indicate that he sees these procedures as unnecessary.
Jasmine also reveals that she spent her wedding dress money — which Gino sent — on the BBL. And she hasn’t told him yet. She half-jokingly predicts that he’ll divorce her when he learns.
Meanwhile, Gino was making preparations for Jasmine’s arrival. Among them was shopping for, but ultimately declining to buy, a relatively inexpensive treadmill.
Jasmine often accuses Gino of being cheap. Sometimes she’s right.
Other times, he spends thousands of dollars to make her happy for a few weeks. Complex guy, that Gino fella.
But Gino fears that she will be very unhappy when she learns that he has taken a leave of absence from work.
He’s doing this to help her get settled (and not go extra nuts from isolation) after she moves.
The lost income may mean cutting back financially, and Jasmine won’t take that well. When Gino doesn’t spend money on her, she takes it as a personal rejection. So … they’re both lying to each other.
Towards the end of the premiere, we saw Jasmine freak out at Gino while at a pet store.
Her reason was that his sister-in-law had told her that there was a bad week to hold her wedding, as her family would be on vacation in Florida.
Jasmine took it as a commend. She has an adversarial view of Gino’s family. When he pushed back on that, she flipped out and cried. In her mind, he always puts her last.
Meet Rob and Sophie
Rob Warne and Sophie Sierra met online. Though her family is monied and his was not, they are both biracial — which gave them shared experiences, including racism.
Apparently, after just a couple of messages, Rob brazenly sent her a video call request.
Maybe he was just checking to see if she was real. She hesitantly accepted the call, but they ended up talking for eight hours.
Since they first touched base, Rob and Sophie have seen each other in person. In fact, they lived together for a couple of months.
Now, however, Sophie’s flying out on the K-1 visa.
She’s lived in various countries over the years, but she’s nervous. And she’s very young to be marrying anyone.
Sophie’s mom is not a fan of Rob. She thinks that he’s dumb and often cranky.
It is Sophie’s hope that Rob and her mom will eventually get along. After all, through her, they’re all going to be family.
Meanwhile, Sophie is bisexual and plans to come out to Rob. It hasn’t come up, and she hasn’t told many people, but she wants him to know who she is.
Rob does seem to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder. In his mind, Sophie has “rich girl tendencies” and is a “princess.”
Maybe. But her concerns that we’ve heard so far are about his studio apartment that doesn’t have a bathroom. It does, it seems, have a pest infestation.
It’s totally possible that Sophie has unrealistic expectations. But “my home should have a working bathroom” and “I want minimal to zero bugs in my bedroom” are normal, standard, and reasonable.
Meet Nikki and Justin
Nikki and Justin met by chance. Almost two decades ago, Nikki flew to Moldova to see the former love in her life. He was a Russian man whose deportation had torn them apart.
But when she arrived, he was with another woman.
Instead of immediately returning home, Nikki made a dating profile on a website. She ended up matching with Justin, who is just her type.
According to Nikki, Justin is a total sweetheart. And the fact that he’s hung and hot doesn’t hurt, either. He proposed, and they became engaged — with plans to go on a K-1 visa journey.
However, once they were together, they were fighting. He just wasn’t helping out around the house.
During one of these conflicts, Nikki revealed that she was transgender. Unfortunately, Justin responded to that by freaking out, and they broke up.
However, after seventeen years apart, they reconnected online. And, both being newly single, gave things a second chance.
Justin has grown a lot as a person since then. And he’s learned a lot more about trans folks, even if his country is not particularly welcoming or safe to the LGBTQ+ community.
They met up for a steamy vacation in Mexico. There, Justin proposed. Now, they’re on a K-1 visa journey … again.
Justin and Nikki are both clearly crazy about each other. But Nikki isn’t sure that Justin’s fully into her.
So she’s going to Moldova ahead of the visa to see if she can sort things out.
She’s anxious about getting his mother’s approval. And she wants to make certain that things with Justin will really work out for the best this time.
All told, the 90 Day Fiance Season 10 premiere was a success. We met three new couples (with more to come).
Yes, Jasmine and Gino were there. A lot of viewers have mixed feelings about that — and some downright hate it.
But the premiere didn’t hinge upon their nonsense. It gave the new couples time to grow and win people over. Though, like every season, it’ll be a few weeks before any of them start to feel like old friends — or enemies.
Simon Delott
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