Pregnant 90 Day Fiancé cast member Juliana Custodio shares details of her traumatic childhood and the difficulties she faced in her modeling career amidst rumors of her cheating on her estranged husband Michael Jessen. 23-year-old Juliana gained a large following with her 90 Day Fiancé season 7 debut alongside Michael, who she married in the finale. Over the course of the season, Juliana also managed to attract criticism from TLC viewers who thought of her as a gold digger. However, Juliana claimed she was the one helping out Michael’s family with money.
Michael and Juliana met at a yacht party in Croatia where Juliana was working as a model. On the show, Michael claimed he might have spent six figures on his younger girlfriend apart from giving her his credit cards which Juliana used to buy a car. Juliana had difficulties getting a visitor’s visa due to allegations of “nefarious intentions,” which both she and Michael denied. However, Michael took to social media to allege that Juliana has been through countless forms of abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking as a child, which she’s now shed some light on.
Following the “Add Yours” photo trend on Instagram stories, Juliana told her 90 Day Fiancé followers eight things about herself. Juliana confessed that she started working when she was eight years old, and by the time she was 12, she was working three jobs. “My father was an alcoholic and almost killed my mother...so she scaped [sic] and we lived in the street for a while,” Juliana shared. She added that the last time she saw her father was when she was five and that he died when she was 14 years old “for driving drunk.” According to Juliana, she “always had a dream to become a model.”
Her entire life, Juliana toiled as a seamstress and dreamed of being the one who wore “the clothes not the one making it.” Juliana opened her own factory at 14 years old. “But I sold it so I could live in Sao Paulo and become a model,” she admitted. “My first country was China. I moved there on [sic] 2015. I didn’t speak English. Was a horrible experience,” shared Juliana who later got signed with “the best agency ever based in Milan.” It was since then that Juliana’s life “changed forever.”
As of today, Juliana is thriving in her modeling career post 90 Day Fiancé. She wrote about how she’s traveled to over 80 countries with a goal of reaching 100. “I had only 2 dreams in my life. Become a model and have my own family,” Juliana wrote in a different IG story. “With my life experience I have learned that everything you are living is because you deserve it and no one can take that from you,” Juliana wrote in conclusion.
Though Juliana is in the midst of some major life changes with a baby on the way and a recent engagement to her partner Ben, it's nice to see her take the time to reflect on her past. Hopefully, she shares even more details about her history going forward. Based on the response from 90 Day Fiancé viewers so far, it seems likely they would be interested in learning more about how Juliana became the woman she is today.
Source: Juliana Custodio/Instagram