90 Day Fiancé has been a highly popular franchise on TLC. The original show spawned three other iterations: 90 Day Fiancé: What Now?, 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days and 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After. With all the money the franchise pulls in, some portion must be going to the characters who make the show so popular and entertaining.
Financial issues have always been one of the many struggles couples on the show endure. Most Americans who appear on the show fall somewhere in the middle-class range, depending on what state they’re from. This doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for traveling to a foreign country or staying in a foreign country for an extended period of time, especially when you plan on staying in a luxurious resort with your partner. Not to mention the financial assistance non-American partners, or their families, may request. For example, in 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season four, Big Ed bought clothing for his then-girlfriend Rose when he arrived in the Philippines. Rose’s sister also requested Big Ed lend her money to keep her store afloat. To pay the costs, some drain their 401Ks or use their life savings, all in the name of love.
It would only make sense for participants to receive some form of financial compensation from the show for the time they spend being watched and filmed for the viewing pleasure of others. Matt Sharp, creator of the 90 Day Fiancé franchise, revealed some of the financial secrets of the franchise in an interview with Kate Casey on her ‘Reality Life’ podcast. Sharp explained how the couples are paid appearance fees but compensation is only given to the United States citizen. Because the non-American partner doesn’t have U.S. citizenship or a green card, it would be illegal to pay them. Sharp didn’t go into how the U.S. citizen in the relationships chooses to divide their funds so it can be assumed it’s up to the American partners discretion. It can be assumed that if their relationship is successful, they give some to their partner. If it’s unsuccessful, they may keep most of it for themselves.
As for the exact amount, Nikki Cooper, who appeared on season five of 90 Day Fiancé with her now-husband Chris Thieneman, revealed cast members make $1,000 per episode and $2,500 for the tell-all. With 10 to 13 typical episodes in a season, not including the tell-all, this adds up to around $13,000 per season. With two tell-all specials, participants can earn up to $18,000 a season. For spin-off shows, compensation ranges from $500 to $1,000 and slightly exceeds $1,000 for 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After.
While $18,000 certainly isn’t chump change, it pales in comparison to the paychecks participants on other popular network reality shows receive. Characters on MTV’s Teen Mom earn around $300,000 a season. Stars of Bravo’s Real Housewives shows routinely earn six to seven figures a season. These discrepancies are quite strange considering 90 Day Fiancé routinely brings in more viewers than Teen Mom.
For the Americans who choose to financially assist their foreign partners in some way, the support could be considered some form of payment. For example, in season one of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, whenever Sean went to see his girlfriend, Abby, in Haiti, he brought Abby clothes to resell on her online business. Sean ended up spending hundreds of dollars on new clothes for Abby to sell. With the financial compensation Sean received from the show that Abby didn’t, this puts the expenditure more into perspective. Although, Sean did fly to Haiti twice which must have cost a pretty penny on top of the multiple bags of re-sellable clothing he gave to Abby.
While the appearance fees may not be an exorbitant amount by U.S. standards, it’s important to consider the conversion rates and cost of living in other countries. Most foreign partners who appear on the show are from the Philippines. One US dollar equates to 50 Phillippine pesos. The one $1,000 fee they theoretically would earn equates to around 50,000 pesos. For context, the amount American citizens are paid per episode could buy you three months’ rent on a one-bedroom apartment in the city center of the Philippines. Payment for a whole season could buy you the same apartment with rent covered for around three and a half years.
While it may equate to a lot in other countries, the level of compensation couples make for appearing on 90 Day Fiancé falls just above the amount a full-time minimum wage worker in the U.S. would make. The federal minimum wage in the U.S. rests at $7.25 an hour. This equates to about $15,000 a year. So, for most Americans, starring in 90 Day Fiancé would be equivalent to taking on an extra minimum wage job with some change. Although, this money probably runs out quickly after the wedding and honeymoon expenses most couples pay out of pocket. Some past contestants have started GoFundMe pages to cover living and travel expenses or divorce attorneys after their time on the show. This indicates the financial compensation characters receive from the show is probably not long-lasting.
Another alternative for income after the show ends is sponsored posts, assuming the person has built up enough of a social media following after appearing on the show. Several 90 Day Fiancé stars have gone down this road. Danielle Jbali, who appeared on season two of 90 Day Fiancé and 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After, set up a GoFundMe at one point to pay bills during a rough patch. Now, she sells autographs and video shoutouts to fans for $40 on Cameo. With 184 thousand followers on Instagram, Jbali has been able to capitalize on her fame with various brand partnerships and sponsorships. Olga Koshimbetova, who appeared on season six of 90 Day Fiancé, also runs multiple sponsored posts through her Instagram account. In addition, she does Cameos for $25 and works as a professional photographer. This goes to say, characters can use their newfound fame from the show to their financial advantage beyond the appearance fee compensation.