Although 90 Day Fiancé fans were not too happy with Natalie Mordovtseva’s behavior from her first episode on season 8, Mike Youngquist turned the tables around quickly with his vindictiveness. From refusing to give Natalie her ring back till the last minute to still being vengeful about the Kyiv incident, Mike behaved as if Natalie was his “toy.” However, Mike dumping Natalie on the day of her “fairytale” wedding is when he earned himself the title of a 90 Day Fiancé villain. Despite Natalie’s constant nagging, could it have been that Mike was the villain of season 8 all along?
TLC viewers saw Mike return for a new 90 Day Fiancé stint, as Natalie finally got her visa to come to America. To prepare for her arrival, a sulking Mike hid away the ring Natalie had tossed in season 7, but hardly even considered emptying a dresser or stocking the fridge with her favorite fresh produce. Day by day, as Natalie began adjusting to her future American life, fans saw her getting irritated by Mike’s lackadaisical approach towards their wedding, as she conveyed her feelings by insulting his class and IQ. But all hell broke loose when Mike chided Natalie during their therapist visit and claimed he didn’t love her at all. Still, not one to give up, 90 Day Fiancé star Natalie stayed put in the loveless relationship, which she partly even blamed on Mike having cheated her in the past. And while fans first trashed Natalie for her attitude, Mike had a truckload of reasons why he could never have been trusted in the first place.
Although 90 Day Fiancé star Mike kept his red flags well hidden, some fans recently discovered that Washington has a large Ukrainian population, with four of the top 20 communities of Ukrainian-born citizens located in Sequim. To city-bred Natalie, who felt lonely with Mike going to work all day, meeting new friends would have come as a relief which he did not let her have. Furthermore, Mike wearing a Bluetooth earpiece to therapy was deemed insulting by TLC viewers who then accused him of being a “d*uchebag,” and immature for gaslighting Natalie. Fans also argued that if he really didn’t have feelings for Natalie, him heel-dragging the relationship with someone who had uprooted her life to be with him was the sign of a classic manipulator.
Some fans argued that Mike had found himself someone better than him to date, to later on only use the same qualities to put Natalie down by saying, “your beauty is ugly” as a part of his power play. While Natalie threw the ring, she apologized multiple times. But if Mike was never going to be okay with her guilt, he led her on, possibly used her for his house chores, with a break-up always at the back of his mind. It was easy to see that Mike had realized months ago that he and Natalie weren’t compatible. But the 90 Day Fiancé star, waited until the last minute to one-up her as he canceled the bare minimum wedding he had promised Natalie, to what fans think is, take “revenge” for rejecting him in Ukraine.
90 Day Fiancé viewers do not disagree that Natalie was abusive in her own way, especially by being stubborn. But Mike simply used the victim card until he could guilt-trip her into believing his lies. On the other hand - spoiler alert- rumors of Mike and Natalie being married were around even before their season 8 debut, confusing fans furthermore about this wedding cancellation scenario. Speculations of former actress Natalie faking her tears have also been floated, with some fans claiming she is still together with Mike in America and maybe also has a child. With a couple of episodes still left to air on 90 Day Fiancé, perhaps, fans will have to continue with the Mike-bashing a little longer until they finally decide to pick permanent sides.
90 Day Fiancé airs Sundays at 8pm EST on TLC.