Natalie Mordovtseva and Mike Youngquist’s relationship on 90 Day Fiancé is obviously toxic, but much on the blame lies on Mike and his mother Trish. What they’re doing to Natalie is gaslighting, pure and simple. Though of course Natalie isn’t completely without fault, her husband and mother-in-law are constantly conspiring to undermine her confidence and feelings is clearly starting to weigh on her. It’s no wonder that Natalie feels frustrated, and it’s doubtful she’ll be able to take it much longer.
On 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, Natalie and Mike went to Oklahoma to visit Trish for Thanksgiving, and it went bad from the start. Trish never really liked Natalie and it shows—the woman made constant digs at Natalie from the moment she arrived. Unfortunately, Mike generally sides with Trish instead of his wife, and Natalie reached her limit. She claims Trish called her a “hooker” and has been rude to her overall. But even though Natalie had told Mike, he gaslit Natalie and sided with his mom yet again.
When Mike and Natalie were preparing to leave his mom’s house, Natalie refused to say goodbye to Trish and wanted to sit in the car until it was time to go. Mike and Trish went outside to confront her and acted like they had no clue why she could be upset. “I have no idea how I insulted her,” Trish commented, and Mike kept asking, “what did my mom say that disrespected you?” But it felt like Mike and Trish were bullying Natalie, and Mike even admitted in his interview that he knew exactly why Natalie felt disrespected.
“Natalie was under the impression that my mom called her a hooker,” Mike said in his confessional, “and by her not saying anything and sitting there and pouting is not solving anything.” However, he wasn’t saying anything to help resolve the matter either, but rather was making Natalie doubt herself by acting like he didn’t know what the issue was. Trish also played innocent and claimed she was never disrespectful to Natalie, though during the trip Trish criticized Natalie’s career ideas, made mean jokes, and said to Mike, “give her $5,000 and send her back to ******* Ukraine.”
Gaslighting makes a person doubt their own perceptions and undermines their feelings, and it's a terrible thing to do to anyone. Trish may not have called Natalie a hooker, but there were plenty of other moments when she was disrespectful or flippant towards her. She’s been upfront about not wanting Mike to marry Natalie in the first place, so Trish can’t be that surprised that Natalie doesn’t feel welcomed by her. Natalie certainly has her faults, but she doesn’t deserve the way Mike or his mother treat her. It’s likely that Mike was trying to get revenge on Natalie for past offenses, and Trish is firmly on his side.
It’s not a stretch to say that Mike and Natalie are one of the worst couples on 90 Day Fiancé. They seem profoundly mismatched and the way they treat each other is awful. Neither seems happy, and Natalie especially seems to be struggling to maintain her self-esteem and confidence in the validity of her feelings. Thankfully, Natalie and Mike reportedly broke up, and she’s rumored to have joined the cast of The Single Life season 2. For both Natalie and Mike’s sake, this seems like the best decision.