TLC to Air ‘90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined’ Spinoff Featuring 40 Past Cast Members (EXCLUSIVE)
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If anyone is used to having meaningful conversations over video chat, it’s the long-distance couples of “90 Day Fiancé.” That skill makes them particularly well-suited to recording themselves for the new TLC limited series “90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined,” a spinoff born out of the coronavirus pandemic. The five-episode limited series, announced Thursday, will premiere on TLC on April 20, with more than 40 cast members signed on to return.
Howard Lee, the president and general manager of TLC, said that for the cast members, talking via computers and video chat “is already in their DNA.”
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“90 Day Fiancé,” one of cable television’s most popular franchises, is usually highly produced, with an entire camera crew filming the cast. But for “90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined,” cast members began recording themselves — and one another — earlier this week. They will be taped for confessional interviews by production company Sharp Entertainment (an Industrial Media company) over video chat. “Our crew is not near them physically at all,” Lee said. “They will be helping them remotely.”
“And they have no problem with this, the couples,” Lee added. “They’re seizing this opportunity. I think that they’re actually really enjoying it, being able to show a part of their lives at home.”
The aesthetic of “90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined” will be somewhat experimental. “This series will look very hot-off-the-press — it will look like the paint has not dried,” Lee said. “I think our audience is incredibly forgiving right now, and I’m hoping that they accept the way it looks. It will be messy!”
Some of the cast members are living together, while others are alone; some of the couples are still in relationships, but are physically apart. When casting this latest version of “90 Day Fiancé,” Lee said they wanted to go back throughout the show’s six-year history to select fan favorites: “Who are we wanting to hear the latest news and updates from — who comes to top of mind for our audience?”
The cast will include such volatile personalities as Darcey, as well as combustible couples such as Emily and Sasha from the show’s most recent season and Pedro and Chantel, who’ve been on several iterations of “90 Day Fiancé.” As for whether they’re fighting under quarantine, Lee said, “We’re going to have to hear from them first hand.” The cast as of now is listed below. “This is just a sampling,” Lee said. “We’re still working with many of them and trying to see who we can get.”
“90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined” won’t be the only “90 Day” series that reflects life during coronavirus strictures. Jihoon and Deavan, who were featured in the 2019 series “90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way,” in which a romantic partner from the United States moves abroad, have been self-taping for a future series while under quarantine in South Korea. (At the end of February, as coronavirus was spreading throughout South Korea, Deavan posted a photo of herself in a mask on Instagram, and then responded to commenters who criticized her.)
The five episodes of “90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined” will go through May. If the show does well, might there be more?
“Right now, I think this is a limited series event, a one-time only,” Lee said. “If for some reason, this is popular, and the audience really loves it, I don’t know — maybe there’s more down the road!”
The cast of “90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined,” made from alumni of the franchise’s many shows, as of now:
Alan (Fremont, Utah) & Kirlyam (Brazil) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “What Now?”
Anna (Bellevue, Neb.) & Mursel (Turkey) – “90 Day Fiancé”
Benjamin (Phoenix, Ariz.) & Akinyi (Kenya) – “Before the 90 Days”
Brett (Snohomish, Wash.) & Daya (Philippines) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?”
Caesar (Jacksonville, N.C.) – “Before the 90 Days”
Chantel (Atlanta, Ga.) & Pedro (Dominican Republic) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?,” “The Family Chantel”
Colt & Debbie (Las Vegas, Nev.) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?,” “Pillow Talk”
Corey (Mill A., Wash.) & Evelin (Ecuador) – “The Other Way,” “What Now?”
Cortney (Davenport, Fla.) – “Before the 90 Days,” “What Now?”
Danielle (Sandusky, Ohio) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?,” “What Now?,” “Pillow Talk”
Darcey (Middletown, Conn.) – “Before the 90 Days,” “Pillow Talk”
David (Louisville, Ky.) & Annie (Thailand) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?,” “What Now?,” “Pillow Talk”
Dean (Virginia Beach, Va.) – “Before the 90 Days,” “What Now?,” “Pillow Talk”
Elizabeth (Tampa, Fla.) & Andrei (Moldova) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?,” “Pillow Talk”
Emily (Portland, Ore.) & Sasha (Russia) – “90 Day Fiancé”
Jesse (Netherlands) – “Before the 90 Days,” “What Now?”
Karen & Thomas (Atlanta, Ga.) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?,” “The Family Chantel”
Michael (Greenwich, Conn.) & Juliana (Brazil) – “90 Day Fiancé”
Molly (Woodstock, Ga.) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?,” “What Now?,” “Pillow Talk”
Narkyia (Camp Hill, Pa.) & Lowo (Nigeria) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “What Now?”
Patrick (Las Vegas, Nev.) – “Before the 90 Days,” “What Now?”
Rachel (Albuquerque, N.M.) & Jon (England) – “Before the 90 Days,” “What Now?”
River & Winter (Atlanta, Ga.) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “Happily Ever After?,” “The Family Chantel”
Robert (Winter Park, Fla.) & Anny (Dominican Republic) – “90 Day Fiancé,” “What Now?,” “Pillow Talk”
Tiffany (Frederick, Md.) & Ronald (South Africa) – “The Other Way,” “What Now?”
Yamir (Nicaragua) – “90 Day Fiancé”
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