Do 90 Day Fiancé Couples Get Paid To Be On The Show?

90 Day Fiancé is a juggernaut of a reality series that has spawned a handful of spinoffs and several unforgettable moments on television. While the show has garnered a massive following, it's really the couples at the center of the show who make 90 Day Fiancé so addicting. Whether viewers are watching to see dramatic duos like Colt Johnson and Larissa Dos Santos Lima or more wholesome relationships like that of Devar and Melanie's, there's something for everyone. Overall, the show does one thing right no matter the couple: It's stone-cold entertaining reality television. 

As with any other show, the stars who appear on several episodes are assumed to get paid. However, the rules regarding pay aren't particularly cut and dry in the case of 90 Day Fiancé. In fact, the amount of money that the stars and their friends and family make might shock viewers — and not for the right reasons.

While couples on 90 Day Fiancé do get paid to appear on the show, they actually don't get paid very well. According to a 2018 report from Radar, an anonymous source revealed that "90 Day Fiancé pays their cast member $1,000 to $1,500 per episode." When asked about whether or not the price changes depending on which spinoff the couples may appear in, the source said that "it doesn't go up much more."

Although this pay isn't what many would expect for people who appear on reality television, it's worse for those who aren't the main stars. In 2018, Chris Thieneman and Nikki Cooper, a married couple who were friends with 90 Day Fiancé star David Toborowksy, came forward about the harsh realities of being on the show. In a YouTube video, they revealed that during filming, friends and family of the show's stars weren't treated well.

The couple explained that the show's crew trashed their house and only offered to clean their floors if it was within a $100 budget. Additionally, for making appearances, the couple said that they were paid absolutely nothing. "We didn't get a single dime from the show," Nikki said. "So when we did ask for something, I felt like the least they could've done was accommodate us."

The pay situation gets even worse for cast members who are traveling from another country to film. During a 2020 interview with Domenick Nati, Danielle Jbali, a former cast member, explained that 90 Day Fiancé stars who aren't from the country the show is filming in have to jump through legal hoops to get paid. "I understand that if they film in another country, the foreigner can't get paid," she said. "But when they're filming in the U.S., only the U.S. citizen gets paid unless they have the work permit."

While 90 Day Fiancé makes for an enjoyable watch, the experience may be dampened a bit once you know how little the stars make. For now, it's mostly up to former and current cast members to try and use their fame to their advantage.