’90 Day Fiancé’ Casting Director on the Vetting Process, Hopes for a Transgender Story and the Franchise’s Future
variety.comCarla Sosenko Since 2014, millions of viewers — including self-professed superfans Lady Gaga, Chrissy Teigen and Pete Davidson — have tuned in to TLC’s “90 Day Fiancé” to watch Americans go through the arduous process of bringing partners over from other countries through the (previously) esoteric K-1 visa process.
Since then, the franchise has exploded into multiple directions of spinoff-hood: In 2017, we got the self-explanatory “Before the 90 Days”; two years later it was “90 Day: The Other Way” with Americans traveling abroad and the meta “90 Day: Pillow Talk,” during which alums watch others’ “90 Day” episodes.In 2020, the self-taped “90 Day Diaries” was born, and 2021 brought “90 Day: The Single Life,” following former cast members still looking for love.
The one-off special 2022 spinoff “90 Day Diaries: Ukraine,” spotlighted series regulars who were either still living in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion or were stateside and trying to help from here.
So just how far can a docuseries about couples from different cultures go? For senior director of casting at Sharp Entertainment, Brooklyn Bagwell — who started her career on “Doomsday Preppers” and has cast “90 Day” since Season 3 — the globe’s the limit.How does casting work?When I first started casting the show, we would work with immigration lawyers and scour social media.
