The Worst Proposals In 90 Day Fiancé History, Kicking Off With Debby & Mido

First aired back in 2014, "90 Day Fiancé" soon established itself as one of the most popular shows on TLC thanks to its compelling mixture of globe-trotting romance, strict time constraints, and just plain old voyeurism. For those who've been living under a rock, the reality series centers on couples initially separated by geography who are then given the chance to take advantage of a three-month visa to determine whether their relationship should be taken to the next level — i.e., marriage and, perhaps most importantly, an accompanying green card — or permanently end.

Now having cast its 12th season (at the time of writing), the show has also inspired multiple spinoffs including "The Other Way," "Before the 90 Days," and "Happily Ever After," showing partners before and after the whole process. But for many viewers, and for better or for worse, the must-see moment of each storyline will always remain the proposal. Here's a look at ten that served as a guide on how not to pop the question.

Mido Fayed took the pre-proposal fakeout to new, and some would say particularly cruel, heights while accompanying Debby Rolando on a chapel visit in the 12th season of "90 Day Fiancé." The latter had hoped that the trip might spark conversation back to the prospect of tying the knot. But on arrival, the former initially acted as though marriage couldn't be further from his mind.

In fact, after pretending to be entirely nonplussed by their surroundings, Mido then dropped the bombshell that rather than pop the question, he was now planning to head back to his Egyptian homeland and call time on their romance for good. This stunt certainly had an effect: poor Debby became hysterical while fleeing the scene. Thankfully, before too much more emotional trauma was inflicted, her jokester boyfriend caught up with her, took out an engagement ring and explained that his previous comments were simply intended to throw her off the scent.

Instead of telling Mido where to go, Debby said "yes," albeit with the tears of apparent rejection still flowing. Trying to justify his actions, the former told the cameras that his ruse had been a spur-of-the-moment idea in a bid to play the latter at her own game. Despite this incredibly shaky start, the pair did end up walking down the aisle. And this time, both parties played it entirely straight.

It initially appeared as though Steven Frend and Olga Koshimbetova were more likely to go their separate ways than get engaged before the former popped the question. In fact, some "90 Day Fiancé" viewers believe that the former only asked for the latter's hand in marriage to defuse an argument.

The emotional rollercoaster started when Steven admitted that, contrary to her belief, he hadn't filed her visa request upon learning that she was pregnant with their child. To make matters worse, Olga could possibly have headed to the USA much earlier if he had, too. Trying to justify the delay, Steven claimed that he'd needed more time to get his head around their fledgling relationship. In response, Olga said she wished he'd simply explained this at the time instead of perpetuating a lie.

For most people, this wouldn't appear to be the ideal scenario to propose. But Steven thought differently and, despite the obvious awkwardness, Olga said "yes." The former later took to Instagram to explain his choice of jewelry. "People may wonder how I could afford this ring," he captioned (via Newsweek) a snap of his fiancée and their son Richie. "I got it in Russia, it wasn't the most expensive ring but a price tag doesn't determine love. One day in life I'll be able to afford the ring this girl deserves." Luckily, on Christmas Eve in 2018, Olga discovered that her visa had finally been approved.

Timothy Malcolm isn't the only "90 Day Fiancé" star, however, to make the major faux pas of bringing up his ex-girlfriend during a proposal. Ricky Reyes also did the same while popping the question to Ximena Parra in Season 2 of "Before the 90 Days," and for similar reasons, too.

Ricky had first headed to Colombia to meet another woman, Melissa, he'd been speaking to online. But after sparks failed to fly in real life, he set his sights on Ximena. Unwisely, though, he decided to ask for her hand in marriage with the same ring he'd initially purchased for her predecessor. Furthermore, he decided that honesty was the best policy, too.

"You, for me, are a marvelous person," Ricky gushed to Ximena (via In Touch Weekly) while revealing the history of the jewelry. "There was a reason why I [told you] about Melissa, because if I have a life with you, I have to tell you everything. Right? And I want to ask you, do you want to be my wife?" Still, his confessional approach paid off when the new object of his affections said "yes." "I know it's crazy that I just proposed to Ximena so fast," Ricky acknowledged. "But I said this from the beginning, there's no metric when it comes to love."

English teacher Emily Larina no doubt dreamed of being proposed to in front of the Eiffel Tower, or during a Tuscan sunset, or literally thousands of other scenarios bar the one personal trainer Sasha Larin opted for. Yes, in the Season 7 of "90 Day Fiancé," the latter decided the perfect place to ask for the former's hand in marriage was in an elevator.

"One day we had gotten takeout for dinner," Emily recalled to the TLC cameras about the entirely unromantic gesture in question. "We were in the elevator, and he just looked at me and he said, 'Emily, I want you to be my wife.'" Despite the proposal sounding more like a demand, she accepted. And despite the fact that Sasha had previously tied the knot with two other women, she also appeared to be unwaveringly optimistic about their future.

"Sasha just made mistakes in the past and he happened to marry those mistakes, but we're different," Emily reasoned (via Reality TV World). "Our relationship is perfect. I am going to be Sasha's third wife. This is his third child with another woman, but we're going to last." Her confidence wasn't unfounded, though, as several years later, the pair appear to be still very much together.

The second-hand embarrassment was off the scale when American Paul Staehle decided to propose to Brazilian Karine Martins in a "90 Day Fiancé" scenario that undoubtedly got lost in translation. Unable to speak each other's languages fluently, the pair had to navigate much of their early relationship via apps. But the former appeared to forget this entirely when he made what would otherwise have been regarded as a deeply romantic gesture.

Paul spelled out, "Karine, will you marry me?" inside a heart-shaped chain at a nearby beach. Unfortunately, other than her own name, obviously, the object of his affections had no idea what these words meant. "I'm confused because I don't understand what he's doing here," Karine admitted to the cameras (via Cheat Sheet), having been forced to rely once again on her app. "I'm trying to translate what's written in the sand."

Unfortunately, it seems to take an interminable amount of time for the translator app to work its magic. And even when she realized the sentiment, Karine didn't exactly make the situation seem comfortable. She initially said "no," only to quickly clarify that this was a joke and she, of course, would love to become Mrs. Staehle. "In hindsight, I kind of wish I would have written it in Portuguese," Paul acknowledged in a deadpan line that could have easily been lifted from a cringe comedy.

The proposal involving Nigerian Michael Ilesanmi and American Angela Deem in Season 2 of "90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days" caught attention for several reasons. Firstly, in something of a rarity, it was the woman who ended up popping the question. And secondly, the manner in which she did so was entirely unorthodox, too.

Angela asked for Michael's hand in marriage in Nigeria by reaching into her bra and pulling out a tiny flag of the Stars and Stripes, inside of which was an engagement ring. This unusual approach didn't deter Michael, however, nor did it dispel the theory that he was only in the relationship to obtain a green card. "USA, here I come," he excitedly declared (via In Touch Weekly) to the cameras after saying "yes."

Michael, who by this point had already been accused of thievery by Angela and had unceremoniously failed to impress her pals, too, took to Facebook once the episode aired to clap back at those who believed that money, not love, was his ultimate motive. "You [are] totally wrong u [sic] don't judge a book by its cover," he argued with one unconvinced viewer. "You deserve no explanations from me. Bye." Of course, Michael would later become one of the "90 Day Fiancé" stars who ruined their image in one episode. 

As with poor Paul Staehle's awkward "lost in translation" proposal to Karine Martins, "90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way" Season 1 participant Jihoon Lee had at least put a bit of thought into making Deavan Clegg his fiancé. He just struggled with the execution.

Instead of simply handing Deavan his engagement ring, Jihoon decided it would be more fun if she found it in her beverage. Unfortunately, the latter struggled to fish the jewelry out of her ginger ale, causing her other half to knock back the drink as a result. Things got even more haphazard when the clumsy pair ended up knocking over several glasses during the commotion, and Jihoon became visibly flustered.

Luckily, Deavan didn't let all the heavy-handedness deter her from accepting the proposal, and the pair thankfully made it down the aisle without any such accidents. However, perhaps both parties should have taken it as a sign that they weren't meant to be. By the time the second season finale had aired, they'd gone their separate ways, with Jihoon later admitting (via In Touch Weekly) on an Instagram Story, "I think I learned a lot from marriage and divorce. I was ashamed to see myself on the show."

"I thought I was having a heart attack," a clearly smitten Colt Johnson admitted (via Romper) on Season 6 of "90 Day Fiancé" after first setting eyes on Brazilian Larissa Dos Santos Lima, who later adopted a drastic new look. "She was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I was like, 'I'm done. This is it.'"

He wasn't kidding. Indeed, in a blatant case of too much, too soon, Colt ended up asking for Larissa's hand in marriage just five days after that initial meeting. Unfortunately, he didn't exactly pull out all the stops while doing so. He proposed on the spur of the moment while the pair, later voted the saddest "90 Day Fiancé" breakup, were getting ready to head to the airport.

Although Larissa accepted, it didn't take much longer for her to call out Colt's lack of romanticism. After arriving in the States for the first time on their next get-together, she chastised him for failing to greet her with a gift. "I thought that he will bring me some things, like maybe chocolate [or] flowers to show me how much I'm important to him now that I've finally moved to America," she moaned (via Us Weekly). "But when I saw him without nothing in his hands, I thought, 'What's going on?'"

The atmosphere surrounding Brandan DeNuccio's engagement to Mary Demasu-ay was arguably more funereal than celebratory. The former's lack of preparation resulted in one of the franchise's most lackadaisical proposals, and while the latter still accepted, her indifferent expression suggested otherwise.

For some reason, Brandan felt that the ideal time to ask Mary to marry him was during a serious discussion about their finances. "This has been a long time coming and I just wanted to basically say that you know I love you and I don't know how else to say this other than to just, you know, kind of show you," he said (via People) after reaching into his pocket for the ring. "I didn't rehearse this at all. I just — will you marry me, Mary?" Unfortunately, the jewelry ended up being far too big to stay on his other half's finger, and his solution to get it resized only appeared to irritate her more.

Mary later admitted to the "90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way" cameras she'd only agreed to marriage to spare Brandan's blushes and that with the pair about to become parents at the same time they were already facing money problems, the idea of a wedding couldn't have come at a worse time. Remarkably, the pair did end up walking down the aisle, although Mary once again couldn't have sounded less enthused, admitting (via Yahoo!) she didn't feel "excitement or what the brides feel on wedding day."

No doubt many "90 Day Fiancé" viewers had to hide behind the sofa when Tarik Myers proposed to Hazel Cagalitan during a beachside stroll. For instead of simply asking for her hand in marriage, the former — for some unfathomable reason — first decided to pay her tribute in the form of a rap.

"What I want to happen is that Hazel thinks that I'm a good rapper," Myers explained about his unorthodox method. Unfortunately, thanks to lines like "It's like I've been living my whole life in black and white / Until I broke down and got my a** on that flight," which left his other half visibly squirming with embarrassment, he didn't achieve his goal.

Things didn't get much better when Myers stopped playing his pre-recorded rhymes — titled "Far Round The Way Girl" — and took out his engagement ring. For Cagalitan, perhaps still trying to process what she'd just heard, started to look in the opposite direction. Remarkably, despite being one of the most uncomfortable moments on the show, the sheer awkwardness of the situation didn't stop her from eventually saying "yes."