Spoiler Alert: This recap covers events from 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? Season 9, Episode “Frankly, My Dear, I Don’t Give A Damn,” now streaming on HBO Max.
We’ve known for a while that Jasmine Pineda and Gino Palazzolo’s marriage was over, but that hasn’t stopped their split from delivering some of the juiciest drama of the season. The tension reached a new high in the latest episode, when Jasmine came face-to-face with Gino’s new girlfriend, Natalie — and the setup for this encounter was… questionable, to say the least.
Only weeks after telling Jasmine he wanted a divorce, Gino flew Natalie to Michigan for his cousin’s birthday party. If that wasn’t awkward enough, his family decided to invite Jasmine, turning what could’ve been a casual gathering into a full-blown showdown. And let’s just say, the atmosphere was anything but festive.
asmine’s Arrival Was Every Bit the Explosion We Saw Coming
From the moment Natalie stepped through the door, it was clear she’d been dropped straight into a setup. Gino’s cousin’s probing questions were already awkward enough, but things went nuclear the instant Jasmine laid eyes on her. Within seconds, Jasmine was hurling insults, calling Natalie a “stripper” and a “whore,” and the two were in a full-blown shouting match. Natalie eventually stormed out while Jasmine kept screaming “whore” after her.
In her confessional, Jasmine claimed she didn’t expect to react that way — but let’s be real, that’s hard to buy. 90 Day Fiancé fans have seen this playbook before. Jasmine has a long track record of going off in high-stress, high-drama moments, especially with cameras rolling. She’s clashed fiercely with Gino, threatened Natalie Mordovtseva, and even gotten into it with Rob Warne while pregnant. Sure, that last altercation happened after this scene was filmed, but still — anyone who knows Jasmine, including Gino’s family, could’ve predicted exactly how this was going to unfold.
Gino’s Family Should’ve Chosen One Guest List, Not Both
Breakups are messy, and sometimes exes have to coexist for big, important occasions. But let’s be honest — this was not one of those moments. Jasmine and Gino are knee-deep in a divorce, just months removed from him kicking her out over her fling with Matt Branistareanu, and now he’s introducing his brand-new girlfriend to the family. Anyone who thought seating both women at the same table would be drama-free was either wildly optimistic or straight-up ignoring reality.
Which is why it’s hard not to suspect that 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? producers knew exactly what they were doing. In a normal world, either Jasmine would’ve politely declined the invite or Gino would’ve sat this one out. After all, this was just a birthday dinner for a grown cousin — not a milestone wedding or a once-in-a-lifetime family event. Frankly, I can’t even remember the last time I showed up for one of my cousin’s birthdays, and I’m related to them.
Part of me just wants to believe the whole thing was a scripted moment all 90 Day Fiancé participants were in on, because if not, I feel so bad for Natalie. She didn’t ask to be pulled into any of this, and she didn’t fly into Michigan on her dime to be called a “whore” in front of her boyfriend’s entire family by his ex-wife. If my significant other set me up for something like that, I wouldn’t be dating them anymore.