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’90 Day Fiance’ Stars Mark and Nikki Shoemaker Split, Divorce After 6 Years of Marriage
It’s over. 90 Day Fiancé stars Mark Shoemaker and Nikki Mediano Shoemaker have split and filed for divorce after nearly seven years of marriage, In Touch can confirm.
Mark, 64, filed for divorce from Nikki, 25, on March 2, according to a court docket viewed by In Touch. The following day, he filed a motion to seal their divorce which was denied. The couple had a prenuptial agreement in place and the prenup was submitted along with their divorce filing.
The couple is arguably one of the the most controversial couples on the hit TLC franchise. They starred on 90 Day Fiancé season 3 in 2015, alongside costars Alexei and Loren Brovarnik, Kyle and Noon Huckabee, Devar and Melanie Walters, Josh and Aleksandra Strobel and Fernando and Carolina Verdini. When the Baltimore native and Nikki appeared on their season, he was 58 years old and she was 19 years old and their 39-year age gap is one of the largest that have been featured on the series.
Mark, the owner of a piano rental business, had been through the K-1 visa process once before joining the show. In his introduction, he explained he met his Filipino ex-wife in the 1980s and brought her to America on the visa which allows the foreign fiancé of a U.S. citizen to legally enter the country under the condition that the couple weds within 90 days of the foreigner’s arrival. If they do not marry in 90 days, the foreigner must return to their country. After the wedding, the American can file for an adjustment of status for their partner and they will then be able to obtain a green card.
After his first divorce, Mark remained single for more than 20 years and raised his four children from his previous marriage. Once his children became adults, he ventured back on the dating scene and met Nikki on a dating site. Nikki is from Cebu, Philippines — the same city that his ex-wife hailed from. Mark planned a trip to the Philippines to meet Nikki in in person for the first time and their online chemistry immediately translated offline. Just two days after meeting, Mark proposed to her with a zip tie instead of a ring and she said yes.
He applied for the K-1 visa and once Nikki arrived in Baltimore, their 90 day countdown began but it was full of drama. Nikki was two years younger than his youngest daughter, Ellie, which caused tension and she and Mark clashed as they adjusted to their new lives together. However, they made it down the aisle and tied the knot in 2015.
The couple did not return to the franchise to share their love story on the various spinoffs as Mark and Nikki were upset with the way they were portrayed on the show. In 2017, Mark filed a lawsuit against the show’s network, TLC, and the production company, Sharp Entertainment. It was eventually thrown out by a judge that May.
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