Was 90 Day Fiance’s Tyray Catfished? Everything We Know About His Relationship With Carmella

During the season 6 premiere of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days on June 4, ​franchise newcomer Tyray opened up about his long-distance romance with Carmella. Despite being together for four years, the California native revealed they never video chatted. Keep scrolling to find out if Carmella catfished Tyray, learn about their relationship and more.

How Did ‘90 Day Fiance’ Stars Tyray and Carmella Meet?

Tyray explained that he met Carmella, who lives in Barbados, on a dating website while making his 90 Day Fiancé franchise debut.

After four years of speaking, he said that they were constantly in touch.

Tyray also told the producers that he’s attracted to Carmella because she’s a “hot, thick, beautiful woman” whom he views as a “goddess.”

The TLC personality said that Carmella is his soul mate and revealed she supported him when he stepped up to help his mother after she suffered a stroke. Following her health scare, Tyray quit his job and moved in with his mother to take care of her ​full time.

How Did ‘90 Day Fiance’ Stars Tyray and Carmella Communicate?

Tyray raised concerns when he told producers that he’s never video chatted with Carmella.

“We do have, you know, naughty Snapchat sessions,” he explained. “We do send, like, sexy pictures and videos. You know, the booty.”

The TV personality then shared that he previously asked Carmella to talk via video chat, though she didn’t respond to the request.

“Maybe she’s not comfortable, or maybe she doesn’t like video chatting, I know a lot of people don’t,” he said. “I do plan on seeing Carmella soon, I’m just trying to see if I can find a flight that’s in my small budget so that’s pretty much what I’m waiting for at this moment.”

Despite their lack of video chatting, Tyray insisted that he saw a future with the Barbados native. “Carmella is my girlfriend right now, but hopefully soon, my wife,” he said.

Was ‘90 Day Fiance’ Star Tyray Catfished by Carmella?

At the end of the season premiere episode, a producer named David told Tyray that they learned information about Carmella. Before the producer shared the news, he told Tyray that he could choose whether or not ​to continue on the show.

“We’ve learned Carmella has not been honest with you about who she is,” David explained. “The person you’ve been messaging with for the last several years is not the same woman in the pictures and videos.”

The producer shared that they learned Carmella was lying about her identity when they called the number Tyray provided for them. Once they were in touch with the person, they learned that a man had been pretending to be Carmella.

Tyray was left speechless and simply said, “Wow.”

How Did ‘90 Day Fiance’ Star Tyray React to Being Catfished?

While producers gave Tyray the option to quit the show following the betrayal, he has chosen to continue starring on the season.

In a teaser clip that highlighted upcoming episodes, he was seen throwing his phone after a friend showed him Carmella’s photos on a website for escorts. Tyray was later captured second guessing his relationship, having realized that his messages to Carmella were being left unread.

“I’m going back to all the past where she, like, said I love you and it’s weird but I still kind of feel like maybe, she’s real or something,” he said in a confessional, however, hinting that he’s holding out that he wasn’t catfished. “I still feel that connection. I still have a glimmer of hope that maybe it was just someone else who had her phone or something, maybe she was hacked, I don’t know.”

“I still have a little bit in me that says this might all just be a misunderstanding,” Tyray continued in the clip, first shared by Entertainment Tonight. “I want to get to the bottom of everything. I’m just gonna not message her no more today,” he carried on saying. “And then tomorrow I’m gonna wake up and be like, was that a dream? It’s actually a nightmare. So that’s what I’m afraid of the most, like, how I’m gonna feel tomorrow.”

After he learned that Carmella is actually a man named Christian during the June 11 episode, Tyray admitted he sent “Carmella” money throughout their relationship.

“Carmella initially asked me for money back in 2019 and I said no. Then she was kinda like ‘Oh, okay,’ and kinda ignored me,” he explained, adding that she reached out again in March 2020. “That’s when I let my guard down and sent her something.”

The TV personality then said he was “embarrassed” and should have known not to trust “Carmella.”

“I feel disappointed because I know about computers, and I’ve watched the show Catfish,” Tyray said during a confessional. “Usually [I know] what to look for when you see a fake profile. I should have seen it. It was only Snapchat. But, I didn’t think someone was trying to play me because I wasn’t sending thousands of dollars or anything.”

During the June 18 episode, Tyray admitted he wasn’t fully convinced that “Carmella” had lied about her identity.

“There is someone behind these messages that I have a deep connection with, and I do think that it could be a big misunderstanding,” he said during a confessional. “Because of how deep the connection was. But I don’t know where to go from here.”

Tyray eventually did a reverse image search of the photos “Carmella” sent him. After the photos did not appear anywhere else online, Tyray became hopeful that the entire situation was a misunderstanding.

“Maybe Carmella is real, and maybe what the producer was told wasn’t true,” he said. “Maybe her boyfriend found out about us then wanted to end our relationship. Who knows?”

However, Christian later sent a text message explaining his side of the story. “Hi!!!!! To think I cannot video call you because I’m not the girl in the photos. I know it’s [redacted] that I have not been honest with Tyray. I been lying to him for almost 5 years,” the message read. “At first it was a way to get money since most of us are so poor here, [but] I did start liking him but I can’t be with him. I feel so bad but I really needed money. I’m sorry, I do love him but I can’t be with him.”

After he read the message, Tyray said he wasn’t convinced that what he was saying was true and noted that the catfish was telling him “the right things” to keep him interested.

“I’m even more confused now. It’s saying two things, like, I can’t be with him. But at the same time, I love him. So it’s like — I don’t know,” Tyray told his sister. “There has to be some truth to something in there.”

Tyray finally came to terms with the fact that Carmella was a catfish during the July 16 episode.

“None of this lines up with, you know, the Carmella I fell in love with, you know, this wasn’t her,” he admitted during a confessional. “Maybe the person behind the texts and the woman behind the photos were two different people.”

After noting that his relationship with Carmella meant “everything” to him, Tyray said he believed they were “soulmates.”

“Realizing this image isn’t the face I’ve been talking to is devastating,” he added.

Later on in the episode, Tyray revealed to his family that he had been catfished and shared his plan to travel to Barbados to meet Christian in person.

“I just want to know if my instincts are right – that this person loved me the way I love them,” he explained about why he wants to take the trip. “If anything else is fake, at least that love was real and that would be the closure I need – that’s it.”