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What Is ‘90 Day Fiance’ Star Jovi Dufren’s Job? Find Out How He Makes a Living
A gig with perks! Jovi Dufren was first introduced to fans during season 8 of 90 Day Fiancé, where he documented his romance with his then-fiancée Yara Zaya. While Jovi’s job initially brought the couple together, the long hours and time away has continued to be a point of contention for the now family of three.
What Is ‘90 Day Fiance’ Star Jovi Dufren’s Job?
Jovi is from Larose, Louisiana, which is a small town about an hour south of The Big Easy. He spent much of his childhood on shrimp boats in the bayou, which eventually led to his job in underwater robotics.
“I guess just being on a boat is in my blood. So we go down, we do maintenance on pipelines for oil production. I actually love my job, we do a lot of cool stuff, we see all kinds of animals. But my favorite thing about my job is the travel,” Jovi gushed about his career during the December 2020 premiere.
It was Jovi’s job that led him to meet his future wife. “I’ve been to about 25 different countries just for work. When I get to that country, I stay on the boat for the whole time for 28 days straight. I work four weeks on, four weeks off so with my time off, I would just pick a country to go to and go spend my four weeks there,” the Louisiana native explained. “Growing up, I always dreamed of exploring so it’s been great. It opened up my eyes and I’ve just become more understanding of the world. A lot of times, I would go alone so I downloaded a travel app to start to meet people and one day, I met a girl named Yara.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, he’s been in the oil and gas industry for almost 15 years and currently holds the title of a remote-operate vehicle or ROV supervisor. His position can average $73,685 a year, per Glassdoor.
How Else Does Jovi Dufren Make A Living?
Apart from his career in underwater robotics, he also makes a profit from creating travel and wellness content on social media. Jovi is also on Cameo, where he charges $55 for each personal video message.
As for his reality TV career, “90 Day Fiancé pays their cast members $1,000 to $1,500 per episode,” a source told Radar. Landing a spot on the spinoff, 90 Day Fiancé: Happy Ever After earns more cash, but it “doesn’t go up much more.”
Jovi’s Job Causes Strain On His Relationship
In his profession, it often requires the dad of one to be away from his family for months at a time — a difficulty that has been featured on their return on the spinoff, 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After in seasons 6 and 7.
“On top of being away from Yara for the whole time I’m at work, I have to do 12-hour shifts without any distractions, and we don’t even have good service on the boat,” he explained during a May 2021 episode. “I can’t, like, be on my phone the whole time … So that’s something that’s been a problem for us.”
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 portrayed in season 7, Yara was left alone during a vulnerable time and considered joining her family in Europe without Jovi.
While Yara was still waiting on her green card, she told Jovi upon the paperwork’s arrival, she and their young daughter, Mylah, would hop on a plane immediately — even if that meant leaving Jovi behind. After a heated argument, Yara finally agreed to wait for Jovi to return after being away three weeks for work.
Can Jovi Financially Support Yara’s Family?
Following Jovi, Yara and Mylah’s arrival in the Czech Republic, the dad of two joked and asked Yara’s mother if she’d like to be their daughter’s stay-at-home babysitter. Despite the ask, Jovi previously confessed he couldn’t afford to support Yara’s mom and siblings should they decide to come to America amid the war.
Does Jovi Want to Change Jobs?
Yara and Jovi returned to screens for the spinoff, 90 Day: The Last Resort, in August 2023, to resolve their marital issues in couples’ therapy alongside four fan-favorite pairs.
During the retreat, it was revealed that Jovi was offered a job closer to home but declined it without even telling the Ukraine native.
“A few months ago, I got a job offer to work closer to home, to be home more, but I didn’t take it,” Jovi explained during the October 9, 2023, episode. “And I didn’t want to bring it up to Yara because she wouldn’t understand.”
Yara called the decision “selfish” as she was “alone all the time” and felt his trying to keep secrets was a major “problem” in their marriage.
Jovi clarified that the new position would be in an office, instead of in the field like he’s used to.
“I just didn’t feel like it was the right choice for me to make, so I didn’t take it,” he explained. “I do love to love to hear that she wants me to be at home, but I don’t think she understands what that really looks like.”
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