Who Is Juliana, a.k.a. ‘Julia,’ on ’90 Day Fiance’? Meet Natalie Mordovtseva’s Friend

Her support system. When 90 Day Fiancé star Natalie Mordovtseva moved to America from her native country of Ukraine in January 2020, the only person she knew was her then-fiancé, Mike Youngquist. Shortly after she and Mike got married, Natalie met her friend Juliana, a.k.a. Julia.

“She’s my only friend in Washington. We met online and we instantly connected,” Natalie said about her new pal in the June 27 episode of 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?

Juliana opened up about befriending Natalie as well. “I’ve been friends with Natalie around six months. Originally, I am from Russia and I came to America with my husband because my husband have a work [sic] here,” Julia explained in her confessional. “It was my first immigration, so it was a little bit hard for me and when I [met] Natalie, I could see she had so much problem [sic] with a different culture. But I hope I can help because I here [sic] a long time.”

Mike met Juliana for the first time on the same episode, after she invited him and Natalie over for dinner at her home in Seattle. During that dinner, Natalie dropped a bomb on Mike when she revealed that she would be undergoing nose surgery the following week. Because Mike didn’t want to cause a scene at Julia’s house, he reacted in a supportive way, but the couple fought over Natalie’s lack of communication about her operation once they arrived back home.

The Washington native’s marriage with Natalie had been on the rocks since November 2020, when their trip to visit Mike’s mom, Trish, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for Thanksgiving ended on a tense note. Natalie had accused Mike’s mom of calling her a “hooker,” and after confronting her about it the morning they were set to fly back to Washington, Natalie walked ahead of Mike and Trish and didn’t say goodbye to her mother-in-law.

In the weeks after, Mike and Natalie’s relationship continued to deteriorate. The couple got into a heated argument while filming their confessional for the July 25 episode, where Mike revealed that his wife had been staying with Juliana and had only spent one night at home with him since Christmas Eve.

“Because we fight a lot,” Natalie said when he asked her why she is never home. Mike denied that they had been fighting, and Natalie added that Mike was “ignoring” her.

“We made love the night before, you got up and 10 minutes later, you were out the door to Julia’s house,” Mike said. Natalie shrugged and replied, “I have my room there!”

That set Mike off even more. “Oh, you have a room? Wow, she’s got a room, now! She’s an official mover in-er now! She’s got a room, wow!” he said. “How far am I on the backend? I mean, there are so many people ahead of me that are way more important than me, your husband. What the f—k is wrong with you?”

“Because you don’t let me speak! The truth is, I was only [there for] three weeks. Before that, I was home. Before [the] situation with your mom, how it ended up, your mom called me bad names,” Natalie said, even though Trish had previously denied calling Natalie a “hooker.”

Mike interrupted, “Please! You cannot sit there and tell me anything about me and why you love me or why I’m important. Nothing. You have not a single word.”
Natalie said Mike was important to her but that she felt neglected by him because he works so much. Mike denied it and they continued to argue over how much time they spend together. Mike then asked Natalie what her endgame was and she didn’t understand — and that’s when Mike said he was done and stormed off the set.

For her side, Natalie said she does love Mike but she doesn’t like the way he treats her. “This is bulls—t because he never admits his faults. Never,” she told producers. “Always I am guilty, always I apologize. Always I go, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ Always. What he expects me to do? Love him forever after that? I’m sorry, I’m not.”

In a preview for the Sunday, August 1 episode, it seems Natalie left for Juliana’s after her blowout fight with Mike. “I won’t take it anymore,” Natalie says to Juliana as they laid in bed together. “I don’t want to live there.”

“Stay with me now,” Juliana told Natalie. Natalie, holding hands with Juliana, responded, “Thank you.” It seems fans are going to have to tune in to see what happens next. For spoilers, click here.

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? airs on TLC Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.