Producers Totally Knew Carmella Was Fake When They Cast Tyray

During the Season 6 premiere of 90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days, fans met and instantly loved Tyray.

This wholesome “teddy bear” was excited to tell viewers all about his gorgeous long-distance girlfriend.

Unfortunately, Carmella isn’t real and Tyray was being catfished. Production told him — during the premiere, no less.

But did producers really only “find out” a few days into filming? Longtime fans are finding that impossible to believe.

33-year-old Tyray hails from Modesto, California.

One of five siblings, he moved in to take care of his mother when she needed assistance just getting around.

His mom calls him a “teddy bear.” And his girlfriend, Carmella, apparently felt the same way in her Snapchat messages. They have been communicating for years.

Tyray quickly came across to viewers as good-natured, charming, affable, and perhaps a bit lonely.

His finances weren’t the only things that suffered when he spent full time caring for his mom. As anyone who has become a caregiver for a loved one knows, it also means putting your social life on hiatus.

Tyray sounded embarrassed to admit to being a virgin. Though, as we noted in our recap, there is nothing shameful about one’s sexual history. High “body count” or none, there’s no moral value — except that it’s good when you live your life the way that you like.

Tyray’s mother, Whitney, underwent a successful operation to remove a brain tumor.

However, his mother suffered a stroke. This complication left her disabled.

Tyray has been there for her, helping her to live day-to-day as she rebuilds her strength and motor skills.

Though Tyray’s in-person social life has been on hold, Snapchat has been other story.

He gushed to the camera about Carmella. This babe from Barbados, he shared, has the looks of Megan Thee Stallion “from behind.” That is a compliment of the highest order.

Booty aside, Tyray was clearly head-over-heels for Carmella. Even though they had only really chatted and exchanged photos over Snapchat. They had never met … and never video chatted.

Just for the record, plenty of people have what amount to semi-anonymous cybersex with people with whom they’ve never video chatted. But this was more serious.

As horny as some of their conversations were, Tyray felt a deeper connection to Carmella.

And her messages indicated that she felt the same way about him.

Then, editors included a title card, claiming that producers had “uncovered some information about Tyray’s girlfriend Carmella.”

The text claimed that production made this find “during production.”

Interestingly, they also chose to tell Tyray on camera — and early in the show. In the past, we have watched someone spend an entire season before learning the truth. Other seasons have led viewers to believe that someone is a catfish until the last second.

Producers didn’t just tell viewers their news.

They broke the fourth wall, inviting Tyray to step outside — out of his mother’s earshot.

And they told him, very seriously, that he could stop filming as soon as they told him. They even added that they could scrap what they had already recorded if he decided that.

That alone was a massive departure from how some members of the cast have described production’s behavior during prior seasons.

Tyray knew that the news would be serious. But he did not know how much so.

Producers told him that they’d made context with “Carmella.” They learned that she did not exist.

“Carmella” had been sending photos of a different woman to Tyray. She had done this for years.

This catfish was not a woman looking to give herself a visual upgrade. It was a man.

His motive — whether it was financial, personal, or some sort of accident that spiraled out of control — remained unclear. Tyray’s heartbreak, however, remained obvious.

To hear producers tell it, they’d filmed with Tyray for a few days and then learned this stunning news while doing their due diligence.

Technically, that’s possible. It doesn’t sound likely, but it could, in theory, be true.

It’s just that … what they describe doesn’t sound at all like how the show works.

A couple of years ago, we actually got to see part of Julia Trubkina and Brandon Gibbs’ audition to 90 Day Fiance. At the time, they were still in separate countries.

Now, a third party can get the ball rolling on that. Famously, Gabe Paboga’s sister, Monica, wrote in to 90 Day Fiance as her brother in order to get him cast on the show. (Yes, on the same season where she didn’t attend his wedding)

But no one can audition for someone else. You send in a video of yourself. In the video, you talk about your life, your love story, and any obstacles that might stand in your way. (The show wants to make sure that you’re interesting enough for TV, one way or another)

And we somehow suspect that producers in charge of casting were not as satisfied with booty pics and a context-free twerking video as Tyray clearly was.

They wouldn’t start filming Tyray before knowing that his season will be entertaining. That would mean either knowing who Carmella is … or knowing for a fact that she does not exist.

Yes, that does mean that producers almost certainly knew that “Williams” was a total phony from the start, too.

But then, Yolanda seems to be the only person on the planet who didn’t immediately recognize that she was speaking to a scammer.

The key difference, though, is that producers didn’t suddenly claim to have learned that Williams was a fake “during production” on her first episode.

Ultimately, production certainly did Tyray a favor.

Without the show, Carmella could have dragged this out for years to come. It’s possible that Tyray would have avoided figuring out the truth on his own. Besides, maybe getting closure on this will help him find real love in the future.

But fans say that producers aren’t fooling anyone. Except, perhaps, for Tyray. He’s a sweetheart and he deserves better.

Producers Totally Knew Carmella Was Fake When They Cast Tyray was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.