On the Season 8 finale of 90 Day Fiance, Mike Youngquist and Natalie Mordovtseva married.
It was the last day of Natalie's visa. But this was not the end of their drama.
Less than a year after they married, Mike and Natalie separated.
Now it's rumored that Mike may have cheated ... and some fans claim to have proof.
Famously, Natalie accused Mike of cheating on her during the Season 7 Tell All.
This was before they were married, and fans didn't buy it.
But just because that extremely unlikely scenario wasn't true didn't guarantee them a happily ever after.
Recently, a screenshot has been circulating among fans and bloggers.
It appears to show private messages between a (thirsty) fan and Mike.
While screenshots like this one are laughably easy to fake ... fans have to wonder.
Allegedly, these messages are from December of 2020.
In them, Mike tells a fan that he welcomes her sliding into his DMs.
And it is even rumored that he sent her a nude on Snapchat.
When someone messages you and says that they're not a fan of your wife, there's an expectation.
Normally, you would defend your wife -- or tell the woman that you and your wife are separated.
In these screenshots (which we cannot verify) Mike does neither -- while welcoming flirtations.
Rumored screenshots of alleged texts said to be from some time in December aren't exactly a smoking gun.
Additionally, we don't actually know the precise date of separation.
Mike and Natalie's split became public knowledge in early March due to Uncle Beau.
The not-necessarily-the-most-reliable uncle of Mike said that Natalie hadn't been home in "months."
That could mean that Mike was freshly separated in December and free to send his dong picks to anyone who asked.
It could also mean that he cheated by flirting with fans online and this precipitated the separation.
We have to consider that the latter, though certainly not proven, is possible.
There is an often unspoken dark side to becoming a public figure.
Even if you became famous through a very public relationship, you will still be inundated with unprecedented attention.
That kind of temptation can be overwhelming for someone who is newly famous.
If Mike did cheat (and again, there is no verification of that), he would not be the first in the franchise to do so.
Infamously, with Larissa and then with Jess, Colt Johnson cheated with online sidepieces left and right.
Something that can make these DMs harder to resist, of course, is a failing, miserable relationship.
The 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? Season 6 trailer made it clear that Mike and Natalie have miserable times ahead.
That is obviously never an excuse for cheating, but it could be a factor if any of this pans out.
And if Mike and Natalie were separated by the time that he got these DMs, well ...
It may be that he didn't come right out and tell fans that it was over for a very good reason.
Mike and Natalie are certainly under NDA for Happily Ever After? and not allowed to spoil their season.
In that situation, Mike would not be a cheater.
There are situations in which it is better to appear to be a cheater than to break your contract.
That said, any fans who swapped horny pics with him assuming that he was single may have watched his wedding and felt betrayed.
If Mike truly did cheat on Natalie, it would obviously not be okay.
That applies even if things were no longer going well.
You either get permission (in which case it's not cheating) or you end things or you make it work; you don't cheat.
It may have come after a whole lot of drama, including Mike's mom encouraging them to divorce.
We don't know much about that conflict or how bad it gets before the end.
For that matter, we don't yet have confirmation that Mike and Natalie separated during HEA filming.
Interestingly, Mike and Natalie recorded the Season 8 Tell All on February.
This was nearly a year after their marriage and, per Uncle Beau, at least a month if not more after their separation.
It may be that they were not permitted to share their current status at the Tell All so as to not spoil their upcoming season.
Perhaps we will learn more at the Tell All (make that Tell Some) special.
Perhaps we will learn more by the end of Season 6 of Happily Ever After?
But what will be interesting to see is how Natalie's version of events, in the end, compares to Mike's.
