On this special edition of Nation of Recap, Alex starts off our 90 Day Fiance Preseason Coverage with a breakdown of Nicole and Azan.

Nation of Recap 066: 90 Day Fiance Preseason: Nicole and Azan

Show Notes:

On this special edition of Nation of Recap, Alex starts off our 90 Day Fiance Preseason Coverage with a breakdown of Nicole and Azan.

Transcript:

Bio

Nicole and Azan were season 4 cast members of OG 90 Day Fiance. The couple met on an international dating app and proceeded to start an online relationship that would escalate to Nicole traveling to Morocco for 5 weeks. If you’ve been watching Before the 90 days, this format should be pretty familiar by now, but at the time this broke the traditional mold of the foreigner coming to America; TLC flipped the script on us.

I went back and watched the audition tape that started it all for a refresher on the foundations. We’ve got a link in the description, but I’ve got the recap for you right here. Nicole was 21 years old and living in Bradenton Florida with a 20-month-old daughter. Azan, aged 23, actually was the one who reached out to Nicole first on the dating app, because he was a fan of her pictures. They have only been dating for a month, but they are ready for the next step – Nicole has never been out of the United States, nor has she spent so much time away from her daughter, but Mei will be in good hands with her mother. Azan is aware of the daughter, and even says he’s ready to be a father figure.

Despite heated confrontations with her family – including her younger brother, Nicole is determined to move forward with the relationship. Some of the concerns are straightforward – challenges of traveling alone, spending 6 weeks away from her child, the general cost of the trip. The deeper and more subtextual concerns are about differences in culture, religion, and the liabilities of a K1 Visa sponsorship. Let’s get into some the events of season 4 and try to see where everyone was coming from.

Red Flags

Season 4 hits the ground running with red flags. Things actually seem pretty peachy between Nicole and Azan at first, doing facetime with Mei, and texting back and forth. Nicole has misguided words to describe Azan, calling him “my Arabian Prince”. I think it probably sounded romantic in her head, but comes off in a really questionable way – it is a window into her potential ignorance. This is one of those lines that still gets repeated ad nauseam in 90-day fandom.

Nicole’s mother, in particular, is adamant about trying to convince Nicole she is making a mistake – she has lines about how it doesn’t make sense for a handsome international bachelor to choose a bigger girl like Nicole. Lines like this will continually drive a wedge between mother and daughter. But Azan sort of echoes this the first time they meet face to face in Morocco. In another infamous line, Azan tells the TLC crew about Nicole: “she’s big…. a little bit.”

There are minor fights over things like food, and Azan hints that he wants Nicole to be healthier, but Nicole doesn’t want to get into it and sticks to eating french fries – she isn’t willing to try traditional Moroccan foods. Where things get more heated is in regards to PDA, Azan only wants to be touching or kissing in private, but Nicole cannot keep her hands to herself. Azan feels that Nicole doesn’t respect his culture and religion, while Nicole feels rejected and upset. Even later into the trip, once they have their own hotel room, Azan maintains his stance that it’s inappropriate to cross certain lines, and they sleep in separate rooms.

PDA

Nicole never lets up with the PDA, she is constantly trying to hold hands or nuzzle on Azan’s shoulder, and at times I could feel Azan’s frustration through the TV screen. Near the end of her 6-week vacation, they go for a romantic desert hike and overnight camping trip. Eventually, they do consummate in a romantic desert camping trip in episode 6. Azan even presents a ring at this time, and marriage is officially on the table, but things remain unclear throughout the rest of the season.

The Return

We weren’t sure if Nicole would be coming back at all, they end things in a rocky place at the end of season 4. There are too many little things to touch on, but Nicole admitted to “cheating” on Azan while they were still talking online before she came over. Azan also mentioned he wanted Nicole to be more of a “traditional stay at home” woman, which Nicole hated. After she came home to America, Nicole was having a hard time getting a hold of Azan on the phone, and during the season finale tell-all episode, Azan “disconnected” from his skype call when the conversation started to get uncomfortable. Nicole’s mother refused to sponsor the k1 process, and Nicole just didn’t have the finances to go it alone.

There were rumors about a breakup floating around earlier in the year, but if you check Nicole’s Instagram, in particular, she was still posting about Azan and even took to hustling Lu-La Roe yoga pants on the side to scrape together the extra cash. I found myself questioning them all season, but I’m excited that Nicole figured things out. While I’m still not sure about either of their true motivations at this point, I think we will find out next week!

Info: If you enjoyed this breakdown of Nicole and Azan, stay tuned for more of our 90 Day FIance Preseason coverage! Join us next week as close out our Before the 90 Days coverage, and as we start our 90 Day Fiance coverage! If you missed any of our Before the 90 Days coverage, you can find it here! Check out 90 Day Fiance’s Reddit here! Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, and if you enjoyed the program, we would greatly appreciate a review!