90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way’s Julio is in the hot seat.
On Monday’s episode of the TLC series, the 27-year-old DJ admitted to his girlfriend Kirsten that he only just told his mother about her — despite the fact that the couple had been dating for a year. Julio also still hadn’t told his mother about his plans to move to the Netherlands, making Kirsten, 24, feel like “a secret.”
Early in the episode, Kirsten had just arrived in New York City. During a romantic stroll around Central Park, the pair discussed the day ahead and their plans to head to Long Island so Julio could introduce Kirsten to his family.
“I’m nervous, I’m very, very nervous,” Julio said in a confessional interview. “Kirsten meeting my family is what’s needed for me to actually, like, complete this puzzle piece with her.”
After Kirsten admitted she was also nervous, she asked her fiancé what his mom said when she learned the news that her son was in a relationship with her.
“She was surprised because I told her about you, like, three weeks ago,” Julio responded, prompting a look of dismay from Kirsten.
“Oh my God. We’re dating for one year, and you just told her three weeks ago. All the time, she had no clue that we were dating and you were out of the country meeting me. She had no clue?”
“Nothing,” Julio replied, explaining that he had told his mother he was working during the two months he was actually spending time with Kirsten in the Netherlands.
Suffice it to say, Kirsten was not thrilled, sharing in a confessional interview: “I’m really surprised because Julio lied to me and he made me believe that his mother did know about me.”
During their park chat, Kirsten continued to press Julio on why he lied and told him, “I feel like you kept me a secret from your mom.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s keeping a secret,” Julio said. “I think it’s just, like, I know how my mom is and I know how to properly deliver a message.”
Kirsten still wasn’t satisfied with Julio’s reasoning, telling him he’d had lots of time to prepare and have that important conversation with his mom.
In his own confessional interview, Julio was a bit more reflective and expressed regret for how he handled the situation: “I feel like s — — now. I didn’t know that waiting to tell my mom was going to hurt Kirsten. I feel like I f — -ed up.”
But face to face with Kirsten, he only dug a deeper hole for himself, telling her that he’s “very picky” and that he needed the two months in the Netherlands to figure out if he “could live” with her.
Kirsten fired back, “So does that mean you’re unsure about our relationship?”
In confessional, she teared as she talked about how awful it felt to know Julio had “kept me a secret” while she excitedly told everyone in her circle about him.
The couple then tackled their next hurdle — Julio revealing to his mother that he was planning to move to the Netherlands. Once again, Kirsten was concerned about Julio’s lack of honesty with his mom.
“I have no idea why he is afraid of telling his mom about when he’s moving. We’re planning this for so long already — for, like, six months. Actually he pushes our move back a couple of times. The reason is he wasn’t ready yet. So I worry it might mean he’s not serious about the move,” she said.
When the make-or-break meeting with Julio’s mother finally took place later in the episode, things were awkward to say the least. Julio’s mom admitted in a confessional interview that she knew almost nothing about her son’s partner.
“My impression of Kirsten seems nice. She’s very pretty,” she said. “But I don’t know anything about her. I don’t know her culture, I don’t know her family. I’m just getting to know her.”
As the family sat down for a meal together, Kirsten immediately asked Julio’s mother what she’d been told about her. She answered that she would hear another voice in the background when she called her son while he was in the Netherlands, but he kept insisting it was just “a friend.”
“It was not my idea that he keep a secret,” Kirsten assured her future mother-in-law, prompting a surprising response.
“Ah no. He’s not honest,” Julio’s mom said, before giving her son a little scolding.
The stern words from his mom pushed Julio to finally tell her everything. After explaining that he was waiting on visa papers, he revealed that he’s moving abroad in “about three months.”
“Oh my God, I’m speechless. I’m going to have to prepare myself for this,” his mother said, later wiping away tears with a tissue.
While Kirsten looked visibly relieved to finally have the secret out in the open, watching Julio’s mother get so upset was difficult.
“This was exactly what I was worried about. He totally surprised her with this information, and it’s so much for her to take it in,” she said. “I can see how close they are together, so I’m worried it’s going to be harder for Julio to leave his mom behind and move to the Netherlands.”
Though Julio consoled and reassured his mother, she still didn’t seem happy about the bombshell that her son had dropped.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs Monday at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.
