Tyray Mollett had one of the most heartbreaking arcs in 90 Day Fiancé history, but he’s doing his best to find the silver lining.
“After I learned about the catfish situation, I knew that I needed to think about the good things about it,” Tyray exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, September 26, at a red carpet event for the TLC series. “I learned, ‘Hey, now I don’t have to go through a K-1 visa process. I can meet somebody down the street or something.”
Tyray added that his experience on the show helped him come “out of my shell” a bit. “I feel so much better mentally and physically and I’m not as shy,” he added.
When season 6 of Before the 90 Days started, Tyray had been in a four-year relationship with a woman named Carmella who lived in Barbados. Early on, however, producers discovered that Carmella didn’t exist and Tyray was being catfished by a man named Christian.
Eventually, Tyray learned that Christian used photos of a real woman who goes by the name Sweet Carmella. He decided to track her down in Denver to find out if they had any chemistry — and to find out whether she was conspiring with Christian to catfish him. She wasn’t, but the duo didn’t end up pursuing a relationship.
“We didn’t talk again,” Tyray explained to Us. “It was a little too awkward for me, just the whole situation, and I would rather just leave that chapter behind even though she was really nice, really cool. We had really good conversations, but I just said, ‘Lemme just close that chapter. I definitely got the closure I needed. My family was very supportive.”
While things didn’t work out with the real Carmella, Tyray said he’s “100 percent open to trusting people” again. “It’s good just to be honest and kind of lay everything out. So, that’s what I’m going to do from now on,” he told Us, adding that his 90 Day experience helped him learn to be a little more open. “It taught me that I need to be a little more out there. It is weird because now it’s telling me to put myself out there, and that’s why I let someone in. I feel like they opened me up a little more. So, that’s kind of a good thing, and I feel like that was one of the things I learned.”
Tyray isn’t dating anyone seriously at the moment, but he’s had a few “hangouts” with prospective partners — and he’s still happy that the show helped him discover new things about himself.
“You learn a lot about yourself once you have that camera in your face,” he told Us. “It’s a no-lies zone, and you have to look at yourself and be like, ‘This is what’s going on,’ and just not be so closed off on certain things.”
90 Day Fiancé season 10 premieres on TLC Sunday, October 8, at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
