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90 Day: The Single Life Tell All: Here We Go With the Gay Rumors

Tim's over the insinuations about his sexuality, and we're losing our patience with this overlong reunion.
  • Tim Malcolm, reacting to more gay rumors (Screenshot: 90 Day: The Single Life)
    Tim Malcolm, reacting to more gay rumors (Screenshot: 90 Day: The Single Life)

    Nearly a month and one solar eclipse since it started, the 90 Day: The Single Life Season 4 Tell All is still going, though it’s hardly strong. The reunion has been expanded into five hourlong installments this go-round. Are there really that many secrets left to uncover, that many confessions to obtain?

    Part 4 of the Tell All, which aired April 8, suggests the answer is “not really.” Four weeks after Luisa and Jamal first took to the stage to confront their exes Tim and Veronica, respectively, they’re back to do virtually the same thing. The promo for the final part of the Tell All — airing April 15, followed by a Pillow Talk episode, which means six-plus hours of time spent analyzing the cast’s behavior, nearly half the total runtime of Season 4 — also teased the return of Josh and Mike, who are back to make poor Natalie break down in tears again.

    A feeling of déjà vu permeates this Tell All, which has been heavy on rehashing and light on revelations. Tim and Veronica continue to choose each other over everyone else in the 90 Day world, despite apparently going months without speaking. Natalie has struggled with the nuances of the predominantly English conversation, leading to more outbursts. (If she’s turned down a translator, that’s one thing; but otherwise, why isn’t someone on hand to help her understand the colloquialisms and other phrases that might not scan for her?) Even Chantel is mostly back where she started, though, to her credit, she seems more at peace. Miss Debbie is still catching flack for dating younger men (at least Ruben is in his 50s).

    The forward momentum has come from the least likely of sources: Tyray and John, who both showed considerable growth throughout the season, and have made greater leaps during the Tell All. Tyray acknowledged the deep-seated insecurities that have made him struggle to connect with women, and he also scored a date with the lovely Shannon (who we really hope to see again, because she had a quip for everything). John, who was living in his brother’s guest room/alcove with his jorts in boxes, moved to San Antonio to give his relationship with single mom Megan a real shot. And even though his brother Patrick showed up at the Tell All to take some of the wind out of his sails, John delivered a Tell All first by proposing to Megan on stage.

    Their happy endings are still far from assured, of course — engagements, like dates, can be broken. And John and Tyray could both stand to reflect more on their pasts and recent decisions. But at least they’re trying to move forward, along with Chantel. Everyone else seems so stuck, particularly Natalie, Tim, and Veronica — though the latter two are much more content with where they are than Natalie, who’s about to be put through the wringer again. A certain amount of indecision or even stagnation is to be expected, of course; otherwise, each season of a 90 Day franchise would feature a wholly new cast.

    But these patterns are well worn to the point of being threadbare. A month after the Tell All began to tease it in promos, Luisa finally lobbed the old “I think you’re gay” accusation at Tim, whose expression in the above image tells you all you need to know about his response. He’s hardly incensed, but only because he’s encountered this rumor so often — he even had to address it after the previous Single Life reunion, telling Entertainment Tonight in December 2023 that if he were gay, he wouldn’t be afraid to live openly.

    Those assumptions are no reason for Tim to back out of the show; he seems to have developed a thick skin to contend with them. It’s his weariness with everything else about the show — he doesn’t seem that interested in dating (his cast mates have all kinds of theories about that, including low testosterone) let alone discussing his dating history with the cast at Tell Alls. Again, he and Veronica might be better off taking a step back and returning to Pillow Talk, where they can make their catty remarks from the comforts of their own homes, and date or not date at their leisure. Given Veronica’s behavior around Jamal this week, she’s probably just going to be back for more — but we can dream. (Though we do wonder what she thinks about his possible hookup with Luisa…)

    It wasn’t that long ago that the Tell All offered bits of closure into between the acknowledgment of unresolved issues. Tania and Syngin finalized their divorce in full view of their 90 Day compatriots — and while Tania's demurring throughout the night made Debbie "Mama Debbie" Johnson throw a tantrum, that edition of the Tell All knew when to wrap things up. There’s still an hour left on the Season 4 postmortem, a chunk of which is sure to be devoted to Natalie once again being caught between two men who show different degrees of indifference toward her. The impending "Miss Debbie vs. Mama Debbie" battle is really going to have to shake things up.

    The 90 Day: The Single Life Season 4 Tell All concludes April 15 at 8:00 P.M. ET on TLC. Join the discussion about the show in our forums

    Danette Chavez is the Editor-in-Chief of Primetimer and its biggest fan of puns.

    TOPICS: 90 Day: The Single Life, TLC, 90 Day Fiancé, Chantel Everett, Natalie Mordovtseva, Tim Malcolm, Veronica Rodriguez, Reality TV