Geoffrey Paschel, who first appeared on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days in 2020, is back in the spotlight after being featured in the second season of Netflix’s Worst Ex Ever. His storyline on the TLC series followed his trip to Russia to meet Varya Malina, a relationship that began on an international dating site and later unraveled as viewers learned more about his past.
That past included prior drug-related convictions, and TLC barred Paschel from appearing in the show’s reunion special after allegations of domestic abuse surfaced during the season’s run. In June 2019, officers responded to a domestic disturbance call at Kristen Wilson’s home in Tennessee, where Wilson said Paschel attacked her. The Knox County District Attorney’s office said he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her head against the wall several times, then threw her to the ground, dragged her and took her phone so she could not call for help. Wilson escaped to a neighbor’s house while Paschel was sleeping.
Police documented a large bruise on Wilson’s forehead, abrasions on her lip and multiple bruises on her back and arms, and she was later diagnosed with a concussion. A jury found Paschel guilty in October 2021 after a two-day trial on aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault and interference with emergency calls. He was sentenced in February 2022 to 18 years in prison without the possibility of parole, with the judge citing his status as a multiple offender because of his earlier criminal record.
Paschel is now incarcerated at a state prison in Tennessee, and an early 2024 appeal attempt failed when the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the original verdict and sentence. The reason the case is resurfacing now is the new documentary treatment, but the personal thread running through it has not disappeared: Malina appears to have stayed by his side throughout his imprisonment, posting Instagram updates defending him and documenting prison visits. In 2023, she said she had been suspended from visiting him because of radiation exposure from scanners, and her last post featuring Paschel was a selfie of the pair on a hike in September 2025.
The story that once played out as reality-TV romance is now defined by a conviction that has already survived trial and appeal. Whatever the show’s new framing, the legal outcome is settled, and Paschel remains behind bars while Malina keeps signaling that she is still there.