Brandon also explains calling Julia 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.'
90 Day Fiancé season 8 couple Brandon and Julia are opening up about his much-talked-about relationship with his parents. ET spoke to the two about starring in the latest season of the hit TLC reality show, specifically, about how close he is to his mother, Betty, who tried to force birth control on Julia.
Brandon, who's 27 and from Dinwiddie, Virginia, got engaged to 26-year-old Julia, who is from Krasnodar in Russia, after they were introduced to one another online while she was working as a go go dancer and after just one in-person meeting. Brandon works as a pest control technician, but he also lives with his parents and helps them with their farm and their dog-breeding business. Right off the bat, it's clear that Brandon -- who described himself as a "late bloomer" during the premiere episode -- is extremely close to his parents. But a boundary is definitely crossed when Betty calls a gynecologist to talk to Julia about getting on birth control before she arrived in America to be with Brandon, even though Brandon already told her she was against it.
Brandon tells ET's Melicia Johnson that he himself agrees with some of the criticism they've gotten online. As for Julia, she says that it's none of his parents' business when it comes to the two using birth control, and that she wouldn't even even talk to her own mother about using contraception, let alone, her future mother-in-law.
Brandon also doesn't have a clear answer on why he told his parents in the first place that he and Julia were not using birth control. During the premiere episode, he told his mom that he didn't want to "take on the responsibility" of using condoms, which is what spurred her to worry and to call a gynecologist.
"It just kind of popped out," he says. "I didn't really think about it before I said it, and the next thing I know it's like, 'Why did I even get into that?' I don't want to be in this conversation anymore, but it's too late for that."
Julia has no issues letting it be known that she definitely would like her own space, which isn't easy given that they live with his parents on their farm in order to save money. Julia was particularly upset on Sunday's episode when she found out that Brandon's parents weren't going to allow them to stay in the same room together until they were officially married.
"We don't have bad relationship, we just have a relationship like mother-in-law and daughter," Julia says of Betty. "This is not normal. I mean, it's not normal when children live with their parents. We're not best friends and we've never been best friends. ... I love my mother and I love Brandon's mother. But if we live together, I mean, explosion, because this is so hard. Two girls, same house, it never works."
She does feel Brandon is too close to his parents, particularly, when it comes to oversharing.
"I guess this is too much, too close," she says. "If you have a situation, you not tell everything in your life. I not tell my parents all my life, if I tell my parents all my life, I guess my parents' [hair] color will change quickly, like gray, because it's like too much stuff that parents don't need to know."
But Brandon says the situation isn't exactly what it appears to be.
"I actually wouldn't consider myself that close to my parents," he surprisingly says. "We have a great relationship, and I think she sees it that way because, you know, we live together. ... But I just don't feel that way. I don't feel like we're like, too close. I see them every day, we talk about stuff, but I'm not like, 'Hey, we're going to go do this later, do you want to come with us?' It's not like that."
"I think my mom is more attached to me than the other way around," he adds.
Later, Brandon and Julia explain what made them want to get engaged after only meeting once in person when he went to go visit her in Russia. Brandon said they had been talking constantly online and grew to know each other well, while Julia praised him for being so open and nice and understanding of her. Though of course, it hasn't been all smooth sailing for the couple. Brandon revealed during the premiere episode that he calls Julia "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" due to her intense mood swings.
"There were times when we were going to different countries and going to meet each other, where she had displayed a different personality than when we had first met," he explains. "And to me it was just like, little things that would just set her off. And she would just ruminate and I don't know, sometimes she could be an absolute angel and then there were times where she would just be like, she just wouldn't stop. She would be so angry at something."
When it comes to the rest of the season, Brandon says viewers will just have to wait and see when it comes to the trailer teasing a pregnancy scare and also his dad, Ron, telling him that he needs to choose between the farm and Julia. He does, however, note that more of Julia's temper will be shown, though Julia says that how she acts is normal for other girls.
"You might see Julia explode," he says. "You might even see me have a reaction."
90 Day Fiancé airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.
For more on the new season, watch the video below.
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