90 Day Fiancé: Nikki Exotika's Surprising Reality TV Past Explained

90 Day Fiancé is not Nicole aka Nikki Exotika's first reality TV gig because, before that, she was a part of Botched!, Maury, Jerseylicious, and more.

90 Day Fiancé isn’t the only reality TV show that Nicole Sanders aka Nikki Exotika has participated in. Nikki is a 47-year-old from Hoboken, New Jersey who stars in season 10 of the popular series. Nikki features alongside Igor aka Justin, her partner from Moldova who’s 36. Nikki met Justin over 17 years ago, and two years later, they were engaged. Nikki brought Justin to America on a K-1 visa. However, within two weeks, Nikki and Justin split. At the time, Justin had just found out that Nikki was a trans woman. He felt betrayed, but the couple stayed in touch.

Nikki and Justin rekindled their relationship 15 years later. They got engaged, and Nikki has applied for a K-1 visa again. Nikki flew to Chişinău on 90 Day Fiancé to confirm whether Justin has really accepted her identity and whether they are ready to get married. Meanwhile, Nikki has been in the news for several reasons apart from her relationship, such as her many plastic surgeries and her reality TV past. Not only was Nikki about to launch her own reality TV show, but she’s also made appearances on Maury, The Tyra Banks Show, and many other series.

Nikki Had Filmed For Botched Season 1

A DailyMail article in 2014 relayed Nikki’s experience with the E! show Botched after she posted about it on Facebook. Nikki was openly living as a transgender woman by then. Nikki claimed to have lost her home after filming for the TV show. Nikki underwent a breast surgery correction in Los Angeles which was filmed for the show. Nikki claims she was unable to work for two months and therefore, was unable to pay the rent. Nikki lost her apartment in the process. She spoke about having “dedicated her life” to Botched, but by then, the producers refused to even speak to her.

“I lost everything, I'm very distraught with everything that's gone down with the TV show Botched,” Nikki said in the video. Nikki thanked her doctor Dr. Dubrow for fixing her breasts and added, “in the midst of the whole TV show I lost my apartment.” Furthermore, Nikki’s segments were scrapped from the show. However, New York Daily News reported that Nikki was the one who was “difficult” to work with for the showmakers. As Nicole became more involved in the making of Botched, she apparently “became more of a diva and a liability.”

The source was sure Nikki was “cut” due to the way she “acted” and treated people on the show. Nikki was somehow grateful for getting a “free boob job,” but she believed filming the show for two months and eventually losing her apartment was not worth it. Nikki’s only desire was to become a living Barbie doll who she was obsessed with since she was four years old. Nikki slowly began getting surgeries such as nose jobs and brow lifts to change her appearance. She “fell victim” to plastic surgeon Brad Jacobs who allegedly botched Nikki’s nose and breasts. The surgeon allegedly conducted illegal surgeries on over 60 patients despite his license being revoked.

Nikki Was On Jerseylicious

Reddit user u/Clear-Map8121 recently shared a screen grab of Nikki from the show Jerseylicious. The Style Network show chronicled the lives of six New Jersey stylists in and out of their salon called The Gatsby Salon located in Green Brook Township. The reality TV show was all about these women giving makeovers to their clients, flaunting their signature styles, and gossiping with the customers. The cast and their big egos, clashing personalities, and occasional unhappy customers made Jerseylicious worth a watch. As per the Redditor, Nikki appeared in season 2 for drag makeup lessons with Olivia Blois Sharpe.

“Nikki is definitely into being on reality tv,” the fan added. Some fans in the thread’s comments weren’t sure it was Nikki because of how different she looked back then. When a commentator asked if the OP was sure it was the same person, the OP replied, “Yes it’s Nikki because in the episode her name was Nikki and she looked the same.” Nikki also promoted Jerseylicious on her own social media pages in 2014. She seems to have been a part of a later season as well because she posted a clip captioned, “season 4 Jerseylicious,” which featured Nikki as she shared screen space with make-up artist Olivia and fashion designer Thomas LaVone.

Nikki Made An Appearance On Judge Jeanine Pirro

According to Alchetron, Nikki was a guest on the Judge Jeanine Pirro show in 2011. The retired Westchester County, New York District Attorney Jeanine Pirro was the lead of the arbitration-based reality court show. The show ran for three seasons from 2008 to 2011. Nikki was suing an unnamed man over trying to break a recording contract with him that required her to pay him $15,000 when he didn't hold to his side of the agreement. Nikki had already written the song “Secret Girl,” and the man was going to record her singing it in his studio.

The man allegedly told Nikki that he had worked with the likes of Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears in the past, and Nikki fell prey to his lies. Nikki was ordered to find evidence that the man had lied about his past work by Judge Pirro. Nikki was also advised to determine what her damages from the case were. The song “Secret Girl” was released in March 2012, nearly half a year after Nikki went on the reality TV show. This could mean that the issue between Nikki and the anonymous man was resolved.