Is 90 Day Fiancé's Michael Ilesanmi Getting His Own Netflix Series, 'Surviving Angela'?

It's been a minute since 90 Day Fiancé's Michael Ilesanmi was last on our radar — but word around the campfire is the reality TV star is getting his own Netflix series titled ... Surviving Angela.

Before we take a look at whether there's any substance to the Surviving Angela rumor, it's been a few months since 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? ended chaotically in August, and in those final episodes, quite a few major developments involving Michael and his estranged wife Angela Deem occurred.

To recap it all would easily amount to a novella, but much of what went down happened in the season-ending "Tell Alls," and on August 26 alone, we had two separate news stories about Michael and Angela.

One of the two pertained to that something an angry Angela – to be fair, "rage" seems to be Angela's default setting – let slip as she threatened Michael in front of the cast, saying she endeavored to get Michael's visa "annulled," instead of their marriage.

Poor Jasmine Pineda was collateral damage for that Angela scream fest, but Jasmine's immediate sobbing panic attack drove home how frightening it can be when one's fiancé or spouse uses the prospect of a visa to control their partner.

That same day, we covered Michael's genuinely harrowing, 18-hour escape from Angela's clutches not long after the Tell All, opining that it sounded like the actual plot of a Lifetime movie:

"So, it got to a point I just had to leave. She says she wants to go out to make some errands, so she left the house.

"I went to the closet, picked up my backpack and my essential documents and my jacket, and I left the house. I walked for about five hours.

"I was so, so, so tired ... My leg was as if it almost fell off me. You know, at some point, I almost got bitten by a dog."

The entire 90 Day Fiancé fandom rejoiced hearing Michael finally advocate for himself, and his reference to what Kobe told him led fans to theorize that Kobe helped Michael get out:

Enough is enough. I mean, no one deserves to be treated this way.

Angela filed to annul their marriage, presumably in the hopes it would trigger Michael's deportation.

But as we reported at the time, "spousal visas are under the purview of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and USCIS is well aware that some sponsoring spouses" use visas as leverage to control and abuse immigrant spouses — and that the agency offers pathways to residency for individuals in exactly that situation:

"Some petitioners may misuse the immigration process to further abuse their noncitizen family members by threatening to withhold or withdraw the petition in order to control, coerce, and intimidate them ...

" ... Congress provided noncitizens who have been abused by their U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident relative the ability to independently petition for themselves (self-petition) for immigrant classification without the abuser’s knowledge, consent, or participation in the immigration process. This allows victims to seek both safety and independence from their abusers."

A GoFundMe was created on Michael's behalf, much to Angela's predictable chagrin, and the outpouring of messages from fans wishing Michael a happy, peaceful new life in America was uplifting after everything we watched him endure.

Why 90 Day Fiancé Star Michael Ilesanmi's GoFundMe Was Suspended

Michael issued a statement about his contentious divorce from Angela Deem.

Posts

So, Is Surviving Angela Real?

In mid-November, scattered rumors that Michael was working with Netflix for a series called Surviving Angela began circulating.

A few iterations on Facebook attributed the claim to Entertainment Tonight, but none of the posts actually linked to an article, a video, or anything proving ET made such a claim, and no amount of searching turned up anything ET published matching the rumors.

A handful of tweets repeated the rumor, but none linked to anything substantiating it, either.

On November 21, former 90 Day Fiancé star Stephanie Matto shared a TikTok video explaining the rumor:

Stephanie admitted that she wasn't sure if it was true, but she sincerely hoped it was — honestly, same.

She displayed a ScreenRant article in the clip, and its title certainly sounded like Surviving Angela was potentially legit: "Will Michael Ilesanmi Become A Netflix Star After 90 Day Fiancé? (What Is The Surviving Angela Documentary About?)"

Alas, the piece referenced a slightly older Facebook post published by "90 Day Fiance Uncensored" on November 15, and it was virtually identical to the Facebook post linked above, reading:

"According to Entertainment Tonight Michael is given a new Netflix documentary series called Surviving Angela [...] coming soon[.]"

Source: Trust me, bro.

Both posts featured the same two images, which were relevant, but not in a way that substantiated the rumor — on the left was a very low resolution photograph of Michael, and on the right, a screenshot of the Netflix logo from someone's phone. (It was taken at 11:35.)

Comments on the post featured a range of opinions, and one person who doubted the rumor raised the issue of putative TLC contracts under which Michael might still be bound to that network:

"I doubt it haha yes tied up in TLC contracts I'm sure. I'd watch TF outta this tho.

"I love how at this point she was so nasty to him most ppl agree he probably was just wanting a green card and they dont even care they think he earned and deserves that green card for putting up with her abuse 😅"

Another said in part:

"I've been reading some comments suggesting Michael used Angela for a green card. However, where are the comments acknowledging how Angela abused him?

"If the roles were reversed, the narrative would be entirely different."

One comment was the most relatable of the lot, and we could not agree more:

Omg could you imagine? I would watch this 100%. I love hot mess TV[.]

So, Is Surviving Angela A Real Netflix Project?

We searched and searched and searched, but everything we found related to Michael Ilesanmi, Netflix, and Surviving Angela is linked above.

Unfortunately, not only was none of it substantive in any way, one element stuck out as a common hallmark of baseless rumors: the mention of an apparently non-existent Entertainment Tonight article — though a tiny possibility remained that the post referenced a different outlet going by the same name.

On the other hand, looking into the Surviving Angela rumors brought to mind a mostly unrelated piece we published in late September, one that addressed long-circulating claims by rapper 50 Cent about his participation in a Netflix documentary project about the downfall of Diddy.

50 Cent began talking about the project in late 2023, and Netflix didn't say "boo" to back up his assertions — until they did, the better part of a year later; sometimes Netflix keeps projects under wraps.

Then there's the amount of interest and engagement in Surviving Angela generated by the rumors, which introduced the possibility Netflix might act upon them and make Michael's series a reality on the basis of a guaranteed audience.

Ultimately, there's no indication yet that Surviving Angela is "real," but it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility — especially, if, say, fans banded together to beg Netflix and/or TLC to get on it.