90 Day Fiancé’s Mahmoud Officially Joins Nicole in America with Intention to ‘Keep Our Marriage Together’

Mahmoud Sherbiny has reached America on 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After!

Season 8 of the TLC spinoff series premiered Sunday night, giving fans a big update on Nicole and Mahmoud Sherbiny’s marriage — and decision to take their relationship back to Nicole’s home of Los Angeles.

Mahmoud, 31, was just a day away from his arrival when the episode began. Viewers saw Nicole, 40, buying pajamas for her husband, as she revealed to the store clerk that he normally sleeps in “street clothes” or jeans.

Longtime viewers know clashes over clothing are familiar for Nicole and Mahmoud. Nicole previously lived in Egypt with her husband and his family, though she found her independence stifled due to their culture’s strict restrictions. Nicole often cried about their seemingly constant misunderstandings about dress and how Mahmoud’s family even questioned her choice not to wear a hijab.

Recapping their relationship, Nicole admitted “sometimes love isn’t enough.”

“For the last four years I have tried to live there, assimilate, and make life in Egypt work,” she told cameras. “But I just couldn’t do it, so I had to come back to the United States. For me, living like an Egyptian woman was a big challenge because in an Islamic marriage there were just a lot of rules — a lot of rules. Very strict rules.”

Back in America, fashion-inclined Nicole may still adhere to Mahmoud’s Muslim preferences, but confessional interviews on the first episode showed Nicole with a midriff cutout top — seemingly challenging her husband’s former preferences.

For Mahmoud, leaving home is a huge change — but Nicole sees the spousal visa as their “last shot” to make their relationship work.

Mahmoud told producers he agrees, and he’s not letting go of his marriage without a good shot. “Even though it’s so hard on me to leave, and I don’t know if I can handle it or not, but, Nicole is like [the] love of my life. This is the last chance we have as a couple and I will do my best to keep our marriage together,” he said.

As the episode concluded, Nicole was seen with a “welcome home” sign at the airport. She admitted she doesn’t know “if things will improve when [Mahmoud] gets here because I don’t know if place can change all of the things that we’re going through.”

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.