Recap | Married at First Sight on Channel 9 and 9Now (3 March)

Married at First Sight on Channel 9 – Everyone is still reeling from their Married At First Sight Dinner Party hangovers.

And what better hangover cure is there than hashing out your deepest thoughts and feelings in front of three experts, a crowd of your peers and the nation?

Stream every episode of Married At First Sight for free on 9Now.

With their relationship issues bubbling to the surface, some couples are going to need more than a Berocca to fix their problems.

Cue the experts with a dose of reality! This one is going to be a doozy.

Ellie and Ben

The last time Ellie and Ben were on this couch, Ellie wrote ‘leave’ and essentially gave Ben seven days to clean up his act.

In those seven days, Ben ran away, noted a list of things he didn’t like about his wife, wrote and performed an off-key apology song and publicly broke up with her at the Dinner Party.

We’re no experts, but we’d say that is the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do to win a girl over.

Let’s hand it over to the actual experts.

Mel Schilling opens Ellie’s eyes when she says what she’s experienced in the past week with Ben “is the very definition of being gaslit”. It’s a huge a-ha moment for Ellie.

John Aiken soon gets stuck into Ben and he’s pretty peeved Ben has wasted a once-in-lifetime opportunity. “We searched high and low for a match for you, we got you one and you dropped the ball,” John scolds the groom.

DINNER DEBRIEF 4: Dom and Ella are horrified by one bride’s ‘superiority complex’ and Ben’s shocking list of cons about Ellie

Ben fumbles a few excuses but John isn’t having any of it. “Stop it! You need to start owning your behaviour,” the expert demands.

“Ben, I’m not letting you get away with that.”

While Ben does nothing but offer up more excuses, Ellie raises her hand to let Ben know that he’s “destroyed her self-esteem”.

“You ruined the experience for me, because I came here genuinely and everybody knows that I want to start a family and I want a husband to do that with. I’ve been robbed of that experience,” she says.

Ben says he “understands” but John Aiken is calling BS. “You say a lot of words Ben but you don’t actually know the meaning of them,” he scathes.

Ben tries to submit one final excuse but before he can John cuts him off. “Frankly I’m done,” the expert scoffs.

And so are we! We’re done, Ellie’s done and apparently Ben is done too because both he and his wife write ‘leave’.

As we watch the back end of Ellie and Ben, John has one final message for the groom: “I hope you can say I’ve gotten some home truths and I’m going to do something differently now.”

Eden and Jayden

The couple’s time on the couch begins with the all important question: “Who has the better hair tonight?”

And we’re calling it a tie!

While Eden and Jayden are on the same page about their beach waves, they’re a couple of pages apart when it comes to their feelings.

On a scale of one to 10, “one being you can’t stand them and 10 being you’re absolutely in love”, Eden is at a solid seven.

But never one to be outdone, Jayden says he’s scoring a 9.5. She’s not fully there yet, but Eden says she’s on her way to a 9.5 and they’re both committed to staying till they’re a 10 out of 10.

Luscious locks and love in the air, what more do you want.

Cassandra and Tristan

It might have only been a week, but Cass and Tristan are a far cry from the couple they were on the couch this time last week.

This time around, there’s no tears, there’s no doubt and nobody writes ‘leave’.

Cassandra can’t help but rave about how much Tristan has worked to make things up to her. Ben, take note – this is how it’s done.

Jade and Ridge

Jade and Ridge have come out of their beginners’ crash course stronger than ever.

Ridge declares: “I want a future with someone, hopefully it’s going to be with Jade. I admire how grounded and strong she is, she’s such a good mum, she’s such a good friend, she’s such a good person and I can see a future with her outside of this.”

It’s a speech that sets our heart’s racing so we can only imagine what it’s doing for Jade.

Andrea and Richard

From love’s young dream to an absolute nightmare, our former golden couple Andrea and Richard take to the couch.

The couple are in dire straights, with the bride revealing she and Richard have had their “worst week” yet.

That’s only made more evident when Richard explains he has big insecurities about Andrea’s feelings.

“The insecurity comes from the fact that I’ve been in a relationship with someone for five weeks with somebody that has no feelings for me and I have feelings for her,” he says.

It appears that things have gotten muddled between the pair. While Richard has interpreted that Andrea has “no feelings” for him, she simply hasn’t been feeling the intimacy during their rough patch.

With that miscommunication cleared, the two promise to give each other the validation they need and see out the potential of what Richard hopes will be a “long-term relationship”.

Richard is holding up the flame of the couple’s relationship, and as he literally blows on that metaphorical flame he ends up choking and bursting into a coughing fit.

When Richard finally catches his breath, it’s a hopeful stay from both him and Andrea.

COMPETITION: Win a $15,000 cruise holiday to see the Northern Lights

Lucinda and Timothy

The experts are delighted to see a “united” Lucinda and Timothy.

It’s a massive shift for the couple – but it’s still not good enough for Jayden who is sick of Timothy’s “slow burn”.

“We’re supposed to know the progress. We need to know,” Jayden orders.

Timothy tries to shut Jayden up by reminding him that he’s only 27, so what could he possibly know? Judging from his near-perfect marriage, quite a bit it seems.

Lucinda has a much more diplomatic response to Jayden’s opinions and says while it may not look like progress to everyone else, she and Timothy are moving at a pace they’re both happy with.

“I’m really happy and I’m feeling good,” Lucinda beams.

Mel Schilling is chuffed to see that some of Timothy’s walls are slowly coming down and Timothy says all the credit for that goes to Lucinda.

“There’s nothing not to like about Lucinda,” Timothy smiles.

Michael and Stephen

Michael has nothing but glowing reviews for Stephen, admitting he is “madly attracted to him”.

But the same cannot be said for Stephen, who starts his spiel with “on paper it is perfect”. We all know that nothing good can ever follow that statement.

Put simply, the attraction is just not there for Stephen who notes that Michael is “more feminine than what [he’s] typically drawn to”.

Stephen can’t promise that the attraction will grow, but Michael is willing to wait to see what happens.

So is Stephen, and they both stay for another week.

Lauren and Jonathan

Nothing has been the same for Lauren and Jonathan since the ‘muzzle’ incident.

“I’ve got to be completely honest, I’ve got pretty much zero romantic feelings at this point,” Lauren confesses.

Lauren says “on paper Jono is perfect”. Ooh, that fatal relationship phrase again.

As paper-perfect as Jono is, the banter is just not there for Lauren.

But with the pair having not connected on a deeper level, Mel Schilling notes that “no wonder the banter isn’t there”.

Lauren and Jono’s homework for the week? To get curious about one another and ask about each other’s lives.

With both of them choosing to stay, they’ve got another week to complete the task.

Sara and Tim

According to Tim, he and Sara “are in the best place they’ve been in the whole experiment”.

Sara agrees but she’s worried that she “might be too much for Tim”.

She tears up as she reveals she has been “too big [of] a personality” for partners in the past.

“I am who I am, I might be one of the loudest in the room and sometimes that is a lot for some people,” she sobs.

But in a perfect Goldilocks and the Three Bears kind of scenario, Tim reassures Sara that “too much” is just the right amount for him.

“It’s my type. We’re a yin and yang, opposites attract kind of vibe,” he grins.

A huge STAY from these two.

Tori and Jack

John wants to check in with Tori after seeing her so “fired up” at the last Dinner Party.

“Everything is so intense in here that it took me a minute time to get me feral,” Tori admits.

Tori rehashes her disdain for Timothy’s smug face. Timothy shrugs and at this point thinks a face transplant might be the only answer.

Then Tori raises the comments Timothy made to Jayden about “amounting to nothing”, she makes a huge call when she declares: “That comment there is just as destructive as the comment Jack made last week,” (i.e. the muzzle comment).

There couldn’t be a more vocal disapproval of Tori’s conclusion as the entire group yells out “NO”.

Lucinda sighs that it is “so disappointing” as John Aiken pulls Tori up because he has “a problem with that”.

Tori is pretty good at weaving her way out of things and says she was “angry” at Timothy and “disappointed” in Jack – hence her two VERY different reactions to the two situations.

But we’re here to take a closer look at Tori and Jack’s relationship, which is exactly what John does and where things start to unravel for the pair.

Jack sweats as he explains that this week he finally realised how “serious” his and Tori’s relationship actually is.

Well, duhh Jack you literally got matching, very permanent for all of eternity tattoos together last week – do you think this is a fling!?

“The previous pattern I have is disappointing partners,” he admits.

Tori confesses that she has let Jack see a “softer” side to her that not many people do. If he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings she says she’ll “close up for good”.

“We’ve never heard you talk like this,” John Aiken says. And come to think of it this is the first time Tori and Jack have put the microscope on their own relationship rather than another bride or groom.

But Jack is crumbling under the pressure. He is feeling “nervous” about how serious things are getting.

“Tori is letting her guard down a lot and I do have concerns I’m going to let you down,” he says.

“I’m 34 and single.” Umm no Jack, you’re not single – your wife Tori is sitting right next to you!

Jack then claims that Tori is “into him more than he is into her”.

With Jack casually pre-empting the failure of his and Tori’s relationship, Tori has this stern warning for Jack: “If you want to go, go now.”

“Definitely don’t waste my time because that will really f–k me off. Keep that in mind.”

They both decide to stay, but Tori is feeling majorly “blindsided” by Jack’s admission.

Well, there’s nothing like a little getaway (with half a dozen of their biggest critics) to bring them closer together so luckily the Couples Retreat is right around the corner.

Pack your bags, we’ll be there on Monday at 7:30pm!

Married At First Sight continues Monday to Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now. Catch up on every episode of MAFS for free on 9Now.

Stream every episode of Married At First Sight for free on 9Now.