Recap | Married at First Sight – After spending three days apart while taking part in the Partner Swap Challenge, the couples finally reunite. Well, most of them do.
Layton decides he needs another day away from Melinda.
“When I needed Mel most, I felt like she wasn’t there. And not only wasn’t she there for me she was there with Harrison,” Layton tells Bronte.
Bronte nods along so enthusiastically that I worry her neck might snap before our very eyes.
Down the hall, Melinda is “looking forward to having Layton back” – but a producer soon informs her that he’s not coming back.
“This has to be a joke,” Melinda huffs.
“My mind jumps to the worst case scenario. That Bronte said something, added fuel to an explosion.”
Melinda knocks on Harrison and Bronte’s door, asking Bronte what she’s whispered into Layton’s ear.
Bronte says “it’s not her fault” and that she only listened to Layton who said he needed more support from Melinda. It’s a hard pill for Melinda to swallow.
Of all people Harrison is silent on the matter and only pipes up to ask Melinda if she’s OK. Pinch me, is this real?
Melinda then makes her way to Layton’s apartment and boils over with emotion. Layton says this is exactly why he didn’t come back – to avoid an argument.
The pair agree to sit down and have a chat and as Layton tries his best to understand where Melinda is coming from, she bursts into tears. “My heart is breaking,” she sobs.
Tensions and emotions are running high, but the two manage to eventually see where one another are coming from.
Even still, Layton thinks a day apart will allow them both the space to decompress. It’s a move that doesn’t impress Melinda and when he eventually moves back in things are definitely a little tense.
Alyssa and Duncan are another couple that had a rough reunion following the Partner Swap Challenge.
But Alyssa is “in a better head space” after spending some time with her son.
Duncan is shouting from the rooftops now that his wife is back in a positive mood.
“Obviously there’s still things that we need to work through but I’ll keep showing up and keep being positive,” Duncan beams to the cameras.
Having experienced a testing three days, the experts think it’s time for the participants to let their hair down at the annual Girls’ and Boys’ Night.
Girls’ Night
All of the past brides are returning and the high pitch squeals are a good indication that the girls are on.
Sandy’s arrival is met with cheer. She reveals that Dan has been messaging her, but she says that she’s just “keeping it civil” and isn’t planning on building bridges with him.
“Block him, bye,” one of the brides can be heard saying. And I couldn’t agree more.
Sandy tears up as she shares that she hasn’t yet told her parents about her failed marriage yet.
“In my culture, a marriage breakup can be seen as a really shameful thing and that’s something that my parents now have to face in the community,” Sandy tells cameras.
And while Sandy didn’t walk away from the experiment with romantic love, it’s clear she has all the love she needs as the girls rally around her in support.
Caitlin is also back and describes her relationship with Shannon to the brides who never met him. She says it was like riding down a “big slippery dip” with “elephant sh– waiting at the bottom”. A pretty accurate description, I’d say.
Melissa and Tayla also return as does Claire who gets a rather frosty reception from Bronte.
“I don’t want to say ‘Hi’ to Claire, she tried to exploit my relationship many times,” Bronte tells cameras.
But Claire is unbothered and just wants to know what she’s missed, so the current brides fill everyone in on the Partner Swap Challenge.
And while they all swap cute stories, Bronte chimes in – rather smugly – with this addition: “I was alone for three days.”
Bronte gives a dramatic reading of Layton’s explanation of why he wasn’t moving in with her. And Melinda doesn’t take it lightly, unleashing her inner Lisa Rinna.
“Don’t ever talk about my husband in a way that isn’t true,” Melinda snaps (minus the iconic wine glass smash).
“I feel like Melinda is coming at me because I am in a secure relationship and because she is sad in her own,” Bronte tells cameras.
On that note, Sandy quizzes Bronte on her relationship with Harrison , and when Bronte says she has feelings for Harrison, Sandy simply “can’t believe it”.
“Don’t you feel like he’s manipulating you?” Sandy asks.
It’s music to Melinda’s ears. “Sandy, for missing so much it feels like you’ve been here the whole time,” she laughs.
“To have Sandy say that she doesn’t believe that my feelings for Harrison are real, it’s just the biggest slap in the face,” Bronte huffs.
No longer wanting to take the heat, Bronte excuses herself to go to the bathroom – but actually just sneaks out the back exit and goes home.
“I don’t want to speak to any of them,” she tells cameras on her way out.
But before Bronte’s seat even goes cold, another bride arrives to take a spot at the table – Janelle.
And she’s here to “settle the unfinished business” between herself and Claire following her kiss with Janelle’s husband Adam.
Claire is riddled with nerves but wants to make things right. “I’m a million times sorry,” Claire begins to apologise to Janelle.
It’s an apology Janelle accepts with open arms. “I can’t ask for anything else, I don’t want to hate you, I think you are a kind person,” she says.
It’s water under the bridge for Claire and Janelle, and a relieved Claire looks around at a table of women she “feels really proud to know”.
Boys’ Night
Josh and Hugo – who have never met each other – rock up to the Boys’ Night and everyone is seeing double.
“Josh 2.0, I don’t really see it other than he {Hugo] is really ruggedly handsome and good looking,” Josh jokes.
Shannon’s big return gets the reaction it deserves – an eye roll and a head shake from Ollie.
And Adam is another controversial groom that makes a brief comeback to the experiment.
Adam fronts up to the table wanting to apologise to everyone for the whole cheating fiasco.
“I feel terrible for my actions that night and how I made him [Jesse] feel,” Adam says.
Harrison pipes up and tells Adam to “just own it’. And in Adam’s defence, he is actually owning up to everything.
“I’m sorry for every action, I’m sorry for gaslighting, I’m sorry for kissing Claire,” he continues.
Adam is basically on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness until he starts to question why Harrison is on such a high horse.
“You just throw everyone under the bus to save yourself,” Harrison pushes Adam a little further.
The accusation is rich considering Harrison let Dan take the fall for getting a girls’ phone number. An event which Adam doesn’t forget to bring up.
“I think it’s time for you to start owning sh–,” Adam claps back.
“Has someone got a mirror so he can hold it up to Harrison’s face?”
When producers ask Harrison about what Adam meant about him “owning his own stuff” Harrison is quick to shut it all down.
“I don’t really want to talk about that anymore,” he says.
Married At First Sight continues Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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