There’s no doubt there’s been one hot topic this week – Adam and Claire’s kiss.
The cheating scandal has left more than a few relationships in tatters and the experts are hoping to unpack all of that today.
Throw two fresh couples into the mix and the third Commitment Ceremony might be the most intense one yet…
Janelle and Adam
The couple take to the couch and sit so far apart they may as well be in separate postcodes – this can only be a sign of what’s to come.
Of course, the only thing the experts or anyone wants to talk about is Adam cheating on Janelle.
Janelle says that Adam’s “lack of accountability [for cheating] was shocking”, and in response Adam claims he only kissed Claire because “they were vibing”.
“It wasn’t premeditated or anything like that,” he insists.
But Lyndall believes otherwise and drops this bombshell: “I heard you make comments and then you hit on somebody else when you were leaving the bar.
“There were so many points to that night where you were being flirty and putting the feelers out.”
Sandy adds that the difference between Adam and Claire handling the situation is that they could see “the weight and remorse on Claire’s face while Adam has none.”
Adam thinks the girls have got him all wrong and insists that he’s “not that kind of guy” and “doesn’t do this regularly”. We’ll breeze over the fact that Adam confessed on his wedding day that he had been unfaithful in the past.
Expert John Aiken has had enough of Adam’s excuses, and says: “I think we’ve heard everything we need to hear from you.
“You say the words I’m sorry but you don’t understand it. When you cheated on Janelle you made a choice. You don’t walk the walk, You say I’m sorry but you get angry, defensive and you blame. Don’t do that.”
There’s just one thing left to – reveal their decisions.
Janelle writes ‘leave’ and Adam does the decent thing and also decides to leave.
On that note Adam walks out of the room – unfollowed by any other participant – while everyone huddles around Janelle. Something that Mel Schilling says “speaks volumes”.
Alyssa and Duncan
Duncan says they’ve had a really good relationship… up until this week.
Those words alone are enough to make a very fragile Alyssa upset.
She cries uncontrollably and the dramatic music builds as Alyssa finally reveals what horrible thing Duncan has done to bring her to tears.
“It’s tough because I just don’t understand how he could be in contact with Adam,” Alyssa sobs.
Is that it? I don’t think even Janelle shed this many tears, but to each their own.
“It’s just really triggering to me,” Alyssa continues to cry.
Duncan says he wasn’t condoning any of Adam’s behaviour but didn’t feel the need to completely cut off a friend because of a bad decision.
He says her strong reaction “doesn’t change how he feels about Alyssa but it’s a hiccup”.
The experts agree that a difference of opinion is something they can work through.
Despite all the tears Alyssa and Duncan kiss and make up and decide to stay.
Melinda and Layton
The duo have set a new world record for the longest amount of days passed without arguing – four, to be exact – which they say “is good for us”.
Melinda admits she “can’t see her life without Layton” and can hardly bear being without him while he has a bowel movement.
Layton says he’s “falling” for Melinda and the couple both want to break their record for days without arguing so they decide to stay in the experiment.
Tahnee and Ollie
There’s no bursting Tahnee and Ollie’s love bubble.
Ollie admits he didn’t expect his strong feelings to “come so soon” while Tahnee says “it feels different to anything she’s ever experienced”.
The lovebirds reveal they’re already starting to talk about a future outside of the experiment.
Lyndall calls them “disgustingly wholesome” and I couldn’t agree more.
Harrison and…
Feeling unwell, Bronte is unable to come to the Commitment Ceremony and her absence has taken quite a toll on Harrison.
The groom is almost in tears that Bronte is in so much pain due to her endometriosis and he says “I’m going to get through it the best I can.” *side eye*
Bronte and Harrison’s relationship is in such a good place that he’s having sympathy pains. How strange.
The group and the experts don’t know how to take Harrison’s bizarre reaction and most of them try to bury their laughs.
But John Aiken isn’t buying it and says “he gets the sense Harrison isn’t being real”.
So it’s straight to the decision and they both stay.
Evelyn and Rupert
The experts notice that Rupert doesn’t look very comfortable next to Evelyn and when they ask Rupert why, his answer is a collection of “umms” “ahhs” and “I don’t knows”.
John Aiken gives up on drawing a full sentence out of Rupert so he asks Evelyn.
“I just don’t know if I get as much as I’m giving and I just don’t know if Rupert’s ready for this in all honesty,” Evelyn admits.
Rupert says he just needs some reassurance and when Evelyn reveals that she “is attracted to Rupert” he celebrates with a gentle fist shake. But on the inside, we know he’s jumping on that couch like Tom Cruise on Oprah.
The pair are both ready to fully throw themselves in and both stay.
Sandy and Dan
“We’ve had a little bit of turbulence this week,” Dan gets the ball rolling.
Sandy recounts an argument they had over Dan going out by himself for hours. She says he even spent six hours at the gym one day.
“Yeah what’s wrong with that?” Dan snaps. Nothing… if you’re training for an Olympic decathlon.
Dan says he just needs time to himself to enjoy the sand and surf while Sandy says she wants to hang out with Dan.
John Aiken tries to get to the bottom of it all by asking Dan this tough question: “Are you sexually attracted to Sandy?”
“No, not right now,” Dan answers.
“The sexual chemistry just isn’t there.” Ouch, that’s got to be a tough pill for Sandy to swallow.
Despite the obvious hurdle, they both write ‘stay’ and it looks like there’ll be a lot of tough work for Sandy and Dan in the week ahead.
Tayla and Hugo
Tayla kicks things off by voicing one of her biggest pet peeves about Hugo.
“I really struggled with all the compliments I was constantly getting from Hugo,” she says.
Utterly confused, expert Mel Schilling says she “doesn’t compute” Tayla’s complaint.
Tayla explains that she doesn’t like being called “adorable” and “cute” and wants to be called “smart” “quick” and “driven”.
“What if I told you that he’d only known you for a few days and he hadn’t had time to figure out those qualities yet?” Mel tries to make things clearer for Tayla.
And at this point Tayla’s brain “doesn’t compute”.
Mel kicks things up a notch by asking Tayla if she’s attracted to Hugo. Tayla says this: “My type was definitely football guys and typical tradies and that is a little bit different to Hugo.”
It’s a polite way of saying no, but a no nevertheless.
Mel reminds Tayla that MAFS isn’t “made to order grooms”.
She tries to be more optimistic and having only been the experiment for a week Tayla and Hugo both write ‘stay’.
Lyndall and Cam
It’s been a “rollercoaster” week for Lyndall and Cam. And it all started while they were on a FaceTime call with Lyndall’s mum who encouraged Cam to give her daughter a hug.
Apparently that didn’t go down well and Cam felt “uncomfortable” and left the conversation.
Cam admits that while he could’ve just given Lyndall a hug but it felt “unnatural”, “awkward” and “really weird”.
“Am I that awful and repulsive that you don’t even want to hug me when I’m upset?” Lyndall bursts into tears.
John Aiken says Cam’s excuses are “just a cop out” and Alessandra is stunned that she’s not hearing “any remorse” from him.
Cam says he should’ve “pulled his head out of his a–e” and just hugged her but having never been in a relationship he’s trying to overcome here’s struggles with affection.
Cam puts his money where his mouth is straight away and gives Lyndall a big old smooch on the couch. How’s that for affection, Cam reckons.
Claire and Jesse
Jesse looks defeated after what’s been “a pretty heavy week”, but he hashes out the cheating scandal with the experts one more time.
Claire admits she should’ve come clean sooner but didn’t because she was “afraid”.
It’s not enough of a reason for Alyssa and Melinda who “can’t get past” all of Claire’s lying.
Sandy once again jumps to Claire’s defence saying she’s owned her mistake and apologised, what more can she do?
Alyssa and Melinda might not be convinced but the most important thing is that Jesse is. He believes Claire is genuinely sorry and wants to put an end to the crusade against her.
“One thing I don’t like about this experiment is people getting drilled on the couch so I don’t want to add to Claire’s despair,” he says.
That’s not to say the cheating hasn’t rocked Jesse.
“You just question whether you’re worthy of love,” Jesse admits.
“I’ve been single for seven years, I haven’t had good relationships really ever.”
Feeling “grumpy” and “exhausted”, there’s just one final step for Jesse, to reveal his decision.
“I can provide Claire my forgiveness, my understanding and my friendship and I can do all those things while still doing the right thing by myself,” and with that Jesse reveals a card that says ‘leave’.
Even still, Claire decides to stay “to try and earn back Jesse’s trust” but says she doesn’t want to force him to stay.
Jesse’s not sure he has the same amount of steam as Claire to ride out the experiment for one more week.
But the experts encourage Jesse to open himself up to what the next seven days will bring.
Married At First Sight continues Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
