After Dan told her that he’s not attracted to her at the last Commitment Ceremony, Sandy has woken up with a spring in her step.
The pair have consummated their relationship and yes, it’s a confusing step forward considering Dan’s lack of sexual chemistry with Sandy.
“I’m shocked and confused too, don’t get me wrong,” Sandy tells cameras.
But she – and we – hope it’s a step in the right direction for the couple.
It’s only the beginning of the week and a lot is happening as the original couples dive into Friends and Family Week, and the new couples play catch up by taking part in some relationship building – or destroying – activities.
Claire and Jesse
Having written ‘leave’ at the last Commitment Ceremony, it’s safe to say that Jesse isn’t thrilled to have to try and play happy family with Claire’s dad Lee.
He’s “feeling pretty grumpy” about Claire choosing to stay when he made it clear he wanted to go home to Perth.
“I don’t need to be placed in here for another week when I don’t really want to be,” Jesse tells cameras.
With no desire to work on his and Claire’s relationship, Jesse deals with his emotions in the healthiest way possible – by putting on a black devil mask and a Satan shirt.
Ahead of the family dinner, Claire hopes that her dad “has some nuggets of life advice to share” to help her and Jesse work out their differences.
Blissfully unaware of all that’s transpired between Claire and Jesse, Lee thinks that Claire might be breaking the news that she’s moving to Perth to live with Jesse. We love your optimism Lee, but that shan’t be happening.
Lee gets a rude awakening of a different sort when Claire drops this bombshell: “I did something messed up, I kissed another one of the husbands here.”
Lee is absolutely “devastated” by the news but being the optimist that he is he grabs Claire and Jesse by the hand and tells them to “really fight for it”.
He wraps things up with a family hug and it’s the most wholesome thing anyone ever did see.
Jesse has a much better time than he expected but that leaves him fighting between his head and his heart.
“I really don’t like the place that I’m in because I know Claire’s dad is coming from a really great place but I still feel this kind of pressure that I need to forgive at a rate that I don’t think I’m ready for,” Jesse tells cameras.
Evelyn and Rupert
In an effort to start taking the lead, Rupert wants to really take this next relationship task seriously.
Unfortunately for Rupert the task requires him to hug Evelyn for three minutes straight and he’s breaking into a sweat just reading the instruction card.
But Rupert makes it through the full three minutes and Evelyn thinks it’s a good sign for the couple.
“We have a very strange dynamic. It has its good days and it has its bad days but I think it could be heading in the right direction,” she tells cameras.
After having such a good run, Rupert undoes all of his good work and asks Evelyn if she’s put on deodorant that morning. It was rather hopeful of us to think he could make it to five minutes without making things awkward. Bless Rupert’s cotton socks.
Tayla and Hugo
Like all the couples gone before them, Tayla and Hugo test the strength of their relationship with the very daunting Photo Ranking Task.
It gets off to a shocking start when Tayla doesn’t even notice her husband’s face in the lineup of photos.
We won’t go through the entire order of Tayla’s lineup but here are some notable mentions.
She places Cameron first because he’s “a bit of a bush boy”. Tayla has only mentioned 27, 284 times that she’s a fan of a country bloke, so no surprises there.
Jesse is pushed to the tail end of the list because he gives Tayla “serial killer vibes”. I would like to disagree but his Satan get up earlier this episode is not making a great case for him.
Hugo is “sh—ing bricks” as he waits for Tayla to rank him. She’s mentioned more than a handful of times that Hugo “is not her type” but she admits that there is one trait of his that she does find attractive – his height.
Hugo’s height alone is enough to take him to the top of the list. It’s a happy surprise to Hugo but he still has doubts about “how sincere” Tayla is being.
Now it’s Hugo’s turn and Tayla is pretty certain that she’ll be at the top of Hugo’s list because of all the times he’s told her how attracted he is to her.
But Hugo reminds Tayla that attractiveness isn’t just about looks, it’s about personality too.
“I want to put you first, 100 percent you’re in the top three,” Hugo begins.
“But do you think you deserve to be put at the top with how you’ve been treating me? From all of that maybe you do deserve to be last.”
But Hugo shows his wife some mercy and says there “no way” he’ll put her last.
“You can go second last!” Hugo takes a stand.
The move truly rocks Tayla to her core and she wallows on the lounge like she’s nursing the world’s worst hangover.
“It was horrible,” she groans to the cameras.
Hugo admits it was a brutal call but says he was just “trying to express his dissatisfaction about their marriage”.
But Tayla doesn’t like the taste of her own medicine.
Sandy and Dan
A Friends and Family Week meeting can’t go ahead without the groom and Dan is currently missing – he’s probably out training for that Olympic decathlon again.
But Sandy is worried that Dan is regretting being intimate with her.
“I think if he pulls away that’s where I’m scared that he did think it was a mistake,” she cries to cameras.
“That’s my worst fear.”
Everyone can cancel the search party because our missing groom Dan has returned from another six hour run.
Sandy softly suggests that Dan could maybe go to the gym for two or three hours and spend a few extra hours with her, but Dan “can’t believe” this is even a problem for her.
Dan says he’s a “very active guy” and at no point has he seen Sandy demonstrate that she’s an active person and he finds that “constricting”.
The arrival of Dan’s friend Georgia and Sandy’s sister Kiran cuts their argument short so they try to put on a brave face for the guests.
It’s not long before Sandy and Dan start airing out their problems to Georgia and Kiran.
Dan addresses the issue by mansplaining to Sandy’s own sister the type of person that Sandy is.
“Sandy is a bit of an overthinker; she gets in her head a little bit,” Dan says.
“I’m a very high energy, very active man. I’m climbing mountains, paddling rivers, swimming in waterfalls,” he continues his rant.
“You’re not an active person and you don’t want to be and I’m not feeling that energy connection.”
“What I’m trying to work out is are we compatible?”
Sandy agrees that the pair have different interests but explains to Georgia that Dan is really struggling with the fact that Sandy is allergic to ocean water.
It’s such a big issue for Dan that he says it “gives him anxiety”.
The move on from the issue of outdoor activities and onto the matter of moving interstate. Sandy says “it’s not completely off the cards” but for Dan it’s a flat “no I can’t”.
Dan then reverts back to the outdoor activities issue and makes a dig at Sandy, saying that while he’s out running for six hours Sandy is watching TV when she could be being active.
“I kind of feel like he’s making Sandy feel like she’s not good enough and making up lame excuses,” Kiran tells cameras.
Kiran clearly isn’t a fan of Dan. “He talks a lot but he’s not saying much,” she tells Sandy.
Georgia is pretty silent throughout this whole interaction but has this to say to Dan during a private chat: “She [Sandy] means so well but I’m just not sure that you guys are compatible.”
Georgia’s words only reaffirm Dan’s existing doubts.
With their guests gone, Sandy and Dan reflect on all that’s been said.
The two clash again over the matter of having different interests with Sandy still not understanding why what they each do in their ‘me time’ is such a big deal to Dan.
Sandy tries to get a word in edgewise but is unsuccessful.
“You’ve got to stop talking over the top of me Sandy,” Dan says as he interrupts the middle of Sandy’s sentence.
“You’re raising your voice, you’re talking over the top of me and being abrasive with me.”
But a very calm Sandy thinks it’s more a matter of Dan not liking what he’s hearing.
Married At First Sight continues Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
