Married at First Sight on Channel 9 – It’s the morning after a very chaotic Married At First Sight Dinner Party and everyone’s ears are still ringing.
Perhaps it’s because the brides and grooms can still hear the sounds of Sara and Tim arguing.
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But when Jack starts reading Tori a love poem (that we’re getting the feeling Chat GPT wrote, not him) we think we’d rather listen to Sara and Tim berate each other over the dinner table again.
Something we are keen to listen to is the experts’ feedback following the saucy era that was Intimacy Week.
And so with that being said, let’s get the first couple up on the couch at what’s sure to be a very interesting Commitment Ceremony…
Ellie and Ben
There’s a lot to unpack between Ellie and Ben.
First there’s the ‘mocking incident‘ where Ben imitated his wife in a high pitch voice. That’s been hashed out and the couple have decided to lay that to rest.
But then… there was another incident.
“He told me that I wasn’t his match and I was absolutely horrified and just so hurt,” Ellie admits.
DINNER PARTY DEBRIEF 2: Dom and Ella fire up over Ben’s brutal words to his wife
Ben can’t pinpoint why he said that Ellie wasn’t his match, “it just came out”.
“I was in this cloud of the pressure of this experiment and I thought, ‘I just want to get out’,” Ben sighs.
Ben’s excuse gets a few scoffs from his co-stars and of course a big eyeroll from his number one fan Lauren.
John takes things one step further. He does a poll, asking everyone if they too are feeling pressure in the experiment. Unsurprisingly, everyone puts their hands in the air.
Ben looks deflated. He knows everyone is under the same pressure, but as John puts it: “You cannot mock and get sarcastic with your partner. That cannot happen.”
Ben agrees. “I regret it so much. I’d do anything to not have done that,” he says.
Even though Ben has said the pressure of the experiment has pushed him to his limits, the other brides and grooms aren’t willing to show him any mercy.
Andrea is the first to throw her two cents in saying she’s had partners that treated her like Ben has treated Ellie and she puts it down to the groom’s own insecurities.
Loud Lozza is the next to chime in, and she still has a bone to pick with Ben about his uncertainty about wanting to have kids. Even Jayden says he “doesn’t buy it” with Ben changing his mind about kids from one day to the next.
MAFS WEEK 3 RECAP: One couple call it quits and another end in a screaming showdown
With everyone doubting his genuine desire to become a father, Ben thinks now is the perfect time to tell everyone about the epiphany he had earlier in the week.
Remember the one where he heard his niece and nephew screaming and crying in the back of a phone call and it made him realise he is in fact ready for fatherhood?
But Ellie is ready to put all of this week to the side and start anew because she wants to stay.
So does Ben and he has a little extra note written on his card. “Stay, and I do want to have kids in the future.”
And well, it must be true because it’s there in black and white. Make sure you grab yourself a photocopy Ellie!
Tori and Jack
It might be Tori and Jack’s time to look back on the week but we think they’ve unintentionally found themselves in a throuple with Timothy because every time they’re on the couch, he’s the one talking.
“I’m just not sure if it’s real or not,” Timothy again questions their relationship.
Although Jack was very quiet during the Dinner Party where Tori and Timothy faced off, he’s keen to know how Timothy feels about it now that he’s had time to reflect.
And to put it simply, Timothy feels exactly the same.
“I don’t regret anything I said and that’s it,” Timothy doubles down.
But Timothy isn’t the one writing ‘stay’ or ‘leave’, it’s Tori and Jack.
Tori sees “longevity” in their relationship as does Jack.
“I see a future and that’s because I’m setting us up for success. I’m blessed to be matched with Tori,” he says.
Despite all the over-the-top accolades for each other, the cutesy pet names and excessive arm grazing, Timothy still has major doubts around Tori and Jack.
And judging from the very meek round of applause the couple get we’re guessing there’s a few more non-believers in the crowd.
Lucinda and Timothy
From observation deck to hot seat, Timothy isn’t liking this change of position.
Lucinda isn’t impressed with Timothy’s Dinner Party behaviour and thinks that rather than pointing the finger at Tori and Jack, Timothy should “be humble with his own experience”.
On top of that, Lucinda is pretty “humiliated” by the mention of Timothy, 51, previously dating a 23-year-old.
EXCLUSIVE: Lucinda shares moving admission about her journey to finding love
And a usually very positive Lucinda has a whole lot more complaints to rattle off.
Minimum affection, unable to share feelings and emotions, no interest in sex, watches a lot of TV and doesn’t brush his teeth before bed just to name a few.
We’re not sure how everyone has glazed so easily over that last one.
Despite how eager Timothy has been to put up a fight with other participants, he isn’t willing to put one up today and can only agree with everything Lucinda has to say.
“I’m a disaster, I’ve got more baggage than Qantas,” he sighs.
“Lucinda wants to unpack that and I don’t, I want to leave it in the past and that’s just how I get by.”
But John points out that there is no one better equipped to unpack Timothy’s baggage than the vivacious Lucinda and she’s ready to roll up her sleeves.
“LET’S BLESS THIS MESS,” she beams and it’s a response that’s enough to make Timothy crack a smile.
“She’s incredibly sweet, she’s got a big heart, she thinks of everybody, she loves everybody, she looks for the good in people and in every situation and unfortunately I look for the negative,” Tim explains.
Neither of them are ready to give up, but Lucinda admits she’s gonna need to see effort and something “hunky and spunky” from Timothy to keep her writing ‘stay’.
Cassandra and Tristan
Even though intimacy has been a huge challenge for Tristan, Cassandra says “he’s been trying really hard”.
She wouldn’t mind a few more hugs and kisses, and honestly who could blame her?
Expert Mel Schilling decides to conduct a little experiment within the experiment and asks the pair to hug on the couch.
It comes naturally to the pair and Tristan even says, “I love you”.
“Did you hear that?” Cass grins.
Even though we’re pretty sure it was more of a friendly ‘I love you’, a declaration of love is never not a good sign.
Eden and Jayden
Short and sweet for these two.
Jayden is “head over heels” Eden and she has a “major crush” on him.
They write ‘stay’ and it’s happily ever after. The end.
Andrea and Richard
Intimacy Week was a breeze for Andrea and Richard. They practically invented Intimacy Week.
“We did Intimacy Week, the week before Intimacy Week.
“We gazed, we hugged, we f–ked, we f–ked, we did everything,” Richard leaves little to the imagination.
EXCLUSIVE: Tori her biggest ‘downfall’ when it comes to dating
The pair are closer than ever and it’s no surprises that they’re onboard for another week.
What exactly they’ll be doing for the next week… well Richard has painted quite the picture.
Lauren and Jonathan
While Andrea and Richard coasted through Intimacy Week, Lauren and Jonathan were drowning.
Lauren knows she hasn’t been giving Jono the response he deserves.
She uses the words “boring” and “robotic” to describe his personality and Lauren knows that it’s destroying her relationship.
It’s a hard pill for Jono to swallow and he says he’s a confident guy until Lauren knocks him back.
Despite what she’s said, Lauren says Jono is exactly the kind of guy she wants; she’s just self-sabotaging and she doesn’t know why.
“What is wrong with me?” Lauren wonders.
Well, the pair are sticking around for another week to hopefully find the answer to that question.
Sara and Tim
Following a huge row at the Dinner Party after three cancelled dates, Sara opens up her couch time by apologising.
“I’m embarrassed that we aired our dirty laundry so I apologise to everyone for the scene that was caused last night,” she says to the group.
But Mel Schilling is quick to give another point of view.
“You apologised to the group, but not to Tim,” she tells the bride.
Sara replies: “…But he yelled at me.”
Shannon Noll’s ‘What About Me’ plays faintly somewhere in the background.
Clearly unsuccessful the first time, Mel tries to hold a mirror up to Sara.
“You were behaving in a really aggressive way throughout the night, you were shouting for a length of time,” she says.
“We watched Tim control himself throughout the night until you pushed him to the point that he exploded.”
Sara can see the perspective. After hearing Mel’s words, she eventually says to her husband: “I apologise.”
Cassandra has been a pioneer for Tim’s cause all the way through and she pipes up with a question: “Are you maybe afraid of [Sara] a little bit?”
Sara unsurprisingly isn’t a fan Cassandra’s question, and basically tells her to mind her own business.
From here on out Tim says, “the ball is in her court”.
Wanting to give it his all, Tim decides to ‘stay’ as does Sara.
As the pair seal their fate for the next week, the other brides and grooms encourage them to ‘hug it out’.
The pair have a lot to work out but there’s nothing quite like a wedding to reignite your hope in love.
Luckily, there’s three weddings right around the corner as our brand new brides and grooms get hitched on Monday and Tuesday night.
You can see some of what’s in store at these wild weddings in the sneak peek below.
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.
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Recap is courtesy of Lauren Attard at Channel 9
You can read the full recap HERE which includes additional content and video
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