First comes love, then comes marriage — but not for these newlyweds. By the Tuesday, December 15, episode of Married at First Sight, all three couples had successfully completed their respective trips down the aisle, celebrated with their families, and were off for their first night together as husband and wife.
To make an awkward situation worse, the grooms were apparently directed to carry their brides “over the threshold” of their hotel rooms. (It seemed unlikely all three men came up with that one on their own.) In any case, we all know that nothing makes a woman more comfortable than heaving herself into a stranger’s arms while wearing one of the heaviest and most cumbersome dresses of her life.
“I think that it’s always best to approach the wedding night, especially in this case, with a sense of humor,” sexologist Dr. Logan Levkoff asserted. It probably goes without saying that some couples dealt better with the situation than others.
Maybe Don’t Wear a Onesie on Your Wedding Night
You’ll remember Neil Bowlus as the genius who invited his ex-girlfriend to his wedding, leaving his new bride, Samantha Role, less than impressed. In another possible lapse in judgment, the 31-year-old compliance specialist tried to lighten the mood on his wedding night by wearing an adult onesie, complete with feet.
“I am feeling so uncomfortable,” Samantha confessed to the camera. “This adult man is wearing a onesie with a butt flap!” To her groom, she simply said, “I can’t look at you!” and then begged him to take it off.
“I hope I didn’t freak her out too much,” Neil said to the camera, possibly realizing the infant-inspired fashion was a miss.
“Part of me wants to cry because I had a different image in my head. I imagined that I would find him a little bit attractive even if I didn’t find him that attractive, but I don’t,” Samantha quipped before adding that she kept hoping, “Maybe when I wake up, it won’t be real.” In other words, she was pretty freaked out.
Things didn’t seem much better the following morning. Neil sensed that there was “a lot of awkward tension” between them, but that review was glowing compared to Samantha’s. “No, I did not consummate my marriage last night. No, we will not be consummating my marriage tomorrow night, [or] the night after that. It’s not going to happen. No, no!”
Ashley’s Cold Front Continues to Warm
My, my, how quickly things can change. Just hours before, Ashley Doherty was crying to her girlfriends in the bathroom at her wedding reception about how she didn’t like David Norton, but as they headed off for their first night together, she looked like a woman who had been swept off her feet. “I’m really blown away just how well he has treated me in a couple of hours,” she admitted to the camera.
For his part, David noticed the improving temperature too. “I feel like we’re breaking walls down and having more lighthearted moments,” he said, adding that he could tell his bride was “having a good time.” While they weren’t exactly snuggling in bed, they weren’t building a pillow barricade between themselves either (that was Neil and Sam, actually).
The following morning, Ashley revealed that she and David had not consummated the marriage, but she was quick to add that he makes her smile, sometimes despite herself. As they enjoyed a room service breakfast, they bonded over how “not strange” it was sharing a bed together, and prepared for their honeymoon in Arizona.
Later, during a debriefing with Levkoff, Ashley admitted that she moves slowly at first, especially when it comes to physical intimacy. Ever the optimist, David pointed out that at that moment, their knees were already touching (!).
Tres Apologizes (to His Friends) for Not Sleeping With Vanessa
The sparks were flying from the moment these two laid eyes on each other, so it was no surprise that Tres Russell was “100 percent down for consummating the marriage” if his better half was up for it. Though Vanessa Nelson was clearly feeling Tres, she seemed to be more focused on the romance of the whirlwind day (rather than on an R-rated night).
“This is a fairy tale,” she mused. “This is the story that we tell our grandkids.” She let Tres help her slip out of her wedding dress, but it turned out things didn’t go much further than that after all.
“I did not consummate my marriage, and I know all my friends are probably disappointed, so I’m sorry, guys — I let you down,” Tres said with a laugh. Vanessa offered a more serious explanation, arguing that it was just “too soon” for that, despite their electric connection.
After opening some wedding gifts in bed, they got some advice from sociologist Dr. Pepper Schwartz. “Get to know each other slowly,” she advised. “Because I really feel that sometimes people get too serious, too quickly.” (Umm … didn’t she just push these two to get married?)
Dangerous Waters
As they packed for their honeymoon, Samantha informed Neil (who is of part Indian descent) that she “was never attracted to the Indian culture.” With that friendly remark front and center, the pair set off for fun in the sun in St. Croix.
Not long after they arrived, the couple headed out for some snorkeling. Apparently, Samantha is very afraid of sharks (which aren’t really a threat to snorkelers, but that’s beside the point). She decided to put her “big girl pants on” and try it out to make Neil happy — but was unimpressed with his lack of checking in on her during their adventure.
“I think that if Neil had stepped up to plate and just checked on me a few times and been like, ‘Hey, how are you? Are you OK? How do you feel?’ it would have made me a little bit more romantically attracted to him,” she lamented. Meanwhile, he seemed to think she had a great time. Instead of talking things out to see if they were on the same page, the pair opted to engage in the most awk-weird pillow fight in the history of the world.
Is the Honeymoon Over Already?
Meanwhile, in St. John, power couple Tres and Vanessa had hit their first rough patch. As they relaxed on a beautiful beach, their toes in the sand, Vanessa turned to Tres and said: “I have a sense that you were a playboy.”
Tres smiled and admitted, “Yes, I dated, a lot. I’m not going to lie to you about that.” Seeing that his bride was none too pleased, he added, “It’s not as bad as the way you just said it.”
Vanessa replied, “OK,” with a face that said it wasn’t at all OK.
“I feel like you’re judging me now,” Tres said, prompting Vanessa to ask how long he’d been thinking about marriage.
“I wasn’t looking for marriage, by any means,” he said. Though Vanessa didn’t say much in response (beyond that she had lost her appetite), it’s safe to say: That was not the right answer.
Tell Us: Which couple have surprised you the most so far?
Married at First Sight airs on FYI Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
