Not a record that anyone wants to break. Married at First Sight season 4’s Derek Schwartz and Heather Seidel recently became the first couple in the show’s history to divorce midway through a season, and the 35-year-old account executive tells Us Weekly exclusively how it felt to learn that his wife wanted to end things so quickly.
Schwartz and Seidel, 32, were able to get some closure on the FYI series’ Tuesday, October 4, episode, marking the first time the pair had seen each other since their divorce earlier in the season. As fans know, the twosome appeared to click on their wedding day but quickly had problems throughout the honeymoon, sparring over Schwartz’s smoking and Seidel’s hesitancy to touch her husband, among other issues.
“My time with Heather was mostly difficult,” Schwartz tells Us. “After the second day, there was pretty much tension between us at any and every moment. There were times when we shared a laugh, but for the most part, I was always wondering what was wrong when we were together.”
The account executive feels he was “honest and open and remained true to myself throughout the process.” And he finds it “strange” that Seidel had such an issue with his smoking, since he says he “asked her about it on the first night, and she did not seem to have a problem with it.”
However, he says she “later told me that she determined on her own that I [smoked] too much. When I asked why she didn’t tell me she felt like that [initially], she explained that she decided to test me instead to see what I would do.”
Schwartz says it became clear to him by the third day of their honeymoon in Puerto Rico that Seidel wanted to end the marriage. As for what went through his mind upon detecting this, he says, “I felt terrible once I realized how not interested she was in me. I was in a strange place with a person I did not know, and I felt like I was the last person in the world she wanted to be around.”
Because of this, Schwartz says he was “not totally surprised” when the flight attendant ultimately told him after they got back to the States that she wanted a divorce. “But it was still tough because I put so much into this, and now it was over before it ever really started,” he adds.
Schwartz reveals that he and his former spouse haven’t spoken since filming on the show wrapped: “I did reach out to her on Facebook and Twitter, but I’m not sure how active she is on either.”
Despite the Miami, Florida, denizen’s rough experience, he claims he would “definitely” give the show another shot next season if he were offered a second try.
“I agreed to do it in the first place because I believe in the experts and the process,” he says. “I do not believe we had the opportunity to really see why we were matched, and I would love that chance in the future.”
Tell Us: What is your take on why Schwartz and Seidel didn’t work out?
Married at First Sight airs on FYI Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET.
