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‘Marriage Boot Camp’ Recap: Ashley Hebert Is ‘Willing to Change’ After Criticism From Husband J.P. Rosenbaum

Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone — just ask the couples on Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars. The Friday, January 13, episode was all about living with regret as the couples were faced with the sobering prospect of losing their significant others. From the outset, Bad Girls Club alum Gabi Victor and her boyfriend/baby daddy Victor Tarrats were going at it, having a screaming match to end all screaming matches (well, except for the one they had later on).

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Everyone else listened from another room as the two sounded off. “I see fathers out there doing less than I’m doing, and they get praised!” Victor shouted. “I’m just not going to be into you until you’re a good dad,” Gabi replied. “I’m not going to be into you until you’re a good woman!” Victor snapped back. Yikes.

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PreMadonna Makes Ashley Cry

While Victor and Gabi were clearly the couple having the most conflict, that hardly meant things were calm in the house. When Ashley Hebert asked PreMadonna about how her waist trainer worked (ICYMI, PreMadonna has a company that sells waist trainers), the Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star got extremely defensive. “I feel like they’re playing with me right now,” she said. “They’re playing with my business.” (They were actually just inquiring about her business, but whatever.)

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Instead of answering Ashley’s question, PreMadonna screamed at her about how she couldn’t “take the heat,” bringing Ashley to tears. “It just really bothers me,” the former Bachelorette said. “I’ve never been spoken to that way in my life.” To husband J.P. Rosenbaum, Ashley said, “I just don’t want people to think that they can just walk all over me. You’re the one who taught me that.”

PreMadonna did eventually apologize to Ashley, though she made a point of demonstrating that she didn’t even know Ashley’s name. (Renee Graziano helped PreMadonna out by saying “Ashley” for her, so she could complete the apology.)

Amy and Dillon

“I’m sorry, ummm,” PreMadonna began as she turned to Renee for help. After Renee said Ashley’s name, PreMadonna resumed: “Miss Ashley, do you accept my apology?” Ashley said she did, and one second later, PreMadonna was going crazy on her again — fortunately, it didn’t get too out-of-hand because Renee shut it down … because that’s what Mob Wives do.

Gabi’s Twin Sister Shows Up at Boot Camp

Meanwhile, Gabi’s twin sister, Danni, arrived at boot camp. As a refresher, Victor and Danni absolutely loathed each other. The experts had designed an exercise that involved one person from each couple playing dead on a gurney, while the other faced what life would be like in the wake of such a loss. To mix things up, the experts had Danni pose as Gabi, “dead” after a terrible car accident. Gabi then watched to see how Victor would react. He didn’t react well.

Ashley and JP

Instead of being overcome with sorrow or regret for things he had said to her while she was alive, he blamed her for texting while driving and getting into the accident in the first place. Charming. Gabi soon revealed herself, and Victor began to scream at both sisters. He called them both “disgusting” and referred to them as “children” before becoming so enraged that he actually couldn’t speak. By the end, he was crying, but it was unclear whether any real progress had been made.

Ashley Admits She Couldn’t Raise Her Son Without J.P.

Faced with J.P.’s “death,” Ashley did much better than Victor. Ashley, whose emotions were already running high from her argument with PreMadonna earlier, broke down in tears almost immediately upon seeing J.P. on the stretcher. “I could never raise my son without him,” she managed. 

Gabi and Victor

When the experts pointed out that she did not make J.P. a priority in her life (a fact that she readily admitted on the last episode), Ashley said, “I am willing to change that, definitely.” J.P. looked overjoyed, and the experts were very pleased. It was a small step, but a meaningful one, in the right direction for these two.

Amy and Dillon Don’t Take Things Seriously

While Ashley and J.P. did well with the car accident exercise, Amy Duggar and Dillon King did terribly. Though it got off to a promising start as Dillon admitted this activity was hitting close to home since he himself had been in a real car accident about a year prior, the seriousness soon wore off when Amy (made up to look dead) began laughing while on the gurney. “It’s making it hard for me not to smile at you,” Dillon said, frustrated. Amy apologized and said she just wasn’t good at “playing dead,” but the experts thought there was more to this wall she was putting up than that.

“Sometimes I say things that I think are sweet, and you laugh it off,” Dillon sighed, though Amy seemed only mildly receptive to this critique (even when Judge Lynn Toler brought it up again later).

Tell Us: Do you think any of the couples are making real progress?

Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars airs on We TV Fridays at 8 p.m. ET.

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