Married at First Sight: Where Are They Now? featured Chloe revealing she and the “mean-girl” wives were at odds after she was allegedly bullied and betrayed by Lauren, two cast members sharing how they’re in new relationships, and Austin connecting with his roommate during the Season 17 episode that aired Wednesday night on Lifetime.
|
|
Married at First Sight’s seventeenth season was filmed in Denver, CO, and the show stars Emily and Brennan, Clare and Cameron, Austin and Becca, Lauren and Orion, and Michael and Chloe.
RELATED: ‘MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT’ COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)
The couples were matched by Married at First Sight experts Dr. Pia, Pastor Calvin Roberson, and Dr. Pepper Schwartz.
Orion and Lauren chose to divorce early in the process, and then Michael and Chloe got married much later into the process than the other four couples.
On “Decision Day,” three couples — Clare and Cameron, Emily and Brennan, and Michael and Chloe — chose to divorce. Becca and Austin opted to stay together on Decision Day, however, they split the very next day after a big argument.
The Married at First Sight: Where Are They Now? broadcast began with Clare revealing to Lauren she had gotten a new job and was working with adolescents.
Clare apparently found a new brightness in her life, but she was still getting over how Cameron had accused her of cheating and lying. Clare said she was seeing a man at the time the reunion filmed and that man was now her official boyfriend.
Clare’s boyfriend lived in Seattle, she wasn’t sure if their long-distance relationship was going to change. Clare shared how her boyfriend had mentioned moving to Denver but she didn’t want to put any pressure on him.
Lauren approved of Clare’s boyfriend and called him a real man. Lauren, meanwhile, said she hadn’t spoken to Orion — whom she nicknamed OrLiar– since the reunion. Lauren insisted that he was out of sight and out of mind, especially because he had painted her as an angry and hateful person on the reunion.
Lauren declined to reveal if she was dating anyone, but she confirmed, “I am happy.”
Michael was then shown getting a tattoo of an angel crying which symbolized sudden death and being acutely aware of what others are going through.
Michael explained to his tattoo artist how his marriage was over but he and Chloe had a good moment after the reunion in which he thanked her for being open and honest with her feelings. Michael noted how Chloe avoided conflict and so speaking her mind was a big deal.
Michael said he wasn’t dating at the time but he learned a lot from being married and being Chloe’s husband in particular. Michael admitted Chloe had made him a better person but he didn’t know if staying friends with her would be sustainable.
“I would love for her to be in my life at some capacity,” Michael explained.
Chloe, meanwhile, met up with her friend Cesar at a bar. Chloe said the reunion was “cathartic” and she didn’t resent Michael at all. In fact, she had formed a great relationship with the Married at First Sight men.
“They took me under their wings during a time when I wasn’t feeling loved, valued or supported, unfortunately, by the other women,” Chloe shared of the MAFS wives.
Cesar said it seemed like the other women were in a sorority and Chloe wasn’t a part of it, and then Chloe teased how there was much more happening behind the scenes that he didn’t know about.
Cesar said he had seen “nasty and snarky” comments on the Internet about how Chloe was allegedly a husband stealer, and he announced how it wasn’t true.
RELATED: ’90 DAY FIANCE’ COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
Chloe said those allegations from the other wives were hurtful and there were “a couple burner accounts out there trying to raise hell.”
Chloe said she had no intention of engaging in the drama and she’s not going to admit fault for developing friendships with everybody around her. Chloe said if her personality threatened people, that wasn’t her problem.
“But don’t come for my integrity when there’s no smoke and there’s no fire,” Chloe snapped.
Chloe also hinted that “perhaps” one of the women had gone after Michael.
Chloe explained how fans of the show thought Michael and Lauren would’ve been a great match and it may have “ignited something” in Lauren to make her feel like it was something she should investigate.
“To my understanding, she has investigated it. I wish her the best in all of her endeavors, but she forgets where his loyalty lies,” Chloe boasted.
“After all, he was your husband,” Cesar concluded.
Michael, Austin and Orion were then shown going out for drinks. Austin said Becca didn’t want to talk to him for a couple of years but he hoped they could get on better terms. Orion also shared that Lauren didn’t want any type of relationship with him, which was disappointing.
Orion, however, said he learned how to hold himself accountable and his one regret was never moving into an apartment with Lauren in Denver. Orion confessed that he couldn’t get out of his own head during the process and he could’ve been nicer and more understanding during the experiment.
Emily and Clare, meanwhile, met up for sushi and cocktails, and Emily boasted about how she’s really cute but Brennan clearly didn’t think so. The women were proud to be healthy, happy and sexy.
Emily insisted she was a new and improved version of herself but she wasn’t ready to date and be in a relationship again. Emily planned to focus on herself and pick up the pieces of her life.
Since Chloe had lost contact with the other wives, she decided to invite Michael, Austin, Orion, and Brennan to join her for a day of hard work and giving back to the Broken Shovel animal sanctuary where she always volunteered her time to farm animals.
Later on, Michael met up with Lauren and Clare at a bar. Michael wanted the ladies to know that they could co-exist even though everyone had endured hard situations.
Lauren had said she really liked one of Michael’s earrings, and so he gifted her the earring. Lauren thanked Michael for remembering, and Clare pointed out to the cameras how Michael and Lauren seemed very flirtatious with each other.
When it became Lauren’s time to reveal if she was dating anyone, Michael looked at Lauren and declared, “The Internet has been willing this interaction… My friends always poke fun at me with… ‘Why didn’t they just match you with Lauren?'”
“News flash! We’re not strangers anymore and we’ve met! My family in the beginning, definitely in the early episodes — like during the matchmaking type of phase — were like, ‘Why wasn’t Michael your match?'” Lauren revealed. “[But] my dad did not say that.”
RELATED: ‘THE BACHELOR’ COUPLES NOW: WHO DID ‘THE BACHELOR’ STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Michael explained how many people wanted to see them together due to the belief neither Lauren or himself got the Married at First Sight experience that they should have. (Michael was referring to his first match of the season with a woman who had jilted him at the altar before they could even wed).
Lauren said people weren’t thinking logically of whether she and Michael would actually be a good match.
“They’re like, ‘She was robbed and he was cheated! Throw the misfits together!’ But it’s like, none of these fans asked us what we wanted,” Lauren vented.
Michael told the cameras that Lauren brought a lot to the table in terms of her personal success and who she is as a person, but he wasn’t sure what a relationship would look like for them.
“Maybe in another Married at First Sight universe!” Lauren quipped.
Becca was then shown meeting up with one of her best friends at a restaurant. Becca had been hoping for a life partner, but she said she got “a life lesson” instead. Becca felt she had let down the Married at First Sight viewers, but she was ready to move forward and heal.
Becca shared how she was hoping to find a man who was emotionally intelligent and could communicate his feelings well. She also hoped her future partner had already discovered the dark parts within himself.
Becca, however, apparently wanted to look inward and do more work on herself in order to be the best version of herself for a man.
After Orion, Austin and Michael bonded by doing a spiritual cleansing ceremony and meditation together at Orion’s request, Chloe then bonded with Austin, Cameron, Brennan, Michael and Orion at the animal sanctuary.
“The guys have very much gravitated towards Chloe. She’s so warm and welcoming, and she seems so flowing with positivity,” Michael admitted to the Married at First Sight cameras.
“I’m sure they will continue to give me some sh-t for moving forward with a divorce instead of trying to foster the marriage to Chloe — and I get it.”
It turned out Austin was totally in his element at the farm, and during the outing, Brennan revealed that he had a girlfriend whom he loved spending time with.
“She’s awesome and I’m really excited about where things are heading,” Brennan gushed. “Stay tuned!”
Cameron shared how he had picked up his love for traveling again and was about to go to Puerto Rico.
While chatting with Brennan and Cameron, Chloe shared how she and the other wives had gone their separate ways “many, many moons ago.”
“Let’s just say that my life improved immensely when I removed myself from the women,” Chloe admitted.
“I think the reunion showed [the women’s] true colors that we’ve all seen behind closed doors, and they just exposed who they truly were,” Brennan said.
“The amount of effort our ex-wives are putting into the online comments, it can only go to show that their intentions were not in the right place to begin with,” Cameron added.
Cameron acknowledged how many of the comments had been directed at Chloe, and then Chloe confirmed how there were two accounts on Facebook.
“One of them has written the most horrifying things that you could possibly imagine about me,” Chloe shared.
“I know for a fact it’s one of them with a burner account, which just shocks me. Be a grown up!… It’s mean-girl behavior. If you haven’t grown out of mean-girl behavior, you’re not ready for marriage or relationships of any kind.”
Chloe told the men how she had blocked the women on social media and so they didn’t exist in her world anymore, and Cameron claimed the ladies were “toxic” and he was glad to hear how Chloe had separated herself from all that drama.
“I can’t roll my eyes hard enough at the psychosis,” Chloe lamented.
Speaking of online hate and scrutiny, Austin shared with Cesar and Michael how he didn’t have erectile dysfunction and wasn’t “a repressed Christian.” Austin claimed he’s just “a normal dude” who wanted to build a foundation with a woman before sleeping with her. Austin also confirmed that he wasn’t a virgin.
Michael and Chloe were also able to exchange a few laughs, and they were getting along really well. Chloe was proud that she and Michael were able to go their separate ways in a really “beautiful and amicable way.”
Michael hoped that Chloe would continue to be a positive presence in his life, and so he asked her to hang out with him again. Michael and Chloe clearly respected and cared for one another.
Producers then got Lauren’s side of her falling out with Chloe.
“Chloe and I are no longer friends. She became very irate with me when I followed Michael on social media. I apologized, I removed him from following me, I unfollowed him — but she said it didn’t matter because I was ‘the ultimate betrayal’ for following him on social media,” Lauren explained.
Lauren called the conflict “petty” because she had known Michael even longer than she knew Chloe.
“And she’s friends with Austin and thinks there’s nothing wrong with [that]… but she wants to block me from having a friendship with Michael. I am not in the business of coddling a person’s insecurities.”
Lauren said if Michael was pursuing a friendship with Chloe, it would probably be best for her to just step back and stay out of their way.
“I don’t want to add any fuel to the fire, and I don’t really want to deal with fake people and their pettiness and their jealousy and their insecurities,” Lauren said, bashing Chloe.
For Emily’s part, she was seeing a therapist and had connected how Brennan was allegedly like her father in that they’re both “critical” and “pushy.” Emily was setting boundaries with her parents, and she gave herself credit for always giving her best effort.
Emily was prepared to stop trying to be so perfect all the time and let go of control a little bit.
Chloe and Michael then went out for espresso martinis together, and Michael gifted Chloe his orange sweater that she had worn and looked great in during the Married at First Sight season.
Michael admitted to Chloe that the other husbands were giving him “sh-t” for his choice on Decision Day, and the revelation made Chloe laugh and feel flattered.
“It is proof that you can be a whole package at the wrong address,” Chloe told Michael. “If we’re not meant to be, it’s not going to happen — but it’s okay!… We can have a beautiful friendship and laugh and have fun and joke.”
Chloe also liked the other men of Married at First Sight’s seventeenth season, but Chloe told Michael that the women had been “hurtful, mean, condescending and terrible” to her.
“I think they’re struggling with the world knowing that their husbands didn’t want them, but that’s not my problem… and it’s not anybody else’s problem!” Chloe told Michael.
Chloe shared with the cameras how the hardest part of this process for her was how the other women had treated her, but she wanted to show some grace and bury the hatchet.
Michael and Chloe therefore decided to plan a gathering for the whole Married at First Sight cast. The pair hoped everyone could get together, forgive, and heal.
“But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they don’t want to heal,” Chloe mentioned. “But if they do want to heal, I want to give them the space to do it.”
Clare and Emily then each got a tattoo of a wave on their wrist. Lauren and Becca joined them for the activity, but only two of the women got inked.
The wave apparently represented how the women were able to release control and ride the wave — together as friends — after a tsunami hit them. Emily and Clare were bonded through this journey, and they knew this experience would always be a major part of their lives.
It then became time for Michael and Chloe’s reunion with the cast, but only Austin and his female roommate Kyla showed up to the bar. Michael, however, wasn’t surprised about the small turnout.
Austin revealed how his roommate missed him throughout the process, and Kyla confirmed how she realized that she really valued talking to Austin about her day, every day.
“It feels like if something was going to happen between [Austin and Kyla], it probably would’ve by now,” Chloe told the Married at First Sight cameras.
“But who knows! Some times those things sort of grow, and before you know it, you’re in love with your roommate!”
Kyla called Chloe her “girl” and announced how Chloe seemed more mature than the other MAFS wives. On that note, Chloe said she at least felt loved, valued and appreciated by the MAFS men.
The episode concluded with Becca, Emily, Lauren and Clare donating their wedding dresses to women with terminal illnesses. The women hoped these future brides would feel hope and positivity, turning their poor Married at First Sight experience into a kind gesture.
Most of the women had moved past their bad marriages, but Emily was admittedly still feeling “hate” towards Brennan. Emily admitted that she hoped Brennan would regret his behavior in 10 or 20 years when she’s “married and rich and hot.”
The Married at First Sight women were learning how to grow, receive love and forgive, and Emily concluded that she didn’t have any regrets.
RELATED: ‘MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT’ COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more Married at First Sight news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group or click here to view our Married at First Sight newspage!
And click here for more updates on former Married at First Sight cast members and info on where they are now!
About The Author:
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.