What you see is what you get with colourful Married at First Sight bride Jamie Marinos, but there was certainly more than meets the eye in her groom Dave Thomas Hand.
At a whopping 6ft 6″ tall and covered in tattoos, the 36-year-old is often misjudged as a “bad boy” – but that couldn’t be further from the truth!
Despite his intimidating appearance, the self-described big friendly giant said he was looking for a confident woman with a big personality to bring him out of his shy and reserved shell.
And 27-year-old Jamie was the perfect person to do that! Ultimately the couple decided to try to make their relationship work in the outside world after Final Vows.
Scroll on to read about every moment the couple shared together on MAFS, and find out if they are still together now.
The end of an era
Sadly just one day after their Final Vow episode aired, it was revealed that the couple quickly went their separate ways after filming wrapped.
“Dave still wasn’t as into it as Jamie was, and once they got home, he started to pull away,” an insider revealed to Yahoo Lifestyle.
“Dave regrets how things ended between them as he’s now seen how popular Jamie is and doesn’t want to be hated,” they added.
Further light was shed on their breakup at the reunion dinner party which aired on April 6, where Dave admitted that he was “ashamed” over how he was unable to be honest with Jamie over his feelings not progressing – leading her to break up with him.
“We gave 110%. Jamie is super special. It was sad to let it go. We have such a good bond and still have so much respect for each other and we both knew which direction it was heading and it just happened like that. It fizzled out.”
But Jamie had much more to say on the matter: “After the Final Vows it became quite clear that Dave just wasn’t into me. I broke up with Dave technically but he just wasn’t going to do it,” she shared with producers.
“I had to essentially push for the breakup, he never told me how he was feeling. I don’t know when this man would have had the balls to tell me ‘I’m not into you’.”
“I absolutely feel like I made the right decision. He can never be honest with how he’s feeling ever,” she added.
Despite this, and Jamie’s frustrations with being led on, she did have kind words for Dave in the second part of the reunion.
“I’m proud that we both tried and we’ve got this beautiful friendship. We’ve had an incredible journey,” she shared.
“Who knows, maybe we’ll be like Rhi and Jeff and get matched together [next year],” she then joked.
Sadly in between filming and the episode actually airing, Jamie confirmed to 9Entertainment that “unfortunately” she and Dave were no longer on speaking terms.
“I think Dave and I both really wanted to keep everything amicable and have a relationship, and I’ve tended to always have good relationships with everyone I’ve been with in the past,” she told the publication.
“Unfortunately when you have the opportunity to watch a relationship back and really see behaviour for what it is… I had to take a step back and say, ‘I need to respect myself, know my worth and I don’t believe everyone deserves to have access to me,”‘ she continued.
Only a week later it was revealed that Dave had unfollowed his ex on social media alongside several other co-stars including Eliot, Adrian, Sierah, and notably Veronica who he was rumoured to have an affair during filming.
While Dave has mysteriously gained back access to his social media accounts, Jamie will be unable to unfollow Dave in return until Channel Nine returns her access when MAFS finishes airing in the UK.
“I’m not ready to walk away from this”
After spending some time apart to reflect upon their marriage and the future, a nervous Dave was left unsure that he had done enough to make things right with Jamie after the hurt he had caused her in previous weeks.
In his Final Vows, he admitted that it was “overwhelming” for him to hear her say ‘I love you’ six weeks in, but promised he would “show up no matter what” going forward.
“Through all of this, you’ve become one of the closest people to me in my life. I came here looking for something that would last, for something worth holding onto, and with you, I believe that’s possible. So today, I choose us. Let’s give this a real shot,” an emotional Dave spoke from the heart.
For Jamie, she was quick to bring up her very valid concerns over her relationship with Dave and revealed to him that after feedback week she was left unsure if she had really fallen in love with him, or just the idea of him.
Ultimately though, she decided her “fire and ice” relationship was worth working on.
“From the very start, you made me feel safe, understood, and free to be my full loud self. You’ve genuinely made my life better just by being in it,” she told him.
“I’m not ready to walk away from this, and from you,” she added before the couple embraced.
An unexpected final task
Fans were left stunned when Jamie took the experts up on their offer to go on a date with the man they almost matched her with instead of Dave in the final week of the experiment.
While Dave turned down the task because he didn’t want to put their rekindled strength in jeopardy, Jamie’s curiosity got the better of her, and she claimed that while she didn’t want to see if the grass was greener with this other person, she did want to be a “nosy b****” and meet them.
In a hilarious twist of fate, however, Jamie was stood up!
It’s actually so embarrassing that this is a televised event!” she complained to the cameras.
While Dave did understand his wife’s desire to meet her almost match, he did joke to producers that he was “glad” she was stood up.”
A second chance during Homestays
After realising the errors of his ways and how he had been making Jamie feel in recent weeks, Dave committed himself to making it up to his wife during homestay week and wanted to prove he could be a better partner.
The week began with Dave arriving in Melbourne solo, the husband and wife duo choosing to stay in separate apartments. After an emotional heart-to-heart, Dave then moved into Jamie’s apartment and asked her to meet his father, who had been too sick to attend their wedding as he was undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the time.
Dave’s dad quickly gave Jamie the tick of approval, making the gentle giant even more aware of just how much Jamie had come to mean to him.
“I’ve been showing up and she’s been really receptive to the gestures I’ve made, and that’s really helped me come out of my shell,” he explained to the experts at the following Commitment Ceremony.
“I can honestly say, I can see it happening one day, I could fall in love with you,” he then reassured Jamie.
But Jamie still had feelings of uncertainty as to where she stood with Dave after his hot and cold behaviour the week prior, and sadly revealed that she wasn’t sure if she was still “in love” with her husband.
Despite it all, the pair both write to stay in the experiment for one final week.
Trouble in paradise
Despite being one of the strongest couples in the experiment, cracks began to emerge during Feedback Week and in the partner swap challenge.
As Jamie spent time with groom Adrian, he was quick to give her some “hard truths” about her relationship, why Dave hadn’t said ‘I love you back’ and why he didn’t instigate intimacy with her – revealing that in his opinion if Dave “wanted to, he would.”
As Dave returned to the apartment he shared with Jamie after being partnered with Veronica, his wife asked for reassurance about his feelings, but the groom was unable, telling her: “You said you loved me six weeks into this. I’m not there.”
“Are we having a lack of sex because we’re not in the love stage? Yes or no?” she then quizzed him, to which he responded “Yes” – leaving Jamie heartbroken.
Not being on the same page
Still devastated by her groom confessing he did not have the same feelings as her, Jamie was determined to work through it with an honest conversation.
Jamie asked if he wanted to speak about it before the dinner party, but he was undecided and indifferent, which upset her more.
“You and me right now, I need to know you’re with me, I just don’t see it,” she told him in frustration.
Saddened by his lack of emotion and empathy, she asked him to leave before bursting into tears.
Tensions continued into the dinner party which they arrived at separately. Jamie, who was the first to arrive, relayed their situation to the group, who were shocked and felt Dave was leading her on.
Determined to get answers, the other couples questioned Dave’s feelings and asked for his thoughts on their relationship.
“You broke my heart and you didn’t care, and it made me freak out,” his wife interjected when someone asked about the situation.
Taken aback by Jamie’s confession, Dave said it made him think about his feelings, and he could not express himself in the ways she wanted.
His struggles with feelings were something he said he raised at the Commitment Ceremonies multiple times, which Jamie said she did not hear, and questioned his character before starting to cry again.
Despite the rift, Dave said he cared about Jamie and wanted to make it work. For that, she wanted proof.
One final chance at mending their marriage
Despite promising he would show up for her and their relationship, on the day of the following Commitment Ceremony Dave was unable to convince Jamie that their relationship wasn’t “fake.”
“I don’t know who I’ve been married to,” Jamie tearfully admitted to the cameras.
On the couch, the experts grilled Dave over his sudden change in behaviour, and why he was being so cold to his wife.
“I got scared when Jamie said she loved me so I shut down and handled it wrong. That’s not who I am and I don’t like that person,” he shared.
“She’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met and that’s intimidating to lose,” he added.
But for Jamie, this confession was too little, too late.
“I don’t believe you right now at all but because I have put my absolute back into this relationship I will humour him with another week,” she then told the experts, both writing stay.
The post-honeymoon happiness
After a blissful first two weeks in the experiment, it was no surprise to anyone when Jamie and Dave both wanted to stay on MAFS for another week at their first Commitment Ceremony.
Gushing about their relationship to the experts and how comfortable they felt with one another – it certainly seems like this pairing has the potential to be something special!
Fast forward to the following week when they opened up to each other during a confessions task and took part in a series of intimacy challenges posed to them by Alessandra, their connection only grew stronger – both opting to stay in the experiment at their second Commitment Ceremony.
A week later it was equally unsurprising that they chose to both write ‘stay’ for the third week in a row.
“I’d ride or die for the people I love and the fact that he’s just backed me from the get-go means the most to me,” Jamie shared with the experts.
After a hugely successful Friends and Family week where their feelings for one another only grew stronger, the fan favorites both decided to write stay for the fourth week in a row.
Then at the couples retreat Jamie stunned her fellow brides by revealing she had said the big three words to her husband.
“I literally covered his mouth and was like ‘Don’t say anything, I’m going to say this and I’m going to bed,” she shared.
“I want to own my feelings,” Jamie later explained of her decision, to be honest about sharing how she felt with Dave when speaking with the experts later that same week.
While Dave said it would be “hard” for him not to fall in love with Jamie if they continued in the experiment, he admitted he wasn’t ready to reciprocate Jamie’s feelings.
Ultimately, both wrote to stay in the experiment.
Love at first sight
Describing her type as someone covered in tattoos and is a cross between “David Beckham and someone who looks like they are doing 20 to life in prison”, on the surface level Dave is Jamie’s dream husband.
And given she also wanted a man who despite looking like a “bad boy” was soft on the inside, it was clear from the beginning that this pairing had major potential.
“[I want] someone to have the babies with,” an excitable Jamie told producers ahead of her special day.
For the Victorian-based builder, the day of his wedding started on a bittersweet note as he prepared for the biggest day of his life without his father by his side. Lamenting sadly to himself, Dave revealed that his beloved dad was currently in hospital battling cancer.
Across the pond, boisterous bride Jamie could hardly contain her excitement as she got ready to marry at first sight with her sister Georgia by her side.
As she walked down the aisle, it was clear to viewers that it could potentially be love at first sight for Jamie as well and she spotted Dave, ecstatic at his height and body ink.
“Is that a neck tatt?” she screamed before Dave even had the chance to turn around.
After exchanging equally heartfelt and hilarious vows, the newlyweds learned more about each other during their wedding photoshoot, their clear connection evident as the day progressed into the night.
From wanting children, to not driving hatchbacks, even the bride and groom’s mothers couldn’t believe how intense the chemistry was between the pair.
While there were tears as Dave showed his vulnerable side in an emotional speech about his father, it was Jamie who supported him, leaving the groom encouraged by the expert’s decision to pair him with Jamie.
