I have to admit I’m a bit of a sceptic when it comes to Married At First Sight; I honestly think most of the contestants are there to find fame, not love.
But on this year’s season of MAFS, one bride does seem rather genuine: Caitlin. Every time she’s on screen, she confesses that all she wants is to love and be loved in return.
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Unfortunately, the Married At First Sight experts paired her with Shannon, who in my opinion, probably went on the reality show to try and revive his acting career (for context, years ago Shannon had small guest roles on Neighbours, Blue Heelers and Rush).
And Shannon has been treating Caitlin like absolute rubbish. In the most recent MAFS episode, he told Caitlin that he didn’t find her attractive. Not only this, Shannon also said that the whole reason he thinks he might still be in love with his ex is because Caitlin wasn’t good looking enough to extinguish those lingering feelings for his ex. Ouch.
If you missed the episode, it needs to be noted that Shannon didn’t say any of this delicately. He most certainly did not break it to Caitlin gently.
In fact, he sat her down and said, word for word, “The attraction’s low. You are a good looking girl but not in my eyes. I thought you were gonna come down that aisle, yeah, and completely blow me away. Because, honestly, those things that I was saying about the ex, whatever, I wouldn’t have even contemplated saying that; I would’ve just cut it. Completely forgotten. Like that stuff shouldn’t have even been an issue.”
And they say chivalry is dead.
Caitlin understandably left the room and then broke down. She told Married At First Sight producers through sobs, “I don’t know what happened. It was surreal. I felt like I was getting torn down. I feel sick. Like, that whole conversation was just about how I’m not good enough. How if I had walked down that aisle and blown him away, none of that stuff with his ex would’ve happened, like it was my fault.”
“And I’ve done nothing but support him and tell him it’s okay and tell him he deserves to be here and have his back. I came here because I wanted to find love and I wanted to love someone and I wanted someone to love me.”
Thankfully, after processing what had happened, Caitlin decided to confront Shannon about the hurtful comments. But Shannon, once again, showed his true colours as an a**hole.
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He instantly became defensive and talked over her. Then he passive aggressively said, “What are you my teacher? Alright, Dad,” when Caitlin calmly asked him to be quiet and listen.
But ultimately, Caitlin got the last word and told Shannon, “You don’t need to love me, you don’t even need to like me, but you do need to respect me because I’m a brilliant person… I deserve better.” She then instantly moved out of their apartment. What a queen! What a mic drop moment!
Hopefully, at the next Married At First Sight commitment ceremony Caitlin writes ‘leave’ and can get away from Shannon permanently.
However, as one of the few MAFS contestants in the show’s history who – again, in my opinion – seemed to go on it for one reason and one reason only (to find love, duh), it doesn’t seem fair that Caitlin wasn’t even given a chance at happily ever after.
Married At First Sight expert John Aiken even said in a previous episode that Shannon should’ve never been allowed into the experiment in the first place. John went so far to say that if he, Mel and Alessandra had known at the time that Shannon was intimate with his ex a week before going on MAFS, they would’ve rejected him from the show and found Caitlin another applicant.
Therefore, it’s my belief that Caitlin should be brought back to Married At First Sight next year and the experts should not rest until they find a man who will, as a bare minimum, treat Caitlin with respect.
Seriously, I think MAFS fans everywhere would be delighted if Caitlin came back in 2024 and was finally given the romance and love she clearly deserves. It’d be the modern day reality TV equivalent of a rom-com leading lady getting her fairytale ending; much better than the bulls**t drama that most Married At First Sight couples go through nowadays… *cough* Bronte and Harrison *cough*.
Married At First Sight continues Wednesday at 7.30pm on 9 and 9Now.
