They have to fight the odds to stick together.
“Married at First Sight,” which airs in its 16th season on January 4, sees a single person marry a complete stranger, and 15 of the 59 couples in the show’s 15 seasons are still together. group only.
But when the Lifetime series was looking for its first contestant in the Big Apple in 2015, the bigger challenge was keeping the singles on casting calls.
“I was in a room with maybe 50 other men. As soon as they said, ‘The first time you see this person will be at the end of the altar,’ half the room got up and left.” Doug Hener from Howell, New Jersey.
The stay-at-home husband tied the knot with Jamie Otis, a nurse in Dryden, N.Y., whom he called “the love of my life.”
Hehner, now 40, had just called off a relationship and decided to marry in secret after returning to his parents.
However, his new bride exceeded his expectations.
“She was more attractive than I could have imagined,” he gushed.
It was not love at first sight for her, but, Henna patiently endured.
“I appreciate her honesty. I never considered it a bargain,” he said.On her honeymoon flight, he finds her feelings changing and they shared their first kiss soon.
In addition to his initial attraction, Hener found she met many of the qualities that were on a future partner’s checklist.
“Someone who values family, is adventurous, wants kids, is really ambitious, strong, independent, and does little things like how you sleep,” he said. likes to scoop with a spoon, whether it’s a tablespoon or a teaspoon, and it turns out Jamie does too.
Hehner explained that Otis’ night shift at New York-Presbyterian Hospital brought them closer together.
Another contestant that season was Courtney Hendricks, now 34, from North Carolina who married a Brooklyn EMT. Jason Carrion. two fell in love However split after 5 years.
Hendrix was 25 when she moved to the Upper East Side to attend makeup school in 2011.
She was happy with the person she met at the altar.
“I found the person at the end of the aisle attractive,” she said. A lot of people say, “Oh, looks don’t matter.” Yes it is,” she said.
A devout Christian, one of the things that broke her covenant was her faith. “I was never in the business of converting someone to my religion,” she said.
Hendricks, who remarried in 2020 and has a 14-month-old son, asked his spouse to earn four times as much as he did.
“I wanted to be a little trophy wife. Sit on your butt at home,” she said with a laugh.
The plan backfired when Carrion became a firefighter.
“It may be the last time you see the person…and if you leave the house in a mess…you may never get a chance to fix it,” she said.
Both couples agreed on their secret to success on ‘MAFS,’ rated New York’s most popular reality TV show in 2022. Jeffbet.com Based on Google Search — Honesty.
“I was really brutally honest with the ratings…so I really had no doubts about who they were going to match me with,” Henner said.
Although she doesn’t regret joining the dating show, Hendrix doesn’t want her son on it.
“No chance. I’m one of those mama bears right now who’s like, ‘Oh, nobody’s going to be good enough for my baby,'” she said. .”