Married at First Sight star Brandon Reid claims Taylor Dunklin committed adultery during their marriage and only participated in the reality series for publicity and exposure.
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According to Brandon's court complaint -- which asks for "annulment or, in the alternative, absolute divorce" -- he was led to believe that Taylor participated in Married at First Sight because she, like him, was seeking to "establish a committed and lasting marriage."
However, the complaint claims that once the Married at First Sight couple got married "it became clear" that Taylor's intent had not been to establish a committed and lasting marriage but to "gain notoriety and attention."
Brandon alleges he discovered Taylor attempted to get on several other reality TV shows before she was cast on Married at First Sight. However, his filing does not identify the shows or specify if they were other relationship shows, or shows from other reality genres.
In addition, his filing claims he also discovered Taylor continued to participate in online dating services throughout their marriage.
According to the complaint, the allegations mean the marriage only occurred "because of the fraud that was perpetuated on [Brandon] by [Taylor] and, potentially the producers of the show."
Without providing any additional details, the court document also alleges Taylor "committed adultery during her marriage" to Brandon and states he did not forgive or condone the behavior.
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Brandon filed for annulment or divorce on January 2, only one day after Married at First Sight's currently-airing tenth season premiered on Lifetime.
"As with any union, some end up happily ever after, and others don't," Lifetime told People in a statement after news of Brandon's filing broke earlier this month. "Continue to watch MAFS to see what happens with Taylor and Brandon."
"Taylor and Brandon's marriage is one of the most combustible we've ever seen," a source close to the couple told People.
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"They have the most intense love-hate relationship. Right now it's hate, but I wouldn't be surprised if next week it comes back to love."
While the season is only airing on Lifetime now, Married at First Sight's tenth season was filmed in the Washington, D.C. area late last year and Brandon and Taylor married on August 5, according to Brandon's court filing.
The timing means Brandon did not file for annulment during the season's eight-week filming period and the couple may have only decided to split after "Decision Day", the final day of filming in which each Married at First Sight participant must decide if they want to remain married to their new spouse or get a divorce.
However, it is also possible Brandon and Taylor opted to divorce on "Decision Day" but a formal court filing was delayed until January.
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Many Married at First Sight couples have filed for divorce throughout the show's previous seasons, however, prior to Brandon, no MAFS participant is believed to have attempted to end their marriage via annulment instead of divorce (the show reportedly prohibits annulment).
As Reality TV World previously reported, whether the annulment request will be successful is uncertain given annulments have very specific requirements.
While Married at First Sight has billed Washington, D.C. as Season 10's location, some of the cast members actually live outside the District of Columbia in nearby Maryland, including Taylor.
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According to the DivorceNet website, there are only six valid grounds for marriage annulment in the state of Maryland.
Four of the six valid grounds are bigamy, mental incapacitation, spouses who have a blood relationship closer than first cousins, or spouses who were underage and married without parental consent.
The remaining two grounds require that one spouse coerced the other spouse into getting married, or that one spouse defrauded the other to convince them to get married.
In addition, if a spouse wants the marriage annulled because they were coerced into the marriage, Maryland requires that the coercion existed at the time of the actual ceremony and the spouse was in fear of great bodily harm, according to DivorceNet.
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Additional requirements also reportedly exist for spouses seeking an annulment on the grounds of fraud such as Brandon is seeking.
"If a spouse wants the marriage to be annulled for fraud, the fraud has to be related to the essential elements of the marriage," according to DivorceNet.
"It is not enough that one spouse lied about such as his or her financial situation, habits, temper or personality. For fraud to be a basis to annul a marriage, it must be something that affects the health or well-being of the parties or the offspring of the marriage."
"Hiding a previous marriage and divorce is not enough to annul a marriage, but hiding prior insanity would be sufficient to annul a marriage. A wife hiding that she is pregnant by another man at the time of marriage would also be sufficient for an annulment."
Recognizing his annulment request may not be granted, Brandon's filing ends by requesting "absolute divorce" in "the alternative" to annulling his marriage to Taylor.
In addition to Brandon and Taylor, the four other couples starring on Married at First Sight's tenth season are Katie Conrad and Derek Sherman, Jessica Studer and Austin Hurd, Mindy Shiben and Zach Justice, and Meka Jones and Michael Watson.
Married at First Sight airs Wednesdays at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime.
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Click here to read Reality TV World's exclusive interview with Taylor, who revealed her initial thoughts about marrying Brandon on Married at First Sight.
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About The Author: Steven Rogers
