Marlo and Mark Corliss were crowned the winners of Here Come the Newlyweds second season during last night's finale broadcast of the ABC reality competition series.

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"I literally threw-up in my mouth.  I almost died," said Marlo after she and Mark were revealed as the winners. 

The Yarmouth Port, MA couple defeated Makayla and Kenny McMorris to claim the show's $480,000 grand prize based on individual votes cast by the competition's seven previously eliminated couples.

"Unfortunately, we did not win the final prize.  But I think I gained something more than just that," said Kenny.

During the final elimination, the previously ousted couples each voted as individuals and not as pairs.  Marlo and Mark and Makayla and Kenny also competed in three challenges for the chance to win "opportunity cards," which they then used to cancel out one person's vote -- without knowing who that person was voting for.

The first challenge saw the two remaining couples determining how much was too much to pay for an individual item.  Every dollar the couples were off would be added together, and the couple with the lowest total would be the winner of the first "opportunity card."  Items ranged from a bottle of wine to a dinner for two.

Marlo extremely overpriced how much she would spend on a birthday gift for Mark, resulting in Makayla and Kenny easily winning the first challenge and claiming the "opportunity card."

The second challenge saw the two remaining couples mingling with the previously eliminated contestants before having to answer a series of questions about them.  The couple with the most matches out of nine questions would win the second "opportunity card."

Marlo and Mark had three matches, while Makayla and Kenny had five -- awarding them the second "opportunity card" and giving each couple one apiece.

The third and final challenge had the two remaining couples traveling to a retirement community and answering a series of questions asked by the residents who lived there -- each of which had been married for at least 30 years.  Based on their answers, the retirement community residents would determine who would receive the final "opportunity card."

Questions ranged from how the newlyweds would deal with arguments to which one of them is more patient. 

After the questions were asked and answered, the retirement community residents determined Makayla and Kenny deserved the final "opportunity card" by a "very, very close" margin -- giving them a slight advantage heading into the final deliberation.

"The envelope means that we can cancel out someone's vote at the elimination, so we're really excited about having two out of three," said Makayla.

That night, the couples deliberated who they would use their "opportunity cards" on before the final elimination was held the next day.

"Marlo and I are very nervous.  There's a lot at stake," said Mark.  "But at the same time we're also leaving the house and we've had a lot of fun, so there's a lot of different emotions.  It's pretty tough right now."

"We hoped that we would get here, but we never thought that -- in our wildest dreams -- that we would make it to this point," said Kenny.  "But you just never know how couples are going to vote, so we are a little nervous."

Before the seven previously eliminated couples voted as individuals to determine the second-season winner, both Marlo and Mark and Makayla and Kenny were given an opportunity to explain why they felt they deserved to win.

The votes were then cast, and host Pat Bullard revealed Marlo and Mark used their "opportunity card" to cancel out the vote of Matt Cox, who voted for Makayla and Kenny; while Makayla and Kenny used their cards to eliminate the votes of Audra and Rich Newbery -- both of whom voted for Marlo and Mark.

Marlo and Mark were then revealed as the winners.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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