Married at First Sight alum Stephanie Sersen has defended Chris Thielk's emotional breakdown over his dogs on the show's currently-airing sixteenth season.

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During the February 15 episode of Married at First Sight, Chris broke down into tears and sobs outside of his hotel room in Jamaica because the new apartment building he and wife Nicole Lilienthal were about to move into post-honeymoon had a two-dog restriction.

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Chris had two beloved dogs of his own, and Nicole had one dog.

Chris bawled about how he couldn't "abandon" his dogs, but Nicole comforted him and promised him that she'd find a solution for them.

The Instagram account @MAFSFAN posted after the episode aired, "This was such an emotional part of this week's episode... What did you think of this scene?"

Steph -- who starred on Married at First Sight's eighth season in 2019 and is still happily married to her match, AJ Vollmoeller -- commented on the post and slammed trolls.

"Everyone criticizing Chris for crying, this could have just been the straw that broke the camels back? Filming is intense [and] stressful," Steph wrote.

"You can't do what you want, when you want. I remember one day I came home from work crying my eyes out because I had a stressful day at work. I had a huge deadline due the next day."

Not only did Steph have a lot of work to do, but she also said people were "depending" on her.

"I felt guilty for leaving my analysts when I should be there as a manager to support them through this tough deadline.. but no, I had to come home, I had to film," Steph recalled.

"I had no breathing room between work and filming. One day I just broke down and cried because everything built up and the straw broke the camels back."

However, AJ apparently came to the rescue and supported his wife during her time of crisis.

"Luckily, AJ was there to hurry & hide me in a room away from the cameras so it never made it on TV. But looks like Chris wasn't so lucky. We are only human give us a break sometimes," Steph concluded.

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Nicole also defended her Married at First Sight husband during the February 15 episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty.

"The situation was never funny and still is not," Nicole told Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam after she and the other show's guests laughed at Chris' breakdown.

"But it was funny in the moment to be like, in a tunnel. [He] was so upset from hearing this news, and he was just distraught."

When asked if she found Chris' emotional outburst concerning, Nicole replied firmly, "Honestly, no."

"I'm a huge dog person," Nicole explained. "Because I saw that he was so emotional over something that was also so important to me, it was like, 'This man really cares about the things he loves.'"

Nicole went on to add, "He went into this with two dogs, not knowing that I had a dog. So he, throughout the entire process, said, 'My dogs are coming with me. My dogs are coming with me.' And then he finds out [his] dogs are not coming with you."

On the latest Married at First Sight episode, Nicole FaceTimed with her father from Jamaica.

She asked her dad if he'd be willing to help with her dog Charlie if she and Chris could swap out dogs, keeping two at a time, in their apartment for the remaining seven weeks of the experiment.

Nicole's dad was onboard, and then Nicole and Chris talked to the show's executive producers about their dog options.

The couple determined Charlie would live at Nicole's apartment with one of her family members while still being a part of their lives.

"This just shows me that she's willing to do whatever it takes to make this work, and I think that's amazing because that's what I think marriage is about -- compromise, trying to help each other out, and making sacrifices," Chris told the cameras.

Nicole said that after the show, she and Chris would find a place to fit all three of their dogs and have a big yard for them all to play in together.

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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