Married at First Sight featured six individuals marrying strangers this season, and two of the couples are light-years behind Tres Russell and Vanessa Nelson, who admitted they're falling in love during Tuesday night's episode.
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Tres and Vanessa, Sam Role and Neil Bowlus, and David Norton and Ashley Doherty were approaching the halfway mark in this extreme experiment, as the show's format allows the pairs six weeks together to figure out whether they'd like to stay married or get a divorce.
Tres and Vanessa consummated their marriage shortly after getting a place to live together. They have done a decent job of communicating -- although Tres asks for more from Vanessa -- and they certainly have sparks on a physical level. For the most part, this couple gets along beautifully.
Sam and Neil, however, are struggling just like David and Ashley's marriage. Their two stories run parallel, because the bottom line is, Sam and Ashley are not attracted to their male partners and they don't have much hope they ever will be.
Without an attraction, both women are not wooed by romance and they're not taking the necessary steps to improve intimacy. Both couples do not kiss, nor do they even hold hands. It's even a stretch for these pairs to sleep in the same bed.
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As of Tuesday night's episode, David Cooked an elaborate, gourmet meal for his bride Ashley to celebrate completing her finals. David was expecting her home at 7PM, but she arrived about an hour-and-a-half late with no phone call. The food was cold and David was "frustrated beyond belief," however, Ashley explained her test ran late and then she got stuck in traffic.
During a private session with Dr. Levkoff, Ashley explained, "I just don't feel that romantic connection with him, and so that just makes this process obviously really difficult, and I'm not sure what I can do. I don't know -- I'm just stuck. That's the main thing."
David has no intention to give up on his marriage, but it was getting more difficult to be patient with Ashley considering she was completely cold towards him.
"I want to keep trying, but I don't know if it's worth the risk of me getting hurt," David told the cameras.
In attempt to turn things around, David brought Ashley on a romantic Ferris wheel ride at night. Ashley giggled, enjoyed herself and let David put his arm around her.
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"I'm going to kiss my wife," David had said in a confessional, ultimately revealing his plan for their date.
But when David went in for the kiss, Ashley gave him the cheek. Ashley made it clear she's always moved slowly in her relationships, but she's failed to communicate that well to David because he can't help but take her rejection personally.
"I'm very intuitive, and I know there's more to it. It's not just because she moves slow. You can move slow, but there's still progress, but we have no progress. I want to fix it, but you can't fix something if half the partnership doesn't know what's going on," David said.
Meanwhile, Neil and Sam spent most of their honeymoon fighting, but after a near-fatal accident on one of the last days, Sam started appreciating Neil's calm demeanor more. Because she's extremely outgoing and loud, she started realizing why the experts matched them.
Similar to David, Neil surprised Sam with a date night in which he grilled food for her and set up some romantic lighting. Sam appreciated his efforts and told the cameras, "At first I was not attracted to Neil, but eventually attraction grows for me."
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Still, Sam isn't budging much when it comes to intimacy.
"Maybe we'll start holding hands soon," she quipped before adding, "But let's not get crazy."
Their relationship seems to be filled with ups and downs. One minute, they are flirting somewhat and Sam is commenting on how the "dumb stuff" Neil says isn't really dumb after all -- that she finds it funny in fact. And another minute, preview clips show Sam getting furious at Neil and storming out of the room.
Married at First Sight airs Tuesday nights at 9PM ET/PT on FYI.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski