Married at First Sight star Jonathan Francetic and former expert Jessica Griffin have announced they've postponed their wedding.
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"Love is not canceled in 2020, but the wedding is postponed. This was supposed to be our wedding weekend," Jessica captioned a photo of the couple kissing on Friday.
"After lots of thought, we decided to postpone it so that we can have the destination wedding we want with the friends and family who have supported us so much. I couldn't write a wilder love story if I tried, so shouldn't be surprised that this pandemic is just one more hurdle we have tackled together."
Jessica continued, "I'm honestly sadder than I thought I would be now that it's here but we have each other and that's what really matters. And huge shout-out to Jon for being so steadfast while I bounced around like a ping pong ball with this decision."
She concluded, "Plus, I get an extra year to figure out what the heck to do with flowers and table decor because we all know that is not my forte @jon_francetic #loveisnotcancelled."
And Jonathan posted a different photo of himself giving Jessica a piggyback ride.
"Going to work today was more annoying than most Friday's, and everyone knows why. Fortunately, moving the wedding date doesn't mean we won't be together in the meantime!" Jonathan wrote.
"Here's to you jumping on my back, knocking me off balance, and laughing along the way regardless of a pandemic. Love you boo. @dr.jessicagriffin."
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The couple did not reveal the exact day of their new wedding date, however based on Jessica's "an extra year" comment it will presumably take place in late 2021.
Back in April during the coronavirus pandemic, Jonathan and Jessica shared beautiful pictures from their engagement photo shoot, which took place at Ventosa Vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York -- the destination that will also serve as the couple's wedding venue.
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"Hard to believe it's been a year since he asked me to marry him... Timely that we get our engagement photo session back exactly a year after he popped the question," Jessica wrote alongside a series of photos on April 14.
"Just starting to sift through them all which makes me happy and is a good distraction right now! This is just a tiny sampling of the over a thousand amazing shots by @tellier.studios and captures so much of our relationship in pix... #flxwedding #flxweddingphotography #flxwine @ventosavyds."
Jonathan captioned a different slideshow of photos on the same day, "So this one time, a year ago, we got engaged... and now we have all the photos from the engagement shoot and here are just a few!"
The couple announced on March 15 they had taken their engagement photos at Ventosa Vineyards.
"Despite everything going on around us, we will always have each other. I'm so grateful to be hanging on to this man today, tomorrow, and always... [Our photographer captured] so many moments between us and even working in a few shots with the donkeys at Ventosa who I am slightly obsessed with," Jessica shared at the time.
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Jessica, a licensed psychologist, matched and counseled Jonathan's marriage to Molly Duff during Married at First Sight's sixth season that was based in the Boston area.
Jessica is an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA, which is about 45 minutes west of Boston. Originally from Ohio, she has three children from a previous marriage.
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Following several months of speculation that Jessica and Jonathan were dating based on social-media postings that seemed to show them making separate postings from the same places around the same times, the couple finally went public with their romance in August 2018 -- about four months after Married at First Sight's sixth-season finale aired on Lifetime.
Critics accused Jonathan and Jessica of engaging in an "inappropriate" relationship that reflected poorly on Jessica's professionalism and credibility.
Jessica, however, insisted she did not have an actual client/therapist or doctor/patient relationship with Jonathan at any point during production and outside companies are hired to conduct the psychological evaluations of Married at First Sight's cast members.
Jonathan and Jessica's backstory was further complicated by the fact that Married at First Sight's sixth season had shown Jessica being unusually confrontational with Molly when she met with Jonathan and Molly after they had a blowout fight that resulted in the end of their marriage.
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"I understand you don't like my honesty, but I don't like your lies," Jessica scolded Molly, saying she didn't believe Molly's claims that the couple's fight happened to be the first time she had spoken to Jonathan in the belligerent manner she was shown in a video Jonathan had recorded.
But Jonathan has claimed he had no chemistry with Jessica while filming Married at First Sight and didn't even like her at the time. Jonathan said he and Jessica only formed a bond after filming wrapped.
"Once I got to know her, I realized how great she was and fell in love. That's why I locked that down!" he said in a 2019 interview.
Jonathan and Jessica got engaged in Spring 2019, shortly after People reported Jessica was leaving her role as a relationship expert on Married at First Sight after appearing on three seasons of the Lifetime reality series, as well as its Married at First Sight: Honeymoon Island spinoff.
Jessica was replaced by Dr. Viviana Coles, a psychotherapist, on Season 9 of Married at First Sight, and Viviana also chose to star on the show for Season 10 and Season 11, which is currently airing on Lifetime.
In November 2019, Jonathan and Jessica -- who live in Massachusetts but enjoy taking road trips around New England and New York -- visited the Finger Lakes region, which is famous for its many wineries, in upstate New York to wedding plan.
Molly shared her opinion on Jonathan and Jessica's relationship on the Married at First Sight: Where Are They Now? special that aired in early May on Lifetime.
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Molly, who was "nervous" to speak about the past and had "made a point to be silent on social media," admitted it "sucked" to see Jonathan and Jessica get involved romantically.
"Because part of me was like, 'Okay, this is someone I had been confiding in the whole time," Molly said on the special.
"[Jessica] was supposed to be fighting for our marriage together, and then kind of out of the blue seeing they're suddenly together, it sucked. It sucked that it was someone I confided in that was supposed to be rooting for us, and I guess that's his person."
Molly was asked whether she believed Jonathan and Jessica were attracted to each other throughout the Married at First Sight process.
"So when we were filming, it never really crossed my mind that they had a special connection or anything like that. Looking back, maybe there was some attraction there. I didn't know that he was her type -- but I guess he is," Molly said.
"So, I don't know. I can't really speak on that... [I'm] not sure how long they were together before they got engaged."
Molly then watched back the confrontational Season 6 clip of Jessica telling Molly that she didn't like Molly's "lies" and tendency to sugarcoat things in her marriage to Jonathan.
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"I think it was just a really sad and kind of frustrating moment for me because, as a counselor, you're supposed to be generally pretty unbiased and neutral and kind of listen to both sides," Molly explained.
"And in the moment, I felt like she was pretty much saying, 'You're wrong, he's right. I believe him. I don't believe you. Cut the crap.' And I was, like, shocked to hear that from someone who is supposed to be guiding us and listening to both sides and contributing advice. I just hadn't seen that side of her, I guess, so it truly just shocked me."
Now that Jonathan and Jessica are together, however, Molly reasoned it justifies in a way how Jessica had responded to her during that heated conversation and seemed to take Jonathan's side in the dispute.
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"I just always felt there was this bias to back up Jon. She thought Jon was amazing and was like, 'Why can't this girl see it?!' And I think that gives me a little peace, to think that that was the reason why she didn't like me."
Molly said Jonathan and Jessica getting together left her feeling "a little bit hurt" but she harbors no negative feelings or resentment towards either person.
"I think now that I've had an opportunity to talk to both of them, I've kind of moved on from the situation," Molly said.
"It's been two years at this point; they're happy together. They wish me well, from what they've said, so there's just no reason to hold onto that negativity... I'm truly happy for them and there is really no bad blood."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
