Married at First Sight expert Pastor Calvin Roberson admits he wondered whether Michael Watson was trying to manipulate things and put on a show for cameras when he insisted to wife Meka Jones he was sorry for his mistakes and wanted to become a better husband for her.
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"All I want to do is create the conditions where you feel like you are safe and you can trust me enough, even if it's not all the way through or even if it's not in the way we had hoped by the end," Michael said in the clip, revealing he'd like to proceed as a married couple after the show ends.
Pastor Cal said on Unfiltered, "This is the first time I had seen this, because we see it when everyone else sees it, and looking at it, I was wondering whether or not he's being genuine."
"Really?!" Unfiltered host Jamie Otis asked, clearly surprised by Pastor Cal's take.
"I understand [what Michael's saying], but I'm wondering if he has become accustomed to showing emotion when it's beneficial," Pastor Cal admitted.
"I don't know if he's really taking accountability or this is just a part of him maybe trying to manipulate the situation. Accountability without action is just an empty promise."
Jamie asked Meka what it felt like to hear Michael taking "some accountability" in that moment.
"Is this the first time he's actually ever taken accountability?" Jamie asked.
"Yeah this is definitely -- probably the first time I felt like it was genuine, him taking accountability," Meka replied.
"So it feels good, hearing him own up to the fact he has also messed up in the marriage, which yeah, he struggled with before. So it's definitely nice and a good change of pace to hear him actually saying that. Because that's what I needed from him in order to move forward."
RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' STAR MICHAEL SEEKING ANNULMENT FROM MEKA CLAIMING SHOW DEFRAUDED HIM INTO MARRIAGE (EXCLUSIVE)
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When asked if she had hope considering Michael finally seemed honest and forthcoming, Meka shared, "Part of me, I feel like it does give me hope. And then part of me just doesn't know if it's real."
Meka admitted, "In my head, I'm like, 'Okay, is this real or is this just Michael trying to play an act again? Is this Michael just trying to be Mr. Perfect on-camera?'"
"It's just so hard when trust is destroyed in that way because in a typical situation, that would be a moment where I'm like, 'Oh my God, my husband is showing up and he's opening up to me and I appreciate that.' But in our situation, it's not always that black and white."
Jamie noted she could totally understand where Meka was coming from on that point.
"I agree with her here," Pastor Cal also said, referring to Meka's doubts about Michael's sincerity.
Meka's Married at First Sight co-star Austin Hurd joined them on Unfiltered and offered his thoughts on Michael's alleged empty promises.
"It's hard for me to read into it. You see [Michael] being emotional, which is good, but like Pastor Cal was saying -- there's got to be actions that follow the way he's feeling in that moment," Austin explained.
Jamie pointed out it's unfortunate Michael waited so long to show this side of himself.
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"He's had eight whole weeks to show you some action!" Jamie said, acknowledging how the Married at First Sight experiment was eight weeks long for Season 10.
"I think there's a part of me that was confused, like, 'Why now? Why all of a sudden?' You'll see him have those moments where he cries and he gets emotional and talks about, 'Oh, this is just what I want,' and then you see weeks where he doesn't [show it in his] actions," Meka shared.
"So it's just hard to really 100 percent believe what he's saying."
Meka also said during the Unfiltered broadcast Michael was "inconsiderate" during their relationship, and Pastor Cal said it seemed like Michael had "checked out" of his marriage well before "Decision Day."
As shown on Married at First Sight's tenth-season "Decision Day" episode that aired last week on Lifetime, Meka believed the biggest problem in her marriage was Michael's dishonesty, and she feared his habit of telling lies might never change.
Although the couple made progress in the last few days of the process when Michael claimed he really cared for Meka was sorry for his faults, Meka chose to get a divorce.
When Meka revealed her final decision, she said navigating her marriage had been "extremely challenging" and "really hard."
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"This process has forced me every single day to look at every day like a new day and to be open. But I think for me overall, there has just been way too much deception. There's so many things I'm unsure about. I still don't feel like I know who my husband is," Meka told Pastor Cal and the other experts, Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Dr. Viviana Coles.
Meka therefore came to the conclusion, "I still don't know who he is as a person. And honestly, I don't know how much of what he's told me is true and how much of it is not true. So for that reason, I do want a divorce."
Michael put a hand over his face and closed his eyes, and he looked extremely upset and shocked.
"For me, I don't believe in divorce," Michael said, wishing he had been straightforward with Meka earlier on. "I'm disappointed... [but] I have to live with the consequences of that."
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"But I don't regret getting married at first sight because I've grown... I'm coming out a much stronger person and a better person," she added.
Married at First Sight star Taylor Dunklin also chose to get a divorce from Brandon Reid, but two couples opted to stay married: Austin and Jessica Studer as well as Katie Conrad and Derek Sherman.
The season's fifth couple, Mindy Shiben and Zach Justice, had decided to divorce nearly two weeks before "Decision Day."
Married at First Sight airs its tenth-season reunion special on Wednesday, April 22 on Lifetime.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
