Married at First Sight featured Matthew Gwynne and Amber Bowles taking physical intimacy off the table in their relationship and Jamie Thompson and Elizabeth Bice continuing to lash out at each other during Wednesday night's Season 9 episode on Lifetime.
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Married at First Sight's ninth season stars Matt, a 32-year-old professional basketball player from Raleigh, NC, and Amber, a 27-year-old eighth grade English teacher currently living in the Charlotte area, as well as Jamie, a 35-year-old technical consultant from Columbia, SC, and Elizabeth, a 30-year-old account executive for her dad's company from South Carolina who was raised in Mooresville, NC.
The MAFS season also stars Gregory Okotie, a 32-year-old math learning center owner from Fort Washington, MD, and Deonna McNeill, a 30-year-old operations manager currently living in the Charlotte area, as well as Iris Caldwell, a 27-year-old who works for a nonprofit from Raleigh, NC, and Keith Manley, a 27-year-old high school basketball coach from Greensboro, NC.
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The couples were paired by Married at First Sight experts Pastor Calvin Roberson, Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Dr. Viviana Coles.
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Married at First Sight, Episode 11
The Married at First Sight broadcast began with 18 days remaining until "Decision Day."The couples had decided to recommit and keep moving forward in their marriages, but they still needed to address any unanswered questions and unresolved issues in their relationships.
Iris was trying to open the door to sexual intimacy, so she decided to take Keith to a dance class. The pair grinded and executed some sexy moves, so Keith said he definitely felt closer to his wife after it was all said and done with.
With 17 days left until "Decision Day," Amber and Matt invited all the couples to do a NASCAR driving experience, but Iris and Keith unfortunately couldn't make it.
When Amber and Matt gathered together with Deonna and Greg as well as Elizabeth and Jamie, it became time to listen to instructions -- but Elizabeth yelled out a few comments first while a man was talking.
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"Shut up and listen! Shut up for five minutes!" Jamie said.
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Elizabeth told the group that's how Jamie spoke to her often, and Deonna told the cameras she "would not tolerate" her husband speaking to her that way.
Matt also found Jamie's behavior "disrespectful," but he pointed out it wasn't his business how Elizabeth and Jamie interacted with each other.
Elizabeth decided to sit out of the activity and basically pout, and while Jamie admitted telling his wife to shut up was "wrong," he said Elizabeth was trying to ruin everyone else's day and he didn't condone that type of behavior either.
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Everyone had a great time and found that driving the racecars was an adrenaline rush, but Elizabeth clearly didn't have fun. Elizabeth told Jamie that he had ruined the experience for her by telling her to shut up in front of everyone, but Jamie called her out for being unnecessarily rude to people.
Deonna, however, loved to watch Greg let loose and have a good time. And Greg gushed about how his wife was beautiful inside and out and she was adventurous and able to pull him out of his comfort zone.
During a conversation about their differences and similarities, however, Deonna shut down because she felt Greg was thinking too much and over-explaining things.
Married at First Sight Decision Day approaches
With 16 days remaining of the extreme experiment, Viviana met with each couple to discuss mistakes they had made and how they could effectively communicate going forward.Viviana's meeting with Iris and Keith was up first, and Keith acknowledged they had been through a lot together in a very short period of time and their romance had been a bit of a roller coaster.
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Iris said she and Keith were "working hard" on their physical intimacy, and Viviana advised them to be more vulnerable with each other and treat sexual experiences as if they're new to both of them and not just Iris because she was a virgin.
Viviana then checked on Elizabeth and Jamie, and Elizabeth seemed miserable and was lashing out.
"Right now, I am questioning the marriage," Jamie said. "Hopefully she will apologize for the way she acted in front of the other couples. I'm not going to be in a marriage with someone who acts like that."
Jamie wanted Elizabeth to show some remorse for embarrassing herself, himself and everyone else, but Elizabeth said Jamie should feel ashamed for telling her to shut up.
Elizabeth then pushed the coffee table, which apparently knocked down some lighting and maybe even a camera.
Elizabeth started yelling and crying about how she overreacted and acted like "a b-tch" in front of the other couples but Jamie had treated her poorly and she didn't need him to point a finger at her when she already felt bad and was feeling down.
Elizabeth screamed at Jamie to stop talking and leave her alone, but then Viviana arrived. Jamie was embarrassed because the thought the cast members needed to respect the experts.
Jamie told Viviana that he and Elizabeth were either on Cloud 9 or were basically at each other's throats in their marriage. Viviana wanted to de-escalate what appeared to be a very volatile situation, but Elizabeth didn't want to be told what she was doing wrong.
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Elizabeth admitted they both threw out the word "divorce" as a defense mechanism because they both desperately needed reassurance. Elizabeth also revealed she had decided to "pump the brakes" on sex because she wanted to form a deeper bond than just the physical and communicate in other ways.
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Jamie, however, made it known he felt more connected to a woman through intercourse because it's something they can share together that he can't have with another person or friend.
Viviana said Jamie felt insecure when Elizabeth didn't want to have sex every day but he shouldn't. Viviana said they could build and grow in other ways other than sleeping together.
Viviana said if Jamie and Elizabeth could work as a team and have fewer toxic fights, they could make this marriage work long term.
Elizabeth's energy level was much different when Viviana left, and then the couple hugged and Elizabeth apologized for being "so mean" to her husband.
Dr. Viviana meets with Amber and Matt
With 14 days left until "Decision Day," Viviana met with Amber and Matt to chat about their marriage.Matt said he had done a good job of spending more time with Amber and coming home at night at a reasonable hour. The couple was communicating better, but then they revealed they had slowed things down and weren't having sex.
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Matt said there hadn't been much physical intimacy for a few days so they could determine whether there was more to their relationship. Viviana worried the pair could lose chemistry as a result.
Matt explained he wanted to be physically intimate with Amber but was just choosing not to because they had moved really fast in the beginning. Matt wanted to grow in their marriage as emotional partners, which he thought would in turn make their physical connection even better.
"It's there. Now we need to see if other stuff is there," Amber shared.
Matt admitted things had been so tense between them that the time they were actually spending together was not quality time. Viviana thought he and Amber were effectively communicating their wants and needs, but more work had to be done.
With 13 days remaining until "Decision Day," Viviana met with Deonna and Greg.
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Viviana said Greg sometimes protected his heart through jokes and laughter but then Viviana might get annoyed and feel cut off. Greg said he needed to be more positive so the couple wouldn't feel separated.
Later on, Iris and Keith shared a secret with each other to get closer. Iris revealed she was riding home on the school bus as a kid and so she put dirty change into her mother and she swallowed a quarter.
Keith thought the activity was supposed to bring them closer together, but it just made him question Iris' emotional maturity again. He found that strange.
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Iris felt great and thought she had opened the door to vulnerability, but Keith clearly didn't see it that way.
Meanwhile, Jamie gushed about how he wanted an intriguing, amazing, challenging and vibrant woman out of this experiment and he had found just that.
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The Married at First Sight couples reminisce
Each couple then explored their partner's past and took a trip down memory lane in which the spouses shared stories of their past and childhood.Deonna brought Greg to a park in South Carolina, where she posed for photos before one of her high school proms. Greg asked how her high school boyfriend had hurt her, and so Deonna finally decided to open up about it.
Deonna said this man was her first love and they started growing apart during college. Deonna explained they were "mean and ugly" to each other and lashed out, and so she determined that should never happen again.
Deonna therefore put walls up after that failed relationship, but she was apparently taking them down for Greg.
With 12 days left until "Decision Day," Matt brought Amber to his childhood home in Wilmington, NC. He said he was close to his older sister but she picked on him a lot because he was a chubby kid.
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Matt started to open up to Amber and said he hoped his family would get back together again.
Elizabeth and Jamie then pulled up to their childhood home in Lexington, SC. Her home was no longer there, but she said it was a trailer. Elizabeth apparently grew up with a lot struggle and she said her parents "worked their asses off" to get to where they are now.
Elizabeth shared how her past kept her grounded. She was shocked to see where she came from but also proud to realize how far she's come, how she has succeeded, and where she's at now.
Jamie complimented the person Elizabeth turned out to be with her positivity and optimism.
"I don't think she's materialistic at all, and I regret saying that. This is probably the first time I saw emotions coming from Beth. She's usually very grounded and she opened up to me... In her own Beth way, she said, 'I trust you and I want to grow closer to you,'" Jamie told the cameras.
Keith was then shown taking Iris to his childhood home in NC. The last time they visited, it was under different circumstances considering Keith's grandmother wasn't doing well and her health was failing.
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Keith told his mother Mary that marriage was "a huge transition" and he and Iris had their share of challenges already.
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He wanted to make sure they were on the same page as far as emotional maturity goes, but Mary noted most couples take years to figure each other out.
Keith said Iris is an amazing person and she deserved someone who wanted to learn about her in and out, but Keith apparently wasn't sure whether he was happy in the relationship.
Elizabeth and Jamie fight again
Elizabeth and Jamie grew closer together after seeing her childhood home, but on the drive back, the couple began bickering again about Elizabeth's behavior on the racetrack and she suggested she didn't regret ruining the day for the other couples.
Jamie said she was being a brat that day, but Elizabeth accused Jamie of being an "assh-le."
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"You were being a brat and then I reacted to you being a brat," Jamie said. "Grow the f-ck up."
Jamie wanted Elizabeth to take accountability for her actions and express regret, and he said Elizabeth's lack of remorse would be enough to end their marriage.
With 11 days until "Decision Day," Amber and Matt were shown going on a hike and turning over a new leaf. They were in a good place and felt really good with each other.
It then became time for Deonna's birthday celebration, and Greg took her to go play TopGolf with her family and friends. It was a huge surprise party and Deonna was overjoyed.
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