Married at First Sight featured Orion officially asking for a divorce from Lauren, and Brennan missing a romantic connection with Emily and suggesting he lacked a physical attraction to her during the Season 17 episode that aired Wednesday night on Lifetime.
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The season's fifth intended groom, Michael, was unfortunately jilted at the altar by his match.
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The MAFS season already featured strangers meeting at the wedding altar and enjoying a honeymoon, and now they'll be spending about two months moving in together and navigating the joys and struggles of daily life together.
And at the end of the experiment, Married at First Sight's Season 17 couples will reach "Decision Day" and have to decide whether to remain married or decide to end their marriages and divorce.
The couples were matched by Married at First Sight experts Pastor Calvin Roberson, Dr. Pepper Schwartz, and Dr. Pia Holec.
According to Pastor Cal, this is going to be the "most intense season" of Married at First Sight yet."
The Married at First Sight broadcast began on Day 8 of marriage, with the four couples looking forward to returning home and starting this new chapter of their lives. Emily pointed out, however, how it probably wasn't going to be smooth sailing for anyone.
Lauren noticeably wasn't wearing her wedding ring in Costa Rica, and she told the group that she and Orion were having "irreconcilable differences."
Orion disagreed and announced how he and his wife were just dealing with topics they had never dealt with before. With that being said, Lauren explained how she and her husband were trying to understand each other's perspective and hopefully begin seeing eye to eye.
"I don't think Orion has afforded me the same grace that I've given him. I'm sure that's due to his own internal struggles, but it does feel a little unfair. There are things I could've done.... or said better, but it just feels very up and down in this marriage," Lauren said in a confessional.
Each couple then got to check out their new neutral living space in Denver, CO, and everyone seemed pleasantly surprised and happy with how nice the apartments were.
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This marked the first time Emily and Brennan were ever going to live with a partner.
Brennan told Emily that he was "excited" about their new living arrangement because they had a mutual respect for one another, but then he suddenly dropped a bomb on his wife that he wanted to sleep apart that night, rest at home, and "reconvene in a few days" before officially moving into their new place together.
Emily was admittedly caught off-guard because she and Brennan were still getting to know each other. She had been wanting to move in right away, and she thought Brennan felt the same way.
Brennan explained in a confessional how he and Emily had been together 24/7 and he was feeling "drained." He wanted to take a step back and figure out how he felt about his wife before moving in together.
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Meanwhile, Cameron wasn't nervous about living with Clare because he had lived with a girlfriend before, but he wondered what he was going to do to annoy or bother his wife.
"I'm naturally inclined to see how bad it gets," Cameron said.
"That's not good. That's a terrible way to do things," Clare responded.
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Clare didn't think that was being preventative or helpful, and so she asked Cameron not to approach things in that manner. Instead, she asked for open communication.
For Orion and Lauren's part, Lauren said her husband had decided to do "a full reset" and try again. Lauren, who had been dragged in different directions, was trying to remain hopeful that her husband would forgive her as she had forgiven him.
Lauren told Orion that she had developed genuine feelings for him, and Orion suggested they should take a couple days apart to think about how they felt and reflect on everything before coming back together and working on the marriage full force.
Orion wanted to get back together and be "two feet in," not just one.
Over at Austin and Becca's new place, they agreed on keeping the TV out of the bedroom and maintaining a very clean kitchen and bathroom. They were looking forward to unfiltered time, focusing on each other, and going deeper with their connection.
On Day 9 of marriage, Emily admitted she was "sad" waking up in bed without Brennan, and Cameron playfully called Clare out for having left several dirty dishes in the sink.
Emily then checked out Brennan's former apartment, and she was very complimentary about his setup and cleanliness. Emily, however, could tell that Brennan was not his usually nice and talkative self, which made her feel confused and unsure of how he was feeling about her.
"I'm starting to get the sense that he may have shut off completely. What the f-ck?! Something is off. What happened?" Emily vented in a confessional.
Clare then paid a visit to Cameron's former living space, and she thought it was nice. Clare thought Cameron's apartment was representative of his personality, but she couldn't imagine staying there because of the spiders everywhere.
Cameron went over Clare's apartment next, and Cameron noticed that her dog didn't really care for him or pay attention to him. Clare then shared with Cameron how she was raised Catholic, and Cameron -- who wasn't really faithful at all -- said he was open to being with someone with any religious beliefs.
But it was an important conversation they planned to revisit at another time.
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Meanwhile, Lauren said Orion had reached out to her via text to say that he didn't want to continue the marriage but he wanted to continue the process. Lauren was feeling "emotionally distressed and emotionally vulnerable" at this point.
That night, Emily and Brennan reunited for a chat with Pastor Calvin Roberson. Emily wanted to get back to where she and her husband were before, and so she hoped the expert could help them.
Emily told Pastor Cal that she felt invested in the marriage, but when she was asked if Brennan had been putting forth the same effort, she gave a wishy-washy response and admitted that she and her husband were in different spots at that moment.
"I like him. I'm attracted to him. I feel like he really liked me in the beginning, but now I'm getting the feeling he's unsure, and I'm trying to figure out how to move forward from that," Emily told Pastor Cal.
Brennan explained how he had a lot of adrenaline at the start of the process and was going with the flow.
"And then it hit me a few days later where I was just like, 'Something is off between us.' When I look back at how we were interacting and everything, all of that was good, but I wasn't feeling that romantic connection," Brennan confessed.
"And over time, at the honeymoon, it got less and less. I don't know what to do about it. Here I have the most amazing girl and we're aligned on everything, and I don't know what's wrong. I just don't feel any type of romance right now."
Brennan acknowledged how the door wasn't closed, and Emily said she felt something between them and had done her best to be open and honest. But Emily asked for some emotions from Brennan.
Brennan told Pastor Cal that he wished he gravitated towards Emily and wanted to touch her and have intimate moments with her.
"But I'm not able to do that because I don't feel like I can do it," Brennan explained, adding how he essentially didn't have a drive or desire to touch Emily.
He elaborated, "I try, and then I'm like, 'I don't feel anything."
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Pastor Cal promised the couple that a feeling of closeness and intimacy would come differently than a normal relationship because they were still essentially strangers. Pastor Cal didn't want Brennan to self-sabotage his marriage.
When asked if there was anything specific that Brennan wasn't attracted to in Emily, he responded, "We're not doing that... When you're on TV, you always want to be mindful of how you come across. I open up when I feel a sense of comfort."
But Brennan gushed about how Emily is spontaneous, bubbly, energetic, fun, and open-minded.
Brennan still planned to move in with Emily, and he hoped that would change things for the better for them. Pastor Cal thought living in the same space would help.
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During Cameron and Clare's sitdown chat with Dr. Pepper, Clare admitted she was moving at a turtle's pace when it came to intimacy but she could do more to show affection, such as holding her husband's hand or touching his shoulder.
Cameron acknowledged, however, that he was glad they were moving slow and truly getting to know each other. And although the pair disagreed on their religious beliefs, they respected each other's viewpoints.
Over at Emily and Brennan's new apartment, Emily flat out asked her husband if he was physically attracted to her.
Brennan wouldn't answer the question directly, and he said, "I just don't think that's nice."
Brennan told Emily that he was trying to protect her, but Emily said her feelings could only be hurt by Brennan keeping secrets and not being honest with her.
"I would never want anybody to tell me that in any capacity, so I just can't do it," Brennan said.
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"No, I'm just not saying anything," Brennan concluded.
Emily started to cry and told the cameras how this was difficult to deal with, even though she knew his opinions weren't a reflection of her. Emily never anticipated this would happen, and she was very hurt and upset.
"It doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying," Emily told the cameras, before Brennan insisted he was still there and was going to keep trying.
Austin and Becca's meeting with Pastor Cal went as expected, perfectly fine. They revealed they hadn't consummated their marriage yet but there was definitely a sexual desire there.
The couple had different religious beliefs, with Austin having been raised Christian and Becca having been raised Jewish, but at the end of the day, they had similar values and both believed in love, which Pastor Cal thought would be "enough" for them.
Austin and Becca revealed they both loved each other as people but weren't necessarily "in love" yet.
It then became time for Orion and Lauren's sitdown meeting with Dr. Pia.
Lauren claimed Orion had put no effort into meeting up with her before this reunion and that he asked her for a divorce. Orion said he didn't want to hurt Lauren by taking time away from her but he thought space would bring them closer together.
Lauren then shared how Orion had said he wanted a reset, only to change his mind a day or so later by asking for a divorce.
"You literally sent me a text saying you want to focus on the future. Some of the things you say, I don't think it's your intention, but it just confuses me so much," Lauren shared.
"I did want to focus on the future, but that wasn't necessarily specific to me or to us, it was just on the future as a whole," Orion responded.
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Orion then told Lauren how there was chemistry between them but things had cut him really deep and he was feeling "heartbroken." He didn't think they could constructively talk or get past things because of how Lauren allegedly reacted.
Orion accused Lauren of going from "zero to 100" in their arguments, but Lauren apparently felt pushed or triggered to act defensively.
Dr. Pia asked the couple to extend more grace to one another, let go, and start fresh.
Lauren said she had already forgiven Orion, but Orion admitted he was not sure if he could forgive Lauren for her "red skin" slur.
Lauren asked Orion if he simply didn't like her and didn't want to be with her, and Orion explained how he "lost all romantic interest" for her because of everything that had happened.
Orion insisted he wasn't trying to control the situation by asking for a divorce, but Dr. Pia disagreed because he was protecting himself and not allowing a possible repair in the relationship to happen. Dr. Pia accused Orion of closing off a vulnerable part of himself.
Dr. Pia said she didn't want Orion and Lauren to give up on each other, but Orion was determined to make this their Decision Day.
"Through this, I have maintained my romantic attraction to you, but if you feel you don't have it in you to do it, I don't want to twist your arm or force you to stay with me," Lauren told her husband.
Orion shared how they had great moments but there were no romantic feelings in him anymore.
"With what I'm feeling and where I'm at, I want to continue and follow through with wanting a divorce," Orion said.
Lauren looked very upset and had nothing else to say, pointing out how her words would be a waste and it didn't seem to matter what she wanted.
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"This is stupid. Both of us were robbed because of his unforgiveness, and that's annoying," Lauren lamented to the cameras, before walking out of the apartment and leaving Orion alone.
Orion, meanwhile, said he had no regrets and that he truly thought this was the best course of action for them both.
RELATED: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
