Married at First Sight shocker: Brandon Reid and Taylor Dunklin's marriage is over and Brandon has filed for an annulment!

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Married at First Sight's tenth season only premiered earlier this month, but news has already broken Brandon and Taylor -- one of five couples matched by MAFS experts to wed on the Washington, D.C.-set season of the series -- are ending their marriage.

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According to court documents, Brandon filed for an annulment on January 2, People reported, which is only one day after Married at First Sight's tenth season premiered on Lifetime.

"As with any union, some end up happily ever after, and others don't," Lifetime told the magazine in a statement. "Continue to watch MAFS to see what happens with Taylor and Brandon."

Married at First Sight's Season 10 weddings were filmed at the Westin Georgetown hotel in August 2019, according to social-media posts alleged eyewitnesses made at the time.

The timing would mean Brandon's filing did not occur during the season's eight-week filming period and the couple may have only decided to split after "Decision Day", the final day of filming in which each Married at First Sight participant must decide if they want to remain married to their new spouse or get a divorce.

However, it is also possible Brandon and Taylor opted to divorce on "Decision Day" but a formal court filing was delayed until January.

"Taylor and Brandon's marriage is one of the most combustible we've ever seen," a source close to the former couple told People.

"They have the most intense love-hate relationship. Right now it's hate, but I wouldn't be surprised if next week it comes back to love."

In a season preview released by Lifetime, Brandon is shown telling Taylor, "If I can't trust you, I want nothing to do with you."

Brandon later appears to scold Taylor in the MAFS preview for hanging out "with some other guys," adding, "It's heartbreaking."

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Although many Married at First Sight couples have filed for divorce throughout the show's previous seasons, Brandon's move to file for an annulment is unprecedented.

Prior to Brandon, no Married at First Sight participant has attempted to end their marriage via an annulment instead of a divorce (whether the annulment filing will be successful also remains unclear).

People did not report any information on the grounds for Brandon's annulment filing.

While Married at First Sight has billed Washington, D.C. as Season 10's location, some of the cast members actually live outside the District of Columbia in nearby Maryland, including Taylor.

As such, Brandon filed in Maryland, according to court filings confirmed by Reality TV World.

According to the DivorceNet website, there are only six valid grounds for marriage annulment in the state of Maryland:

- the spouses had a blood relationship that was closer than first cousins
- a spouse had a living husband or wife at the time of the marriage ceremony
- a spouse was mentally incapable of getting married at the time of the ceremony
- a spouse was under 18 at the time of the marriage and didn't have parental consent
- one spouse coerced the other spouse into getting married
- one spouse defrauded the other to convince them to get married

In addition, if a spouse wants the marriage annulled because they were coerced into the marriage, Maryland requires that the coercion existed at the time of the actual ceremony and the spouse was in fear of great bodily harm, according to DivorceNet.

Additional requirements also reportedly exist for spouses seeking an annulment on the grounds of fraud.

"If a spouse wants the marriage to be annulled for fraud, the fraud has to be related to the essential elements of the marriage," according to DivorceNet.

"It is not enough that one spouse lied about such as his or her financial situation, habits, temper or personality. For fraud to be a basis to annul a marriage, it must be something that affects the health or well-being of the parties or the offspring of the marriage."

"Hiding a previous marriage and divorce is not enough to annul a marriage, but hiding prior insanity would be sufficient to annul a marriage. A wife hiding that she is pregnant by another man at the time of marriage would also be sufficient for an annulment."

Recognizing his annulment request may not be granted, Brandon's filing requests "absolute divorce" in "the alternative" to annulment, according to court records.

News of Brandon and Taylor's split comes shortly after their wedding just aired on television in Episode 2 of Married at First Sight's tenth season.

Taylor, a 27-year-old research scientist from Pittsburgh, PA, was matched with Brandon, a 34-year-old sales manager originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands who was raised in Washington, D.C., by Married at First Sight experts Pastor Calvin Roberson, Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Dr. Viviana Coles.

Brandon's grandmother said Brandon was "tired of striking out" in the dating world, and so Brandon took a risk by marrying a stranger. Brandon hoped to end up with a "white picket fence" type of life, including a wife and children.

"My dream girl is going to be tall, beautiful, long-legged... a little curvy, [with] long hair. I hope she's ambitious, I hope she is smart," Brandon said on the series.

"I'm looking for my soul mate, I'm looking for my best friend. Someone that I can depend on and someone that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. And I'm confident that the experts found the right woman for me."

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When Brandon saw his wife walk down the aisle, he thought she was beautiful and breathtaking, but as Taylor got to know her husband, she found him to be blunt -- and she couldn't get comfortable around him.

"He seems a little awkward. Does this man even like me? Does he? I have no idea," Taylor questioned on her wedding day.

However, Taylor intended to remain optimistic about the future of her marriage.

The four other couples starring on Married at First Sight's tenth season are Katie Conrad and Derek Sherman, Jessica Studer and Austin Hurd, Mindy Shiben and Zach Justice, and Meka Jones and Michael Watson.

According to a production insider, Brandon and Taylor won't be bringing the only drama to this new season.

"This season proves to be a roller coaster," the insider told People. "Just when you think you're getting off the ride, it pulls you in for another spin."

Viviana similarly told The New York Post recently the new season is going to be "explosive" and "so unexpected" as well as "unpredictable."

Married at First Sight will continue to air on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime.

Click here to read Reality TV World's exclusive interview with Taylor, who revealed her initial thoughts about marrying Brandon on Married at First Sight.

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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