Married at First Sight star Airris Williams has explained why he danced with the line dancing instructor in a move that infuriated his wife Jasmine Secrest during a cast outing.
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Airris and Jasmine had a beautiful wedding and were initially very hopeful about their future together on Married at First Sight's sixteenth season, but then Airris realized during his honeymoon that he wasn't physically attracted to Jasmine and they lacked chemistry.
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One month into marriage, Airris told Jasmine that he didn't want to have sex -- or even think about them having sex -- until after Decision Day so they could focus on finding similarities and building an emotional connection.
But with about 10 days to go until Decision Day, Airris and Jasmine have no flirtation, touch or intimacy in their relationship.
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During the April 12 episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty, Airris watched back a Season 16 clip of himself twirling the dance instructor around the dance floor and Jasmine storming out of the class.
"I'm over it. I'm done... I'm f-cking done. I'm sick of this sh-t," Jasmine says.
She proceeds to vent in a confessional, "What the f-ck. Literally, I'm trying to dance with you; I'm your wife. But you don't want to dance with your wife. Instead, you want to go dance with the instructor. Do you even care about this marriage?"
Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam asked Airris what he should've done differently in that situation.
"I would have politely declined [the dance]. Like, I've been on cruises, right? And I've seen people who have been married for 34 years, and the husband is, like, doing a salsa dance with the instructor," Airris explained.
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"But it's very different because my marriage is not in the same place. We don't have that security. So I totally understand."
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Married at First Sight stars Nicole Lilienthal and Shaquille Dillon joined Airris on the Afterparty special, and Nicole pointed out how the instructor had actually grabbed Airris to join her on the dance floor and so the scene wasn't really Airris' fault.
And Shaquille backed that up by saying, "The girl grabbed his hand. And we said, 'Oh sh-t.' We all knew [it was going to cause a problem]. And we said, 'Go get her, bro.'"
"Everybody saw it, so we saw how the instructor came in, like, full force," Shaquille recalled.
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Nicole also added, "I was standing next to Airris when we were doing the line dancing, and no offense, he was not getting it, the simple eight counts. He was making up nine or 10 counts."
"Jasmine was like, 'I'm a cheer coach. I don't have time for this,'" Nicole continued.
"So it was very innocent. We all were just dancing, she came up, grabbed him, and it was something that was very innocent and I think Jasmine, honestly, just needed a moment and it escalated quickly."
Keshia noted how Jasmine certainly didn't sweep her feelings under the rug this time around.
Airris, who has admitted he likes to be called out and put in his place by a woman, shared how he was still optimistic his relationship with Jasmine could work out, especially when looking at Nicole and her husband Chris Thielk as relationship goals.
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"Even though my relationship isn't where I want it to be, I know it's possible. Just seeing [Nicole and Chris] get to that point [of love] kind of gives me hope," Airris said.
With about 10 days to go until Decision Day, Jasmine had reached her breaking point and lamented that while Airris made promises to do things differently, she never saw any real change in him.
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During a counseling session with guest expert Dr. Pia Holec, Jasmine and Airris agreed they had developed a friendship, but Jasmine complained about how she wanted to be a wife -- not a friend -- and her husband had "friend-zoned" her during the honeymoon.
"This is a big issue and we've got to get around this," Airris acknowledged.
Jasmine wished her husband was smitten with her and wanted to talk to her, kiss her, and hold her hand.
"He shouldn't do those things because they told him those are the things he should be doing," Jasmine vented in a confessional.
"I feel all those things should come natural, so I don't feel like Airris is all in. I feel he may be one big toe in and the rest of his body is out the door. So that doesn't put me in a good space."
On the show's latest episode, guest expert DeVon Franklin asked Jasmine to discuss what she was feeling with Airris, regardless of what his answer was going to be. DeVon pointed out how, even if Airris' response was tough to hear, it may be additive to her life and give her the strength to walk away.
But then Jasmine and Airris had the blowout fight at the line dancing class.
Airris apologized for his behavior and insisted he didn't mean anything by it; he thought the instructor was just teaching him how to dance.
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And during a subsequent counseling session with Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Airris told Jasmine that he wanted to continue working on their relationship and he hadn't given up on her.
"I see a possibility [our marriage lasting]. I understand why we were matched. We have moments when we're 'dating,' those are some of our best moments, and I want those moments to last longer," Airris shared.
Jasmine said she previously felt "lost" in the marriage but Airris finally reassured her that he was still in it.
To further the relationship's possibilities heading into Decision Day, Airris promised to create a more nurturing and safe environment for Jasmine. He also insisted he'd try to text and touch base with Jasmine more during his workdays.
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