Married at First Sight star Clint Webb has defended his "athletic and slender" comment about Gina Micheletti that offended his wife, their fellow cast members, and many fans of the show.
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Gina and Clint have been shown bonding and growing a connection on the Lifetime reality series, but their relationship came to a sudden and screeching halt when Gina felt body-shamed by Clint.
During Wednesday night's episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty, Clint watched back a Season 16 clip of the moment his marriage to Gina fell apart during their honeymoon in Lucea, Jamaica.
"I mean, that physical component, typically the girls I have dated are very athletic [and] slender," Clint says in the clip in front of Gina and the rest of the MAFS16 cast.
"So that's just the type of mold that I'm attracted to. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and like she said, she doesn't like redheads. So here we are!"
Clint acknowledged to Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam that his remarks appeared "not good" on the show, but he attempted to provide more context and explain himself.
"So the way that conversation led off was the day after the wedding," Clint said.
"We're sitting in bed and we're having open dialogue, and we're communicating well at that point. And she's just like, 'Here I am with the complete opposite person that I thought I was going to be with!'"
Clint continued, "And [Gina] was like, 'Did you think I was going to be like I appear? You probably normally date, like, really thin women,' and this and that. And I was like, 'Yeah, normally just adventurous and outdoorsy [girls], kind of like how I am.'"
Clint said that whole discussion was "brought back" up again in Jamaica, suggesting that his "slender" comment during the honeymoon wasn't a revelation or even Gina's first time hearing it.
"[Gina] started the conversation prior to [my controversial remark] by saying, 'Clint normally likes thin, athletic women,' and I was just playing off of that," Clint insisted. "She started the conversation."
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Keshia asked Clint's MAFS co-stars Airris Williams and Domynique Kloss -- who also appeared as guests on the Afterparty episode -- to back up Clint's story, if they could.
"I believe the way it happened is that Gina did start off by saying, like, 'I'm not attracted to Clint and he's not attracted to me,'" Domynique claimed.
Clint then recalled, "Yeah, for me, the door was opened up, where she was saying 'thin' and I was just searching for words, like, 'Okay, how do I play off of that?'"
Airris suggested that Gina was probably offended because Clint had made the comment in a group setting and in front of other curvaceous women, who also found the remark appalling and disgusting.
"It hit different for her [than if he said that in private]. So that probably caused [Gina's] reaction," Airris reasoned.
And Domynique agreed, adding, "When you're sitting in a circle with your girls and everybody's telling you how it made them feel, it's fueling the fire," Domynique noted.
Clint said he could "absolutely" understand how his remark was triggering for the other women and he never intended to insult or hurt anybody.
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Clint apparently didn't think his comments were outrageous or uncalled for because Gina had already criticized his looks by confessing she's not attracted to redheads or men with "gingery features."
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Clint argued on Afterparty how being called "a ginger" can also be considered an offensive or derogatory term.
"You hear negative connotations for the word 'ginger' all the time," Clint said.
"I wouldn't say it makes me angry; it's just derogatory normally in nature. Whenever anybody uses the word 'ginger,' it's normally talking about skin color, freckles and hair color. So you're basically taking out a whole category of people, saying, 'I don't like that! Not into it!'"
Clint said he was just "pointing out the hypocrisy" of Gina's actions given she had said she "doesn't like gingers" but then felt hurt and offended when Clint shared his own preferences.
"You can't have it both ways," Clint vented.
But Clint ultimately admitted it "wasn't the time or place" to bring up his wife's figure.
"If I could rewrite the way it went down, that's 100 percent the way I'd lay it out, is, 'I just normally date very adventurous people,' and pretty much leave it at that," Clint conceded.
Gina shared on last week's Afterparty episode that she had been honest about her lack of attraction to Clint because he wanted them to live on "Front Street" and always be real with each other.
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Gina, however, explained on the show that a man's sense of humor and personality can create sexual chemistry over time, especially if the guy treats her well and exudes confidence.
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"If you think you honestly said nothing wrong, I don't think there's anything left to say in this conversation. I think it's best for us, for the duration of this honeymoon, to spend some time apart," Gina told her husband.
Gina wrapped up the argument by telling Clint she was "done" with the conversation, and then Clint said she should be done.
"She's got no leg to stand on. What an unfortunate turn of events!" Clint shouted as Gina walked away from him. "What a shame! Unreal! Unreal. Tries to turn the tide. So when you lose, you default to walking away. That's a fault. That is how adults act."
Clint expressed to the cameras how Gina didn't want to have a "civilized" conversation with him and was "cantankerous."
Clint -- who was already wondering if Gina had applied for the show to promote her hair-salon business in Nashville -- believed Married at First Sight was "a game" to Gina.
"I think she's looking for an out," Clint said. "All of a sudden you're going to villainize me... and [make] yourself look good. So is there redemption here? It's hard to say, but this is making me think."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
