Married at First Sight star Erik Lake has revealed if he really believes guys and girls can't be friends as he told his new wife Virginia Coombs during their Las Vegas honeymoon.
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Erik, a 34-year-old conservative divorced pilot, was matched to marry Virginia, a 26-year-old social butterfly and partygoer, to marry on Season 12 of the Lifetime reality series.
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During the February 24 episode of Married at First Sight: Unfiltered, Erik watched back a Season 12 clip of Virginia telling Clara Berghaus, Paige Banks, Briana Myles and Haley Harris that Erik doesn't believe a girl can have a real guy friend unless he's gay or dating one of her friends.
Virginia noted in the clip her "best friends are guys," and then footage flashed to Virginia crying to Clara about Erik's opinion and Clara advising her to "compromise" by letting Erik get to know the men in question in group settings.
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On Unfiltered, host Jamie Otis -- who starred on Season 1 of Married at First Sight -- asked Erik what it was like to watch those scenes back.
"I think in the moment, that conversation got a little out of hand on my part. I do believe guys and girls can be friends," Erik explained.
"I know I said things that maybe went against that, and you know, I do regret some of the things and how I said them because it comes across a little different than what I actually feel."
Jamie then asked Erik what it was like to see the distress his conversation with Virginia caused.
"What's it like seeing Virginia break down here? Did you know about this at all?" Jamie asked, referring to Virginia's emotional conversation with Clara.
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"Um, you know, I didn't know it was to that extent, to be honest. Had I known, I would have tried to comfort her in any way that I could," Eric said.
Erik's fellow Married at First Sight stars Ryan Oubre and Haley joined him on Unfiltered and offered their take on whether guys and girls can truly be friends.
"I think guys and girls can be friends. I would definitely say a lot of my closest friends are girls, but I have a lot of close friends that are guys," Ryan shared.
"And those different perspectives helped shape me into the friend that I am and the husband that I am now. I think it's healthy to have that balance, for sure, but there is also a lot of communication and respect that has to go into that, for sure."
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To speak on what Ryan was saying, Haley added, "It's all about the conversation."
"I mean, there are times when [someone] is like, 'Oh, why wouldn't you date this guy? It's one of your closest friends!' And I'm like, 'Eww, he's like my brother,'" Haley admitted.
"You know? It's just a part of the conversation, but I do think, yeah, as long as you have that boundary, it's possible for guys and girls to be friends."
Jamie agreed, "Yeah, I think so too."
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Since Erik and Virginia disagreed on this topic -- at least at first -- Erik was asked whether this might pose any problems in his marriage moving forward.
"I don't think so, to be honest," Erik replied. "I know she has guy friends and I understand that. I'm not taking those away from her."
Erik continued, "I am looking forward to meeting her guy friends, which we talked about doing in the future. So we'll talk more about it and we'll come to an understanding for sure."
"Fair enough!" Jamie concluded.
Erik and Virginia's tense conversation about "guy friends" spilled into their first joint meeting with Married at First Sight expert, Pastor Calvin Roberson, which aired during the series' latest episode.
Virginia said she was used to going out and partying and then crashing on a guy friend's couch at the end of the night.
"I'm a married man and that's not okay with me. It has nothing to do with controlling my wife," Pastor Cal said.
"From my perspective, if my wife falls asleep on a guy's couch, I'm going to worry like crazy because it's my job, as the husband... [to] make sure my wife is okay... and not putting herself in a situation where some idiot is going to take advantage of her."
Virginia insisted that she has two best guy friends and she'd stay over their places all the time, but Pastor Cal reminded her that kind of behavior is for a single woman and not for a committed wife.
Other than a few minor disagreements, however, Erik and Virginia seemed happy in their relationship and revealed they had consummated their marriage.
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