Married at First Sight star Jacob Harder has revealed if he and Haley Harris have been following MAFS expert Dr. Viviana Coles' advice and kissing every morning and night.
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Afraid Jacob and Haley were getting stuck in the friendzone weeks into their marriage, Viviana tasked the couple with trying to behave more like husband and wife, including sleeping in the same bed at night and exchanging little good morning or night kisses.
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"The kissing hasn't been happening," Jacob revealed on the March 31 episode of Married at First Sight: Unfiltered, which is hosted by Season 1 Married at First Sight star Jamie Otis.
"And I could tell she was uncomfortable with it too, so I wasn't going to engage her in that way if she wasn't receptive to it."
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Jacob told Jamie, "I'm kind of waiting for her to get comfortable to come around, but it's kind of all I can do at this point. It is what it is."
On Unfiltered, Jacob also watched back a Season 12 clip of Haley telling her girlfriends that she didn't feel a romantic connection with Jacob but was finally starting to understand his humor and personality a little better.
"What do you think of how Haley is describing your marriage?" Jamie asked.
"It was kind of ironic because she didn't get the cuddling thing was actually a joke," Jacob explained, referring to a time when he had asked Haley in bed if they could spoon or kiss and she said she wasn't ready for that.
"She doesn't really get my humor, right? And that has been kind of challenging. But at the same time, in its own weird way, that's all I can do to communicate with her sometimes. I can only try through humor."
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Despite their issues and arguments, Jacob admitted he wasn't surprised that he and Haley were still together and trying to make things work one month into their arranged marriage.
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"I'm more surprised that we haven't made real progress," Jacob admitted.
"It's like we do get more comfortable with each other in certain ways but then we'll have some sort of disagreement or spillover and we take two steps back."
"It's coming to a point where that's our rhythm," he added. "It's almost like when we're getting along, we're waiting for the next fight to happen."
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Jamie therefore asked Jacob to compare his expectations on his wedding day vs. the reality of his marriage on his one-month anniversary.
"I expected some sort of chemistry or some sort of base to maybe build on and have some sort of commonalities we could fall back on, and we just haven't had that," Jacob shared.
Haley began pulling back from Jacob after they were intimate during their Las Vegas honeymoon, and she confessed once they moved into an Atlanta apartment together that she simply wasn't attracted to his looks or personality.
In attempt to create a spark, Haley asked Jacob to ditch his 80s home decor and clothing style, and she even went out of her way to buy him a new wardrobe -- but she still cried about feeling no connection with her husband at all as the experiment progressed.
On the couple's one-month anniversary, Jacob was simply feeling rejected in his marriage and Haley felt defeated.
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"Right now, there is no romantic connection, and I don't usually have a tough time connecting with people. And that's... super frustrating," Haley explained in a recent episode.
Jacob admitted he felt "dead inside" some days and recalled Haley reacting with a "disgusted sigh" one time when they hugged.
"It's a hug!" Jacob complained. "You hug strangers. You smile and you're happy."
"And guess what? I don't ever have to see them again," Haley said.
"Well don't worry, in four weeks, you won't have to see me ever again," Jacob snapped.
"So what are we doing here?" Haley asked.
"I don't know," Jacob said, adding, "We'd have to get struck by lightning at this point and like each other to stay married."
In the latest episode, however, the couple tried to have some fun together and agreed to communicate better by sitting down for an hour-long conversation once a week.
Haley wanted Jacob to truly engage with her and seem more interested in her interests and passions by asking questions and being a good listener, and Jacob held out hope Haley would eventually open up to him and be more vulnerable.
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