Married at First Sight star Justin has claimed Alexis ran from their marriage in the processing of sharing his side of the story about the couple's explosive fight.
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Alexis, a 29-year-old logistics specialist, and Justin, a 33-year-old digital marketing specialist, were in matrimony heaven on Married at First Sight's fifteenth season until the couple moved in together in San Diego and then Justin's big dog Maya attacked Alexis' small dog Newton, who sought medical attention for an eye injury.
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After visiting the vet, "Alexis went home," according to Justin.
Justin recalled on the August 24 episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty, "She went home. She went and stayed at her place. She said she wanted some space, and I respected that."
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"So she did run," Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam pointed out.
"Yeah, she ran," Justin confirmed.
However, the couple talked frequently, which Justin said put them in a "healthier" place.
"It was easier for her to express herself without seeing any expressions on my face and vice versa," Justin said.
On the latest episode of Married at First Sight's fifteenth season, Alexis got mad at Justin for continuing to give Newton his prescription medications when Newton had been feeling sick. Alexis said Justin had failed to inform her that Newton was on an empty stomach and hadn't eaten in two days.
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Justin watched back his blowout fight with Alexis, which was caught on their apartment cameras, on last week's Afterparty episode.
"I thought I had it. I thought I was taking care of it. I didn't feel the need to overshare," Justin tells Alexis in footage.
"But that's why I got frustrated with you. You know that's what I need!" Alexis responds.
"Okay, but what the f-ck do you want me to do about it right now?" Justin counters.
"Not be vague," Alexis snaps. "That's why I'm saying I'm frustrated right now."
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Justin yells, "I am trying," to which Alexis responds, "This whole conversation has been, 'Don't be vague.'"
Alexis thought Justin was hiding something or being manipulative when he'd withhold, intentionally or not, information and details from her.
Keshia asked Justin how he felt watching that scene back, and Justin was already crying, with tears streaming down his face.
On what he would've done differently, in hindsight, Justin explained, "Honestly, like, I thought I was doing the right thing."
"So, basically, from having experience with having a dog, when Newton went to the bathroom, he had a little blood in his stool. But when I saw it was dark, I said, 'Okay, whatever he had in his stomach, or whatever happened, he's pooping it out.'"
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"And as far as him not eating," Justin elaborated, "He was eating, but he was eating, like, half a cup vs. a full cup, which is expected being in a new place and being in a new environment."
Justin said nothing had happened with Newton that caused him alarm.
"And that's what I tried to explain to [Alexis], you know, but she wasn't hearing me," Justin recalled. "She just felt like I wasn't trying to communicate that to her."
Justin and Alexis' fight continued in a candy store, with Alexis feeling drained, especially because Justin had been all rainbows and sunshine up to that point.
"If that's the case, then I just won't say anything at all," Justin told Alexis on the show, which prompted her to storm out of the store.
Justin proceeded to accuse Alexis of getting "aroused" from the drama and hostility, and then both he and Alexis shut down.
Justin admitted to Keshia on Afterparty that he went "tit for tat" with Alexis in the candy store and he was wrong.
"I was being very petty," Justin acknowledged. "I thought about it afterwards, and I said, 'Justin, you could've handled that so much better. Why are you being petty? What did that solve?' And I had that conversation with myself."
Justin said they should have taken a few hours away from each other to collect their thoughts and then sit down, talk about things, and "come to a conclusion."
"Because that would've secured me, you know, with her not constantly running from me or running from our marriage," Justin said.
Justin shared that, despite the big fight, he's holding out hope his marriage will work out long-term.
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"I'm just going to try to be the best version of a husband I can and try to come back from it and recognize, 'Hey, I'm doing what I can,' and what happened, happened," Justin explained.
"I recognize that it's happened, but there ain't nothing I can do about it, so let's move forward... I'm still being optimistic."
The couple had purchased candy for their housewarming party, where Alexis took the opportunity to confide in her friends and seek advice about her relationship issues.
Alexis expressed how she's not perfect and didn't expect Justin to be perfect but sometimes she worried, "I don't even know who I married... I get concerned."
Justin explained how he didn't have time to process his thoughts if Alexis asked him back to back questions. Justin told his wife that he often deemed details extra or unnecessary without thinking about the consequences of not being forthcoming with all the information.
Alexis later told Justin's pals how she loved Justin and cared about him a lot -- but wasn't "in love" with him yet.
"My heart's in it now... so when you tell me, stuff, I'm hanging onto it," Alexis noted.
Justin also said he really wanted his marriage to work and the show wasn't just an eight-week process for him. Justin feared losing Alexis and allowing her think that he was "a f-ckup."
Married at First Sight, which currently airs on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime, also stars Krysten and Mitch, Stacia and Nate, Lindy and Miguel, and Morgan and Binh.
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