Married at First Sight star Keith Manley admits he was "mind-blown" when he first heard his wife, Iris Caldwell, was a virgin and he definitely had some concerns.
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Keith, a 27-year-old high school basketball coach from Greensboro, NC, was matched to marry Iris, a 27-year-old virgin who works for a nonprofit from Raleigh, NC, by Married at First Sight's experts for Season 9 of the Lifetime reality series.
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But a bombshell was dropped on Keith during his wedding -- that Iris had abstained from sex her entire life and was waiting to give herself to her husband.
"Honestly, I didn't even -- I wouldn't have expected that [she'd be a virgin], ever. I was pretty mind-blown at that time," Keith said during a Wednesday appearance on Married at First Sight: Unfiltered, which is hosted by Jamie Otis.
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"I think it does bring some concerns, I'm not going to lie, because I know that a big part of relationships and building relationships and maintaining a marriage does involve sex."
He added, "It involves being physical and intimacy and all things like that."
Iris first told Keith's mother during her wedding reception that her white wedding dress represented purity. Keith's mother therefore told Keith the news, and then Iris later confirmed she's a virgin to her husband that night in their hotel suite.
"This does kind of show a little bit of inexperience. And I'm just trying to figure out how to go through that because I know it's going to take a lot of patience," Keith explained.
Keith's Married at First Sight co-stars Elizabeth Bice and Matthew Gwynne joined him on the Unfiltered broadcast and both offered up their opinions on the topic as well.
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When asked what Elizabeth would do if she found out her husband Jamie Thompson was a virgin, she replied, "I guess I would have to be right there with Keith and just be respectful and, you know, stay [back] until they come to you about [wanting to do] that."
"Sex is a sensitive topic anyway," Elizabeth added, "so you don't want to make someone feel uncomfortable for their choices.
And Matt admitted he would be "a little worried" if he discovered his wife Amber Bowles was a virgin just like Iris.
"I would be a little worried for me and my marriage because sex is a pretty important thing to me. I think I operate better when that's going well; that's part of my life," Matt explained.
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"But I also think that would be a good way to see immediately if there's something else there. I think sometimes sex and physical intimacy can kind of cloud judgment and get in the way of other things."
Keith then noted he believes everything had happened for a reason.
"I think this is why my wife ended up being a virgin. I just feel like it was designed this way," Keith told Jamie.
"And this is going to take a new approach for me -- one that I've never taken before, which is just really, really, really getting to know somebody on a way deeper level before even considering the thought of, like, physical intimacy."
In addition to Keith, Iris, Matt, Amber, Elizabeth, and Jamie, Married at First Sight's currently-airing ninth season also stars Gregory Okotie and wife Deonna McNeill.
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