Married at First Sight star Keith Manley admits it was difficult to picture a future with his wife Iris Caldwell a couple of weeks into the extreme marriage experiment.
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Keith and Iris were matched for marriage by Married at First Sight experts on Season 9 of the Lifetime reality series.
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Although Iris was a virgin when she met Keith and there have been a couple bumps in the road, the pair are supportive of each other and seem to get along well and have a lot of similarities.
"Right now, do you envision a future with her? Do you envision growing old with her and holding her hand?" Married at First Sight: Unfiltered host Jamie Otis asked Keith on the discussion show's latest episode, which aired on Wednesday night.
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"I think it's still really, really hard for me to tell up to this point," Keith confessed.
"Of course I think about the future, and Iris is somebody who has the same kind of values I have. So of course she's someone I can picture myself being with, but you know, I just want to go off of what's going on right now and try to build the best foundation we can."
Keith insisted there were "no red flags" at this stage in their relationship, especially because moving in together turned out to be pretty seamless.
"Moving in with each other I thought was going to be a lot more difficult than it was," Keith said.
"So what's holding you back from being able to see a future with her? Because you are married," Jamie pointed out.
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"I think there are a lot of aspects that we haven't explored yet," Keith replied.
"Sexuality is definitely one of those, and it's going to tell a lot about our relationship."
Iris and Keith have yet to consummate their marriage on Season 9 of Married at First Sight, but Iris has made it known she's not against the idea as long as Keith wants to make their relationship work long-term.
But until then, Keith and Iris have been shown getting settled into married life, enjoying each other's company, and getting to know each other better.
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"It feels really good," Keith said of his romance.
"I think neither one of us was expecting to be so comfortable with one another so soon, and so this is just a pleasant surprise."
Earlier in the Unfiltered broadcast, Keith also revealed Iris wasn't the only one who wasn't ready to consummate their marriage after the first two weeks of the couple's relationship.
"I can't be concerned when she is going to want to have sex with me right now. Because at this point, I'm still not ready for that either," Keith told Jamie on the discussion show.
"Whoa. You're not ready to have sex with Iris?" Jamie replied.
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"Yes," Keith said.
"For real?" Jamie questioned.
"Yes. Yeah," Keith insisted.
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"So if she was coming on to you, you would say pump the brakes?" Jamie asked.
"I would have to," Keith said.
"Tell me why?" Jamie queried.
"Because it's kind of setting the foundation of what they expect sex to be going forward," Keith replied, alluding to Iris' decision to abstain from sex before marriage and remain a virgin.
"You know, that's a huge thing for me and I don't take it for granted."
Keith also said the couple may not even end up ever having sex before "Decision Day," the eight-week mark in which each Married at First Sight Season 9 couple must decide whether they'd like to stay married or get a divorce.
"We talked about expectations, and she let me know it just really depends how fast we get comfortable with each other," Keith said.
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"It may take two weeks, three weeks -- it may take longer than the eight weeks we have. But for me, I really just wanted to put my best foot forward and trust the experts to do their thing too."
In addition to Keith and Iris, Season 9 of Married at First Sight also features Deonna McNeill and Gregory Okotie, Amber Bowles and Matthew Gwynne, and Jamie Thompson and Elizabeth Bice.
RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHAT COUPLES ARE STILL TOGETHER? WHO BROKE UP? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
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