Married at First Sight star Mark Maher has revealed that he and wife Lindsey Georgoulis had a huge breakthrough moment in their marriage that didn't air on television.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mark, 37, and Lindsey, 34, have had a roller-coaster romance since tying the knot as total strangers.
RELATED: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)
While they've had moments of love and lust, Lindsey has scolded Mark for shutting down and not being expressive.
And Mark has had a problem with Lindsey's outspoken nature and opinionated personality, which sometimes embarrassed him in public or in front of their co-stars, especially when drinking excessive alcohol played a role.
ADVERTISEMENT
During the April 6 episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty, Mark watched back a Season 14 clip of Lindsey unleashing her feelings on him.
"You are so inconsistent. You give me affection and then you pull it all the way back," Lindsey cries to her husband.
"You tell me, 'I'm so sorry I've done that; I've always been in and I'm going to communicate better, and I'll talk to you before bed.' You'd rather text everybody else and post on Instagram instead of message your wife back before bed. You are not showing up for me."
Mark snaps in reply, "It's all about me!"
"I don't feel like you're showing up!" Lindsey says.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Okay, well I don't think you communicate healthy at all!" Mark argues. "I feel you're negative and I feel you complain and you nag."
Lindsey goes on to add, "I feel like you've already broken my heart and walked away from this marriage."
The couple, however, later agreed to equally work on communication in terms of volume and delivery during conflict, with Mark asking Lindsey to respond emotionally but not in a combative manner.
RELATED: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam asked Mark how he was feeling after having a heart-to-heart with Lindsey, and Mark revealed, "What didn't get caught [on film] is that we had the best breakthrough moment we had all season probably."
ADVERTISEMENT
"We sat down and we talked about just how to really connect and where are these things coming from?" Mark said.
"With Lindsey, I always wanted to know, 'Where is this anger at me coming from? I know you're upset because you're not getting affirmation, but where is it coming from?'"
Mark came to believe that when Lindsey got hurt, she felt so hurt inside emotionally that she wanted him to feel that hurt as well.
However, Mark acknowledged how her outbursts didn't make him want to love her more and he wished she could just cry without speaking so he could feel her emotion and want to comfort and make it up to her.
"We had some talks about our past and we both worked it out and we both hugged," Mark shared.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We both expressed some emotions and it was good! So I think we're both trying to connect. We just have to be present in the moment."
Mark said he wanted sweet and vulnerable -- but not intense -- moments with Lindsey in order to make their love grow more, and he told Keshia that he learned he must give Lindsey words of affirmation before explaining what's wrong or why he's upset.
During a recent episode of Married at First Sight's fourteenth season, Lindsey lamented to the cameras about how Mark was "clueless" in their relationship and he was "falling short in every way."
RELATED: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
"This is no man of mine, no friend of mine," Lindsey griped, adding how talking to Mark was like trying to talk to a brick wall.
But Mark had a problem with Lindsey's "tough exterior" and condescending tone, and he noted, "Communication-wise, it just doesn't work, and I wonder if it ever will."
During the latest episode, however, Married at First Sight experts Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Pastor Calvin Roberson got to the root of the couple's issues.
Mark told Pastor Cal that Lindsey's approach to fighting reminded him of how his mother -- who was depressed -- attacked Mark's father and would scream at him for allegedly no reason. Pastor Cal reminded Mark that Lindsey is not his mother and Lindsey just needed to feel more secure in their relationship.
And Lindsey shared with Pepper how anger is a mask for sadness in her life and she was used to her mother cutting her down all the time and never showing her real love.
Pepper suggested how Lindsey needed to approach Mark with more sadness and kindness, with a softer delivery in her opinions and thoughts, and Lindsey later explained to Mark how she only yelled if she felt ignored or dismissed.
Mark and Lindsey ultimately bonded through the trauma or tragedy they had experienced in their lives, and they both suddenly felt hope about the future.
ADVERTISEMENT
Married at First Sight's fourteenth season, which currently airs Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime, also stars Olajuwon Dickerson and Katina Goode, Jasmina Outar and Michael Morency, and Noi Phommasak and Steve Moy.
Alyssa Ellman and Chris Collette also starred on the series but they chose to divorce one week into the extreme experiment.
RELATED: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more Married at First Sight news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group or click here to view our Married at First Sight newspage!
And click here for more updates on former Married at First Sight cast members and info on where they are now!