Married at First Sight star Mindy Shiben claims she's still all-in on Zach Justice and their marriage, and she's just hoping Zach gets on the same level.
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Mindy and Zach started to form a friendship by the end of their Panama honeymoon, but there was absolutely no romance between them, and their dynamic seemed tense, awkward and uncomfortable given Zach had told his wife multiple times he wasn't attracted to her.
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Their relationship then took a turn for the worse when Zach decided not to move in with Mindy in Washington, D.C.
Zach insisted he didn't want to force chemistry and simply wasn't comfortable enough to live with Mindy yet in a new apartment, but she felt there was no indication he was taking their marriage seriously.
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"Mindy, you've had some problems with Zach," host Jamie Otis pointed out on the February 26 broadcast of Married at First Sight: Unfiltered.
"Yes," Mindy agreed.
"Has the thought crossed your mind that there might be someone better suited for you out there?" Jamie asked.
"Right now, I don't think it does anyone any good to focus outside my marriage. I still am all-in. I still really want this to work," Mindy insisted. "I just hope Zach gets on the same level."
Jamie rallied behind Mindy and said, "All hope isn't lost, if you ask me."
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Married at First Sight expert, Dr. Viviana Coles, also joined Mindy on Unfiltered and pointed out how Mindy and Zach were just "treading water" and not getting anywhere at this point in the experiment.
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"And I don't know if anyone is going to sink first," Viviana said.
"Just because you can withstand something, doesn't mean it's going to be healthy. Let's wait and see -- it's still early and there's still hope!"
Although the show has made it seem like Zach was not all-in with Mindy, Zach alleged during an earlier episode of Unfiltered that Mindy had told him off camera she wanted a divorce and to see other people during the last night of their honeymoon.
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Zach also claimed Mindy was the one who had brought up the idea of not living together once they returned to Washington, D.C.
Despite the couple's obvious issues and different perspectives on the root of the problem, Zach was shown making more of an effort in his relationship with Mindy during the last couple of Married at First Sight episodes.
Not only did Zach spend time with Mindy and her friends on two separate occasions, but he also invited himself over Mindy's place to play some card games with her. The pair shared a couple of laughs doing face masks together as well.
Zach apparently decided to follow his sister's guidance and try to get to know Mindy better and also make the most of the full Married at First Sight experience.
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During Unfiltered's February 26 broadcast, Mindy also admitted she felt Zach had already checked out of their marriage and decided to get divorced at the time they were supposed to move in together.
"Mindy, can you see things from Zach's perspective at all when it comes to moving in?" Jamie asked her.
"I'm trying to, but this is just one thing that I don't get," Mindy replied. "Like, [Zach] has not been clear on why he made the decision to not move in."
Mindy apparently couldn't make sense of Zach's reasoning for living apart and not following the rules of the extreme experiment designed to help two strangers fall in love after marriage.
"I don't understand, like, did he make a decision already [to divorce] and he's just like, 'I have no interest in seeing if this marriage can work?' That's what it feels like to me right now," Mindy admitted.
"But I'm just -- It's a very frustrating place to be in right now."
Jamie then asked Mindy's Married at First Sight co-star Derek Sherman to reveal his thoughts on Zach's prior comments that moving in with Mindy "wouldn't be healthy."
"Do you think that just sounds like an excuse to you?" Jamie asked.
"To be honest, yeah," Derek confessed.
"It may be a little unhealthy, but things need to get a little worse before they get better -- you need to throw yourselves in the pit together if you're gonna get out of it together."
Married at First Sight's tenth season, which currently airs on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime, also stars Derek and Katie Conrad, Meka Jones and Michael Watson, Taylor Dunklin and Brandon Reid, and Jessica Studer and Austin Hurd.
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