Married at First Sight star Mindy Shiben has revealed she's dating someone new after ending her marriage to Zach Justice and this new man in her life is "special."
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"There is someone special," Mindy said during a recent episode of Married at First Sight alums Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner's Hot Marriage Cool Parents podcast.
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Mindy, a 34-year-old figure skating coach from Frederick, MD, was matched by Married at First Sight experts Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Dr. Viviana Coles and Pastor Calvin Roberson to wed Zach, a 32-year-old fitness professional from St. Mary's, GA, on Season 10 of the Lifetime series.
After a tumultuous and emotional journey, Mindy dumped Zach and asked for a divorce nearly two weeks before "Decision Day" because he had put little-to-no effort into their relationship and had engaged in an inappropriate and disrespectful friendship with Mindy's pal Lindsay behind her back.
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"Present-day Mindy. We are in April. The show is officially all done and you're free to chat and be who you are -- because obviously whenever the show is on, she is under contract," Jamie said on her podcast.
"So Mindy, what is up with you right now? Are you dating? Are you traveling? What are you doing?!"
Mindy started out by revealing, "So right now during the [coronavirus] crisis, I'm staying at my mom's beach house in North Carolina. I've been camping out here for a while. I can't work right now... which is a bummer. [Teaching figure skaters] is my biggest passion."
"As far as dating goes," Mindy continued, "I actually have been dating! Yeah! So it's hard right now, you know, with being quarantined and everything. But I've been getting into virtual dating!"
Mindy poked fun at the idea but admitted she's really been enjoying the experience.
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"I know it sounds kind of dorky and everything, but I'm, like, into it! Because it's great that you can explore a connection and everything without any pressure or anything physical happening and stuff. So [the physical] is just completely off the table," Mindy explained.
"It's kind of like the opposite of Married at First Sight, if you think about it, like forcing the connection and everything first before you even meet them. So it's definitely a different way to go about dating. But I'm taking advantage of the opportunity."
Jamie, who joked she's an old married woman, asked how someone virtual dates nowadays and whether it includes text messaging or calling someone on an app.
"I'm just curious, how does it work? You just date the same way but not in person -- at all?" Jamie questioned.
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"Yeah, it's just FaceTime, Zoom meetings, Skype, whatever you use. I'll cook a meal with somebody or I'll watch a movie or just have a drink. You do an actual kind of date," Mindy shared.
Jamie called such a dating experience "romantic" given two people must bond and connect through conversation and develop emotional intimacy without getting to touch each other.
"This is so nosey of me, Mindy. Are you exclusively virtually dating one person or are there a couple of guys in the running?" Jamie asked.
"That's a really good question," Mindy replied. "There is somebody. It's not, like, official because we haven't actually met in person, but there is someone special."
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Mindy's mystery man, however, apparently doesn't watch Married at First Sight.
"He knows about it and everything, but he says he hasn't watched it," Mindy explained.
"That's what I would have said too," Doug joked.
Jamie gushed she's "so happy" for Mindy, and Doug pointed out it's ironic Mindy met a man when the world is social distancing.
Mindy revealed on Married at First Sight's tenth-season reunion special that aired last week she was starting to date again but predicted it would be "a little while" before she'd get involved with another serious relationship.
Zach and Mindy's marriage started going downhill during their Panama honeymoon, when Zach told his wife multiple times he wasn't attracted to her.
Not only did Zach allegedly avoid spending time with Mindy off-camera, but he even refused to move into an apartment with her following the Married at First Sight couple's honeymoon. Mindy then caught Zach in lies and lost all trust in him, which was the end of the road for them as a couple.
Following Mindy's unsurprising decision to split from Zach, she threw herself a divorce party and gushed about how she had found an inner strength she never knew existed before.
Jamie and Doug, who starred on Season 1 of Married at First Sight, will be appearing on the upcoming Married at First Sight: Where Are They Now? special airing Wednesday at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime.
Married at First Sight's eleventh season is "coming soon," according to Lifetime, and will star five new couples based in New Orleans, LA.
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