Married at First Sight star Noi Phommasak has revealed how much savings in Steve's bank account it would take to make her feel comfortable about her husband taking time off from working.
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Noi, 33, and Steve, 38, were matched by Married at First Sight experts Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Dr. Viviana Coles, and Pastor Calvin Roberson to tie the knot as strangers on the Lifetime reality series' fourteenth season.
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Noi and Steve fell hard and fast for each other and appeared to be the strongest couple on the show one month into the extreme experiment.
But Steve's refusal to get a part-time or full-time job began presenting problems in their relationship, especially since Steve -- a former sales engineer who claimed he was in a good place financially -- expected Noi to take on some of their household chores while she was working full-time as a talent acquisition coordinator.
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During the March 30 episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty, host Keshia Knight Pulliam asked Noi, "Hypothetically speaking, you and Steve, if he showed you his bank account, what number would make you feel safe and okay with him getting a job when he feels like it?"
"A number?" Noi asked, squirming a little bit in her seat. "I don't know."
Keshia pushed for a direct answer and asked Noi to just throw out a number.
"I'm not going to hold you to it," Keshia insisted. "I'm just saying, like, if he showed you today, what number would make you be like, 'You know what, Steve? I'm sorry... I apologize for badgering you. What number?'"
"I don't know, if he had, like, $40," Noi responded.
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"If he had $40,000?" Keshia asked.
"Yeah," Noi replied.
Keshia playfully looked at the cameras and addressed Steve, saying she'd like to hear from him whether Noi is concerned about their future together for no reason.
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Noi also admitted on Afterparty she was starting to pull back from Steve with three weeks to go until "Decision Day" because they were "starting to have a lot of arguments and disagreements."
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Noi putting walls up was evident on last week's episode when she said she wouldn't want to live with Steve after Decision Day because she wouldn't feel comfortable totally combining their lives after only a couple months of being married.
The root of the issue seemed to be Noi's annoyance with Steve's lack of motivation and ambition professionally. She couldn't believe Steve had asked her to contribute more to taking care of their dog duties and cleaning their Boston apartment when she was the only spouse in their marriage making money.
Noi also envisioned welcoming three children with Steve someday, and she always thought her husband would be a provider for her family.
While out to lunch one day with her sister, Noi lamented, "Another thing that really rubbed me the wrong way -- he's like, 'Why don't we do this hypothetical situation where Noi picks up more elsewhere to see if she can, because I don't think that she can. You're already so tired from working.'"
Noi vented, "What?! I'm going to pick up more housework so you can have less?! And then what else are you going to do?"
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Noi said she'd be happy if Steve even worked a part-time job, and she suggested that her husband didn't have his stuff together. Noi said she never thought she'd date -- nevermind marry -- a man like that.
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Meanwhile, Steve thought he was contributing heavily to the marriage, and he kept insisting he would support Noi and always be secure financially. Steve has said that if he needed to take a job for income, he absolutely would.
"I'm contributing three or four times as much. I'm not asking [Noi] to contribute more, so in the now, I don't think there's a problem," Steve explained to his co-star Mark Maher on the latest Season 14 broadcast.
"But I think there's a perception problem and I think there's a future problem."
Steve told Mark that he needed his wife to be clear about her expectations for their lifestyle and believe in him. Steve thought he had proven -- through "verbal and physical expressions of love" -- how committed he was to Noi in their marriage.
Married at First Sight's fourteenth season also stars Mark's wife Lindsey Georgoulis, Jasmina Outar and Michael Morency, and Katina Goode and Olajuwon Dickerson.
The season's fifth couple, Chris Collette and Alyssa Ellman, divorced only one week into the process.
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