Married at First Sight star Olajuwon Dickerson has revealed if he wishes he had handled his tense conversation with show expert Dr. Pepper Schwartz differently.
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Olajuwon and Katina, both 29, were matched by Married at First Sight experts Dr. Pepper, Dr. Viviana Coles and Pastor Calvin Roberson to wed on Season 14 of the Lifetime reality series.
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During the April 6 episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty, Olajuwon watched back a Season 14 clip of himself sitting down for a counseling session with Pepper when the couples only had 17 days to go until "Decision Day."
"I have heard that you told her that she's got no life skills, that she's behind you in terms of maturation. So I'd like to hear your side of that," Pepper says in the clip.
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"Umm, if anybody wants to say something, they can say it to me, because I don't play those games. And this is my life; I don't even think it's funny."
Pepper replies, "Well I don't think it's funny either."
"I don't think it's funny at all," Olajuwon interjects.
"I want to know, that's all," Pepper states.
"Dr. Pepper, you're making me out to look like the bad guy," argues Olajuwon, who had just apologized to Katina for yelling at her over an old dating app on her phone. "But I'm really bothered about all this. I'm really serious."
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Olajuwon noted how he "absolutely" could've handled himself better when in conflict with Katina, and he apparently wishes he had softened his approach when expressing his feelings to Pepper as well.
"I wish I kept my cool more because people think -- it's assumed that when you show too much emotion, it means, one, guilt, or two, you're lying," Olajuwon explained to Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam.
"And it was neither of those," Olajuwon confirmed. "It's just I have so much love for my marriage. I care."
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And Olajuwon added how he "absolutely" felt like he was under attack by Pepper, which made him angry.
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Olajuwon said it seemed like Pepper was "coming at" him during their session instead of trying to help him and give him tools to navigate a healthy and happy marriage.
As shown on last week's episode of Married at First Sight's fourteenth season, Olajuwon vented to his co-stars after a volleyball game about how he didn't view his time with Pepper as productive or beneficial.
Olajuwon complained to the group about how Pepper had accused him of belittling his wife and making himself seem superior to his partner.
Olajuwon insisted Pepper had "the wrong perception" of his dynamic with Katina, who laughed in the moment about the idea of her husband belittling her.
"[Pepper] said, 'I heard, I heard,' so I had to remind Dr. Pepper that it's cool that you 'heard' but I'm a grown man and I don't do that 'he said, she said' game. I feel like as an expert, you shouldn't [listen to that]... Dr. Pepper didn't help me, not at all," Olajuwon said.
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"Ninety percent of it was a waste, I'm going to be honest with you. I felt like it was a waste because I could've met with an expert and really talked about something that helps my marriage, but I didn't."
He added, "It was more of me catching Dr. Pepper up because she had no clue what's been going on, and she made it clear."
Unbeknownst to the couples, Pepper and Pastor Cal were watching from a different room with the hope of seeing everybody interact and offering the spouses some "course correction" if necessary.
Pepper said from the other room, "Keep talking, Olajuwon."
And he did.
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Olajuwon added how production was clearly "bringing negative sh-t" to Pepper's attention, which resulted in Pepper talking about things that wasted his time.
Pepper and Pastor Cal then came out from behind closed doors and approached the group.
Pepper explained how she had heard things from production about Olajuwon because they had been watching him every single day with concerns and so she just wanted to give him an opportunity to set the record straight and explain what his marriage was like from his own perspective.
Pepper said she was glad to hear that his marriage was going well.
Olajuwon in turn told the cameras that he was happy Pepper cleared the air, adding how he and Katina weren't going to shape their relationship for the amusement of the experts or to please America or anybody else.
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Pastor Cal then complimented Katina on always having resolution and peace in mind, and he told Olajuwon, "This woman is exactly what you need," which prompted Olajuwon to enthusiastically nod his head in agreement.
"I'm not in love," Olajuwon responded. "But we resolve things."
Pastor Cal, however, reminded the couples during the latest episode that love is a commitment and a person chooses to love and grows in love rather than falls in love.
Married at First Sight's fourteenth season currently airs on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime.
The series also stars Jasmina Outar and Michael Morency, Mark Maher and Lindsey Georgoulis, 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.
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