Married at First Sight star Paige Banks says her marriage definitely became more complicated when two other people were surprisingly and suddenly brought into it.
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Chris and Paige's wedding got off to a rocky start, and then Paige's world came crashing down when Chris told her at the beginning of their Las Vegas honeymoon that his ex-fiancee Mercedes -- from whom he had split three months prior to marrying a stranger -- was about six weeks pregnant.
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Chris reluctantly shared the pregnancy news with Paige given the couple had already slept together multiple times, but he insisted it had been six weeks since he last interacted with his ex.
On the February 17 episode of Married at First Sight: Unfiltered, Paige watched back a Season 12 clip of Chris essentially begging Paige to stay in their marriage after the pair discovered Chris had a baby on the way with someone else.
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"It doesn't matter if she's pregnant or not. You are my wife and nobody comes before you," Chris says in the clip.
"I am just trying not to get emotional," Paige replies.
"And I'll say this as well: you are an amazing, smart, intelligent Black woman, and I'll support you in whatever decision you make. If you stay or you go, I'm going to support you. If you go, I might chase after you, but if you stay, let's do it," Chris says.
On Unfiltered, host Jamie Otis -- who starred on Season 1 of Married at First Sight -- asked Paige what it was like to hear Chris say all these sweet things.
"Yeah, um, this is what I had been hoping for," Paige shared. "He eased some of my nerves and made it more malleable to commit myself to the marriage."
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Jamie went on to ask, "When it comes to deciding whether or not you want to stay in this marriage, what head vs. heart struggles are going on with you internally?"
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"Two other people are being brought into this marriage, essentially," Paige replied, referring to Mercedes and Chris' baby with his ex.
"I want to make sure that there isn't still lingering feelings with this woman that you're essentially about to raise a child with."
Paige was joined by her Married at First Sight co-stars Virginia Coombs and Briana Myles on Unfiltered, and the girls shared their perspective on that footage of Chris.
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"I love seeing him take initiative there. My biggest thing is actions speak louder than words, so if I was in Paige's shoes, I would want to see some action behind them so that I can truly start trusting him and what he's saying," Virginia explained.
When Briana was asked whether she thought Chris was being genuine or just trying to sweet-talk Paige, Briana admitted, "You know, I think he is trying to sweet-talk a little bit."
"I mean, I see where he's coming from," Briana acknowledged. "You need to!"
Following that conversation with Chris at dinner, Paige revealed she was a bit more persuaded to stay with Chris and try to make their relationship work.
"Yeah, I think he definitely eased my nerves, just to kind of hear him say, 'I'm essentially committed,' and now it's really his chance to hold himself accountable to those things," Paige revealed.
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"You know, you said it, and I hope you really embody that as well."
During a conversation with fellow Married at First Sight groom Vincent Morales in a recent Season 12 episode, Chris clarified of his ex-fiancee, "We've been broken up since May 2020, but that wasn't the last time we had sex, for sure."
Chris said Mercedes had known about her pregnancy "for a few weeks" but didn't tell him right away.
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During a nice dinner out in Las Vegas with Paige, Chris revealed that he had been intimate with his ex-fiancee when they reunited for her father's funeral arrangements -- even though they were broken up and not on good terms at the time.
Paige admitted if that day was "Decision Day," she would walk away from her marriage, but Chris promised his wife that he was "in it for the long haul" and his attraction to her had grown since their wedding.
Chris suggested to Paige they get to know each other on a deeper level, and Paige said she liked that idea because "God doesn't give you anything that you can't handle."
It appeared the couple had turned over a new leaf and were ready to take things on as a team, but Chris later had an emotional breakdown because neither Paige or himself seemed happy like the other four Married at First Sight couples appeared to be.
"I feel like I'm stuck in this and I'm crying because I've got a baby on the way. There's a lot going through my mind," Chris vented to the cameras.
Chris later had heated confrontations with Virginia and her husband Erik Lake over how he should treat Paige, and Chris ended up admitting to Paige that he and his ex had briefly discussed reconciling so they could co-parent their child in the same home.
Chris confessed to Paige that he still loved his ex-fiancee but preferred to work things out with Paige since they were legally and spiritually married.
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Chris told Paige that he could envision them lasting beyond seven weeks, and Paige subsequently shared with the cameras how she believed in fighting for love.
"I believe in the possibility of love... and I pray that Chris is my person for the rest of my life. I believe in us," Paige said. "This could potentially be a beautiful story for the both of us."
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