Married at First Sight star Shaquille Dillon has revealed when he and Kirsten Grimes consummated their marriage during the extreme experiment.
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Shaquille and Kirsten's relationship has been a bit of a roller coaster on Married at First Sight's sixteenth season, which just featured the four remaining couples navigating marriage with less than two weeks to go until "Decision Day."
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During Wednesday night's episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty, Shaquille watched back a Season 16 clip of Kirsten telling him to "be assertive" when the rest of the cast was asking the spouses about their sexual relationship.
Kirsten had been wanting Shaquille to be more "masculine" in their relationship by leading her, completing hands-on tasks around their apartment, and providing her with financial stability.
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"Be assertive?" Shaquille asks Kirsten, before proudly announcing to the group, "Kirsten and I have consummated our marriage."
As their fellow cast members clap and cheer, Shaquille explains, "We wanted to keep it between us for, sh-t, as long as we could."
Jasmine Secrest then asks, "'As long as we could?!' So it's been a while!"
Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam therefore asked Shaquille when exactly he and Kirsten first had sex.
"Early on in our marriage," Shaquille revealed, confirming that he and Kirsten had attempted to hide their intimacy from cameras, producers and their co-stars while filming Season 16.
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Keshia shouted in reply, "I knew it did! The reason I knew is because of the shift in how everything became so emotional, because now you've invested even more and connected even more."
Shaquille and Kirsten had led fans to believe they had sex for the first time during a paint night, when Shaquille had painted Kirsten's body in different colors and she was turned on by his desire to step up and take control.
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However, it appears they had consummated their marriage before that, which is a surprise given it appeared Kirsten didn't even want to be kissed or touched by her husband for the first couple weeks of marriage.
While Shaquille and Kirsten's relationship was on the up and up in the intimacy department, they were struggling with their emotional connection and communication.
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Shaquille, for instance, admitted to guest expert DeVon Franklin that he didn't feel supported by Kirsten in his marriage.
Shaquille wanted Kirsten to join him on work trips, and he thought she was disinterested in the things he cares about. Kirsten, however, said Shaquille just needed to ask her flat out to travel with him and then she'd be thrilled to do so.
Shaquille vented to the cameras how he and his wife never seemed to be on the same page -- and he didn't understand why.
Since Kirsten thought she was supporting Shaquille -- at least "in general" -- DeVon explained to Shaquille how "unspoken expectations are relationship killers" because they can build resentment and ultimately drive a wedge between spouses that can be very difficult to fix.
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DeVon also told Kirsten that a lack of support in a marriage is a dealbreaker.
Shaquille asked Kirsten to observe him "in the zone" and working at something he loves to do. Shaquille complained that his job was a part of him that Kirsten had yet to see.
Kirsten reminded Shaquille that she had already accompanied him on one work trip and asked many questions about his career, but she didn't feel like it was ever enough.
Shaquille tried to compare work trips by saying his latest one in Memphis to recruit students was more important.
DeVon therefore told Shaquille not to diminish Kirsten's support because putting her down wouldn't help to motivate her to ask more questions or be around more.
DeVon said Kirsten was also looking for validation and appreciation for showing up.
Kirsten shared how she's a supportive daughter, sister and girlfriend -- and so being supportive to Shaquille would come with time and "be as easy as clockwork."
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