Married at First Sight stars Clara Berghaus and Ryan Oubre are keeping their relationship surface level and not being honest with each other about their wants and needs, according to show alums Elizabeth Bice, Jamie Thompson, Woody Randall, and Amani Rashid-Smith.
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Season 9 MAFS couple Elizabeth and Jamie appeared on the May 5 Married at First Sight: Countdown to Decision Day special alongside Season 11 couples Amani and Woody as well as Karen Landry and Miles Williams.
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In the process of making predictions and sizing up Married at First Sight's Season 12 couples -- who will face Decision Day on the upcoming May 12 episode on Lifetime -- the majority of former cast members seem to believe Clara and Ryan's relationship is in trouble and they have bigger issues than they've let on.
"I hate to be the bad guy here, guys, but they kind of turn me off watching them," Woody admitted.
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"I just find that everything they do is, like, surface, from what I've seen. Anything tricky or challenging -- I hate to say it like that -- but I feel like both parties are being surface level."
Amani added that while she likes Clara and Ryan as a couple, she feels Clara may be trying to mold or change herself to be Ryan's perfect match.
"I can tell that Clara is kind of trying to figure out how she fits into his world -- because he seems a little rigid in what he needs," Amani explained.
"I can tell she's trying to navigate, 'Okay, how do I kind of place myself into his life?'"
Elizabeth also shared how she's "super concerned" about the future of Clara and Ryan's relationship.
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"Maybe Clara is having some doubts just because they haven't had sex yet in their marriage, and it seems like that's super important to Clara," Elizabeth reasoned.
"So, you know, I don't know how everybody else feels, but I kind of feel like that might be something that is weighing on her right now."
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Karen recalled a moment in which Clara vented to her fellow MAFS brides about how she was frustrated and fed up with the lack of intimacy in her relationship with Ryan.
"I can tell that passion is there, even though we don't necessarily see it," Karen acknowledged.
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"I don't know, they don't stir their own pot," Elizabeth said. "Sometimes you have to dive into these issues; you can't run to your girlfriends and be like, 'Oh I can't stand him doing this, this,' and then go back home and everything is fine!"
While Clara told Ryan at one point during the show she was "a little sexually frustrated," she seemed to downplay her true feelings and emotions on the subject.
"I'm just going to call it like I see it: I mean, these are two people that want to be married, they like the idea of being married -- I just think they don't really like each other," Jamie boldly suggested.
"And it's so much easier to just not talk about all -- and when I say 'all,' [I mean] multiple elephants in the room. So now it's just like, 'Well, I just want to be married. So you know what? You're fine, you'll do.'"
Elizabeth said she wishes Clara would just come right out and say, "I want to f-ck you! I want you! I lust you!"
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"She'll go and tell everyone else that, but she will not just bluntly say it like that to [Ryan]," Elizabeth complained.
Amani pointed out it's probably difficult for Clara to be so honest and blunt with Ryan when he simply wasn't ready to have sex yet.
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"I just don't think she's being fully honest with herself," Elizabeth explained. "And she's not being fully honest with her partner, so that's my only problem."
The whole group, however, agreed Clara and Ryan will probably stay together on Decision Day.
Miles expressed how Clara and Ryan's pace on the show is similar to his own with Karen on Season 11.
"I think sex for them is going to be a non-issue," Miles said, adding that their "vibe seems cool."
Karen said it seems Clara and Ryan "really care for each other a lot" and have a "natural" and "very organic" connection, which should help them "work past their issues" in time "as long as they really communicate about them."
"They never want to have the uncomfortable conversation," Jamie disagreed.
"So for me, I can get inside my man Ryan's head and can see him weighing this all out. Unfortunately, I think he's going to weigh it out too much and overanalyze it. And I don't know how that works out for them."
Elizabeth concluded that she's "rooting" for Clara and Ryan to stay together and hope they have great sex in the future and "some really pretty babies."
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Clara has gushed on Married at First Sight's twelfth season that her relationship with Ryan is "meant to be" and the best one she's ever been in.
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However, Clara has also expressed concern over Ryan never saying "I love you" to a woman before and whether her strong feelings for Ryan would ever be reciprocated.
But Ryan didn't like feeling pressure to say those three important words, and he told the cameras in a confessional, "I hope Clara is not upset by it, but I'm definitely not ready [to say 'I love you.']"
Ryan said he hoped they could work on goal-setting together and aligning their future plans. Ryan was apparently still wondering what pushes and inspires Clara in life, and he was in seemingly in search for a religious or spiritual connection with his wife as well.
Clara told Ryan during their last date before Decision Day that she felt like they were two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together, and Ryan responded by saying they're uniquely bound in this shared experience and would have a connection "no matter what happens."
Clara got emotional and asked Ryan if they could talk about "Decision Day" in a more positive light going forward. She was clearly afraid to get her heart broken.
Clara revealed she was 100 percent certain about her final decision because Ryan is everything she was looking for in a husband and life partner. She said best case scenario, they'd grow together, start a family and live happily ever after.
Married at First Sight's twelfth season also stars Haley Harris and Jacob Harder, Erik Lake and Virginia Coombs, Briana Myles and Vincent Morales, and Chris Williams and Paige Banks.
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