Married at First Sight stars Emily and Austin appear to be at odds after Emily flat out asked Austin why he wouldn't just have sex with Becca, which resulted in a heated exchange. 

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On Married at First Sight: Afterparty's January 31 episode, Austin and Emily watched back a Season 17 clip of Austin telling Becca that although they had a nice four days off-camera with his family in Pennsylvania, he wasn't feeling well because there were two cats in the house and he's allergic.

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"I'm running out of ideas. I'm running out of ways for us to connect that do separate us from a friendship and a romantic relationship," Becca laments to the cameras.

Austin admitted to Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam that it was "hard" to have conversations about intimacy with his wife over and over again during the Married at First Sight process, with and without show experts present.

"It feels like it's driving us apart rather than bringing us together. It's hard to be talking about this same issue so many times, within a short period of time, without any real time to make things better," Austin explained.

Emily then clapped back, "Why don't you just have sex with her?"

"Is that fair to ask?" Austin questioned his co-star in reply, appearing surprised and taken aback.

He continued, "You say you're sexually positive, but you clearly don't apply that to me because my path isn't what you -- or maybe Becca -- wants, and that isn't okay with you."

Emily claimed that's not really the case, but Austin said that's how he was feeling.

"I'm just wondering. She clearly said she wants to have sex and she's tried a lot," Emily shared.

"She keeps telling me that you guys are having these talks and you're saying, 'I want to improve intimacy,' but she keeps trying and you're not putting in any effort or reciprocation -- and definitely not initiating anything."

Emily concluded that Austin wasn't even "making moves in the right direction," to which Austin countered, "There are two sides to every coin. It sucks to hear that's what she's telling you, because I am! We are doing those things and we are progressing."

Austin was clearly feeling pressure to perform as well as a bit deflated.

"When you do try and it goes unrecognized, why would you keep doing the same thing?" Austin asked his co-star.

"I just feel like there's a link of communication missing between you two," Emily said.

"I agree," Austin responded. "It seems like we're on different sides of things, and I don't know how to explain it."

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For clarification, Keshia asked Austin if he felt a romantic connection with Becca, especially considering only a couple of weeks remained of the Married at First Sight experiment at this point.

"I absolutely do," Austin insisted, "and so it really sucks to hear she's questioning it as a friendship -- because, to me, it's never felt that way."

While Austin admitted he's "not the most romantic person in the world," he noted, "I've never viewed our relationship as a friendship."

Austin also shared how his allergies were a huge problem for him while visiting his family.

Emily flashed a smile and said Austin could have just taken some Benadryl, but Austin insisted he couldn't even breathe at times.

Taking sex off the table, Keshia pointed out how there may have been missed opportunities to show affection in other ways during the spouses' time away from Denver, CO.

"Seeing my grandma, I don't think it was really the right time to be fooling around," Austin politely said.

"But I do feel like I probably missed opportunities," he confessed. "I'm kind of, like, a dumb boy."

Emily argued that being at a family member's house "is probably the most intimate setting" for a Married at First Sight couple.

"Going to your parents' or whatever, you're leaving us and leaving the cameras and going there. So I feel like the pressure should've been off," Emily reasoned.

"If you're sick, do you want to jump someone's bones?" Austin asked his co-star.

"No," Emily acknowledged. "I just think there are other ways, though, to build intimacy."

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Emily elaborated, "I just know she came back feeling a little disappointed -- not because the sex didn't advance in your grandma's house, because that's a little weird, but more upset around it being a very intimate opportunity and setting and things still not progressing overall."

"Yeah, and maybe that's what I missed," Austin admitted, "is that, like, I didn't see it as a good setting for that physical intimacy, especially when I'm [under the weather]."

But allergies and being around grandma were apparently the smallest of Austin and Becca's problems that weekend.

"If I'm being honest, we got into an argument one night at my aunt's house, and I feel like, you know, more of the issue was that instead of the intimacy stuff," Austin revealed.

"And it was kind of our first argument where it was an argument and not just a disagreement."

When asked what their fight was about, Austin said he was listening to music while he was brushing his teeth and Becca thought that was "disrespectful" to the owners of the house and their hosts.

Emily clarified how Austin was "blasting" music out loud, but Austin insisted he was just listening to it on his phone.

"My dad is deaf and my uncle is deaf, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal," Austin noted.

"They have full on implants, and I wasn't blasting music. I was just listening to music. And then it just kind of snowballed and tensions got a little high."

Austin recalled Becca shutting down and saying, "I need to go. I need to get out of here. I need to leave."

Austin said he didn't know how to handle that, but Keshia mentioned how the music probably wasn't the real issue.

Emily then announced how that seemed to be "a breaking point" for Becca, who had been waiting to be intimate with Austin for over a month.

"You can hear it and you can see it in... that she's trying, trying, trying. She's putting in more of an effort than she feels like you did with your own family," Emily snapped.

"That's a good point. There were probably a number of contributing factors," Austin conceded.

The next Married at First Sight episode kicks off with about two weeks until Decision Day.

Michael and Chloe, however, just finished their honeymoon and will be shown moving into a Denver apartment together about a week into their arranged marriage.

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And click here for more updates on former Married at First Sight cast members and info on where they are now!




About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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