Married at First Sight stars Jasmine Secrest, Kirsten Grimes and Gina Micheletti have revealed their reactions to Chris Thielk insulting his wife Nicole Lilienthal by calling her body type "thicker" than he's used to.

ADVERTISEMENT

Nicole and Chris were matched by Married at First Sight experts Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Pastor Calvin Roberson to wed on the show's sixteenth season.

RELATED: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)

Chris and Nicole have had the strongest relationship on Married at First Sight so far this season, but the couple hit a little snag three weeks into their relationship.

During the March 8 episode of Married at First Sight: Afterparty, the three Married at First Sight ladies watched back a Season 16 clip of Chris making a confession to Nicole.

"One of the things I did say -- that I wanted to make sure I told you because I don't want you to, like, see anything later and get upset about it -- but they asked [how I felt] appearance-wise and I said, 'Beautiful smile, beautiful face, beautiful eyes,'" Chris recalled to Nicole.

"But I did say, 'A little thicker than I normally go for, but not in a bad way.'"

Nicole, who struggles with body dysmorphia, goes on to admit she's "taken aback a little bit" by Chris' revelation.

"I'm from New York, a large city, so I'm surrounded by fitness influencers," Nicole says in the clip. "So naturally I began to compare myself against all of them. So I'm a little shocked."

Nicole proceeds to tell Chris, "If someone says, 'Describe your wife,' you can say, 'She's strong, she's sexy, she's a badass.' Please just avoid the 'thick' because this is something that could potentially be hurtful to me."

Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam asked Jasmine, Kirsten and Gina for their thoughts on this tense conversation.

"Knowing Chris, just because we know him, I don't feel like that comment was coming from a place of malice or anything, which is probably the reason why he was like, 'Let me tell you I said this,'" Jasmine explained.

RELATED: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)

Kirsten also said she liked how Chris sat her down to talk about this.

"They're sitting down as husband and wife and talking through the conversation. Nicole is telling Chris how it made her feel, and she's also giving him advice on how to proceed in the future," Kirsten said.

And Gina pointed out how Chris was clearly "receptive" to Nicole's feedback and requests.

"Yes!" Jasmine and Kirsten said simultaneously.

"It was not coming from malice at all," Jasmine repeated.

Keshia said she respected Chris for coming clean and allowing Nicole to hear it from him vs. hearing the comment elsewhere, when it could maybe be misconstrued or misinterpreted.

Kirsten shared how Nicole had talked to her about this eye-opening sitdown chat with Chris.

"It breaks my heart because, I can speak for all of us, when we look at Nicole, she's so beautiful to me," Gina explained.

"It sucks when you can't get in someone's mind and make them believe what you believe about them, and so, I hope this is a growing experience for her to just continue to become resilient and happy with her self-image."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Gina also said she could relate to Nicole given her husband, Clint Webb, had told the cast how he was used to dating "more athletic and slender" women.

"Clint vocalized his opinion and obviously didn't vocalize it in the best way," Gina acknowledged.

"But once he realized my feelings behind it, he wanted to know, 'What can I do to make you feel better?' The minute I forgive someone, I'm not a grudge holder. I won't hold resentment for later. And so, yeah, it's hard on both ends, I think."

Keshia also advised the women -- and viewers at home -- to not compare themselves to "false versions" of people they see on Instagram and TikTok.

"It is not what they look like in person!" Keshia insisted.

Nicole and Chris' marriage was strong about three weeks into the Married at First Sight process. Nicole said physical touch became her new love language with Chris, even though she had disliked that part of her previous relationships.

Nicole said her feelings for Chris were growing every day and she had "no doubt" she was going to "fall in love" with him. Nicole said she loved waking up next to Chris every day and returning home from work to him.

Nicole was hoping that Chris would say, "I love you," first, but Chris appeared to be in no rush.

In one of his past relationships, Chris apparently professed his love to a woman before he was truly ready, and so he wanted to wait until things "felt right" with Nicole, even though he really liked and cared for her a lot.

RELATED: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)

Interested in more Married at First Sight news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group or click here to view our Married at First Sight newspage!

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

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS