Married At First Sight’s Beth Kelly has gotten candid about her time spent with Ryan Donnelly during the series’ infamous couple swap challenge – and the one detail that left her confused.
The reality star, 29, revealed to the Today Extra hosts on Tuesday that it was a ‘very awkward’ few days with the MAFS groom, 36, whom she has previously had harsh words with during the couple’s retreat.
Beth, who is married to Teejay Halkias, 28, and Ryan, who is married to Jacqui Burfoot, 29, were paired together for three days, tasked with reflecting on their own relationships with new partners.
However, what Beth discovered during the challenge left her more baffled than before when it came to the groom’s controversial relationship with wife Jacqui.
Arriving at the couple’s apartment, Beth immediately clocked a heart-shaped photo collage on the wall which showcased the pair’s happiest moments, dubbing it the ‘shrine’.
‘Walking in and seeing that shrine was weird and even more confusing,’ the salon manager said.
The MAFS participant went on to say that the reason she was so taken aback by the pictures was because the pair were constantly hot and cold with each other and had battled their fair share of obstacles throughout the experiment.
‘From what we see there’s a lot of confusion; one minute Jacqui’s crying, then they’re arguing, next thing their rolling around, they’re happy again.’
She went on: ‘So to see the shrine of photos and they’ve obviously made happy memories together, it was even more confusing.’
On Sunday, Ryan and Jacqui seemed to have another disagreement that ended in tears.
During the most recent commitment ceremony, Ryan was called out by the experts after his onscreen wife revealed his bizarre sex rule.
The bride told the experts that Ryan refuses to have sex before a gym session to ‘preserve his testosterone’, a statement that saw the other participants burst out in laughter and expert John Aiken put his face into his hands.
However, as Jacqui and her partner laughed it off, expert Alessandra Rampolla didn’t see the humour in the situation at all.
‘I have a question on this whole morning situation,’ she said to Ryan.
After a dramatic silence, she asked: ‘Why were you not just pleasuring her?’
‘We are all making light because it is funny,’ Alessandra said, but the expert went on to slam the groom for not reaching a compromise, adding that they both he and Jacquie could be ‘satisfied’.
‘There’s no reason for her to be not satisfied just because you haven’t been to the gym,’ she reiterated.
Jacqui jumped in, revealing that it wasn’t about the sex at the time but rather Ryan’s inability to be flexible.
‘There’s not willingness to compromise,’ she said.
‘Which is my point,’ Alessandra chimed in.
However, Ryan seemed to disagree with the matter, saying: ‘But there has been compromise. There has been from both sides.’
Jacqui suddenly burst into wailing, hysterical sobs, shocking Ryan.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked her, alarmed.
‘I just feel like it’s hopeless. Like we never really tried,’ she wept to which Ryan assured her, ‘It’s not hopeless.’
‘It is!’ she wailed on, with Ryan replying, ‘It’s not, babe. It’s not.’
‘I feel like I’m met with so much resistance and it’s just so hard for me to just push through,’ the bride carried on.
‘I feel like I’m wading through where the current’s just coming back at me with the relationship,’ she added.
Despite the tears, the pair quickly made up and decided to stay on in the experiment.
‘Genuinely mean it when I say, I love spending time with you. I want it to be the best it can,’ Ryan assured his bride.