To no one’s shock, Natalie Parham and Collins Christian have officially split from the Married At First Sight Australia experiment, and each other.
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On Monday night’s episode, Nat asked Collins for examples of when he had felt happy in her presence. Though Collins enthusiastically insisted he is happy “every time” he is with Nat, the bride likened his speech to an “Oscars performance”.
“I can’t listen to you without hearing ‘orchestra,’” she confessed. “I cannot communicate with someone who talks to me like we are on the set of Neighbours or Home & Away. It just feels so manufactured.”
Nat continued: “If this is genuinely you, that’s you, but it is not someone that gives me energy, it drains me. I don’t feel I can build a romantic connection with you; I can’t see a future. It is time for me to go.”
Upon leaving the experiment, Nat told the producers that she was unconvinced that Collins was devastated that his time with her had ended, but rather devastated that his time on screen was over.
The bride’s decision follows Sunday night’s commitment ceremony, when Collins had a fiery exchange with John Aiken after the expert called out his lack of affection towards Nat.
After some back and forth between contestant and expert, an emotional Nat revealed she simply didn’t “trust” Collins. “I feel like he’s just giving me the answers he thinks I want to hear,” she said.
When it came down to making a decision, Nat had written ‘leave’ while Collins had ‘stay’ on his card. The groom appeared shocked at Nat’s decision, but fans of the show were unconvinced of his sincerity.
“Collins pretending to be shocked and upset about Natalie writing ‘leave’ is next level uncomfortable. Tone it down mate – this isn’t your Home & Away audition,” one viewer wrote on social media.
Natalie and Collins’ pairing was interesting from the get-go, with the experts branding them as “quirky individuals”. The 32-year-old physiotherapist, Nat, was matched with the 28-year-old executive assistant, Collins, who had never made it past a first date.
It didn’t take long after the nuptials before Nat began to have doubts. At the first dinner party of the season, when the 32-year-old saw all the loved-up couples, Nat became overwhelmed and left the room crying.
Collins followed closely behind to see what’s wrong, while a heartbroken Nat said: “I really wanted this to work, it’s not fair.”
The groom was shocked by Nat’s strong emotional reaction during the dinner. “I really don’t know where that came from… I could tell she was off, but whoa,” he said.
Nat then told Collins that she wanted to go home, leaving him supposedly heartbroken. But their fellow brides and grooms weren’t as convinced.
“Poor Nat is obviously balling her eyes out, she’s extremely upset, but then Collins is pretending to be upset as well when you know he’s not,” said Jayden, who hasn’t been immune from scandal.
“I’ve seen him outside the dinner party, I’ve seen how he really feels about her and he’s not that upset.”
Nat then made a shocking return the following day, surprising Collin at the apartment with a late check-in.
“I’ve decided to stay in the experiment, but if he starts to do that surface-level performance, I’m out,” she said.
And out, she is.
Married At First Sight Australia airs Monday to Wednesday, 7:30pm, and Sunday, 7pm, on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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