It’s the second night of final vows for this season of Married At First Sight and the couple’s up for the night are Martha and Michael and Ning and Mark.
Martha and Michael have had a relatively smooth sailing ride throughout the series, and it was unsurprising that they both opted to stay. On the other hand, Ning and Mark have had possibly one of the most intense journeys so far – with Ning having voted to leave two weeks in a row now.
Ning was up first, telling her TV husband: “I thought maybe there was something wrong with me in so many ways, and I thought entering into a marriage with a complete stranger would make me love again. I then found you. We started our journey butting heads. I felt at the beginning I didn’t give my all to the experiment, my all to you, and I should have just surrendered. You’re a special man Mark, you really are.”
“You have helped me heal,” Ning continues, getting teary. “For that I thank you.”
“You have taught me how to really laugh again, and that I do deserve so much more than I am willing to accept. There’s nothing wrong with who I am. I’m a good kind of crazy. I hope I have taught you to feel all the feels, and I hope that one day you will be able to say the L-word, love. We are more than just friends. There’s no doubt about it.
“I came here to heal and find love. Yes, you have helped me heal in so many ways that words can’t explain. But, as for love, I’m unsure. My inability to let you in has been the biggest battle for us in this experiment and I blame myself. I feel like the distance between where we’re from has weighed a lot on both our decisions. It’s brought up a lot of uncertainties. But, I’m going to stop over analysing our relationships and just follow my heart instead of my head.
“We have had more challenges then wins, but still you stand by me and that is what I want in a man. You have not abandoned by in this experiment called marriage, therefore I have chosen not to abandon you. I’m saying yes to you, yes to us and yes to continuing our journey together.”
Mark then takes a deep breath, “Ning, I entered this experiment because even at the age of 42 it was the first time in my life for me to really give my relationship a commitment. A word I had never really considered until now. It was never love at first sight for us, and in the first few weeks turbulent at best. However, after this rocky start, we finally found our groove after discovering we had a similar sense of humour – and I haven’t stopped laughing since.
“When things between us had blossomed, and feelings started to develop you really showed me that being in a good relationship is far better than being single. You are one of the funniest people I have ever met. Your sense of humour is unmatched and your laugh, while saying yes, is contagious. You are incredibly selfless and you always consider others first. You stand up for what you believe in, and you are a very loyal friend to those close by you – all qualities I’ve been looking for in a partner.”
He continues, “You and I have shared so many unbelievable moments, and sharing them with you has made the last two months absolutely incredible. Ning, I came on here to find love, but I haven’t found it with you.”
“Even though my feelings for you are strong, I don’t see these feelings as being strong enough to survive after this experiment ends and they aren’t strong enough to ask you to move your entire life and three children to another city for me. In you, I have found an awesome person that I respect and admire, adore – this has been one of the most…”
“Just stop,” Ning interjects, shaking her head. “This is bulls*it.”
“You know you had the choice to leave last week, so I just don’t get why we’re here.”
“I really like you, I really do,” Mark replies. “I just wasn’t getting enough confidence from you.”
“Well, it’s called trust. I haven’t ever given you anything to not trust me about.”
“You wanted to leave last week,” he adds. “This decision has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.”
Viewers were unsurprisingly shocked.
This article originally appeared on InStyle Australia.
