EXCLUSIVE: After two weeks of watching Sam and Chris grow apart, Sam finally ended their marriage for good in Tuesday night’s episode of MAFS.
Speaking to nine.com.au, Sam and Chris shared there were plenty of reasons for their split including living situations, inconsistencies on and off-camera and perhaps surprisingly Chris’ close friendship with Gia.
“Through the whole experiment, Gia was always at the centre of drama. So when Chris confided in her as one of his best friends on the show, it did worry me a lot,” Sam said.
“That’s who he was calling every night for advice on our relationship which I don’t think would’ve been the best advice.”
Sam also added that he “wanted [Chris] to recognise the behaviours in Gia were very similar to his”.
For Sam, watching his time in the experiment back meant he finally noticed Chris and Gia “eye rolling and smirking back and forth” at each other when he spoke in Commitment Ceremonies.
“I thought Gia and I were friends … With Gia, she just naturally led the whole group so much. I wasn’t aware of all the stuff that happened behind the scenes with her,” Sam said.
“Watching the show back, I can’t believe how much time I gave Gia.”
Chris didn’t completely agree, telling nine.com.au: “Gia didn’t really have an impact on my relationship. It was more issues that Sam and I had with each other.”
Something Chris and Sam could both agree on was that Gia certainly wasn’t the only reason for the break down of their marriage.
Of course there was their disagreement over Chris’ casual plans for their future but according to Chris, Sam wasn’t the same on and off-camera.
“Off-camera, I got nothing from [Sam]. We went on one date. He didn’t hold my hand, no affection. He didn’t even know my kids’ names. He didn’t know my mum’s name who came to the wedding, my sister’s name who came to the wedding,” Chris said.
“When there was a camera in front of Sam’s face, he said all the right things.”
With Sam’s need for personal space at the start of their relationship, Chris felt “pushed back a bit”.
Eventually Sam grew interested in Chris and the pair were intimate but for Chris “the sexual intimacy energy was off”.
Sam thought it was interesting that “when Chris and [he] went sour, it was right around the time [their] intimacy was at its best”.
“Still this day I don’t know what flipped in Chris,” he said.
For Sam, ultimately things would never work with Chris because of his emotional maturity.
“I think it’s learned behaviour through his whole life, and getting Chris to change the way he reacts to feedback in just a couple of weeks was impossible. I think I just decided that I’m looking for someone who has that emotional maturity now, and not someone that I would need to work through these things with.”
Chris did take responsibility for being reactive at times.
“I’m a Scorpio, I’m fiery, I do have some wounds, and I do get defensive. I felt like I needed someone who can handle that.
“In the same breath, I do realise that I need to work on my defensiveness and my reactive nature in that way, which I was willing to work on.
“Everything snowballed from that moment and it just turned awful.”