Married At First Sight bride Juliette Chae was put in an awkward situation during Sunday night’s episode, when the experts asked her to apologise to her husband Joel Moses.
The couple were appearing at the fourth Commitment Ceremony, when Joel, 31, bluntly told the experts that there was significant tension in his marriage to Juliette, 27, after she had accused him of being not being genuine.
‘She was accusing me of being fake. I said to her I am not a fake person you don’t see the real me, don’t see the light in me, don’t see the star in me,’ Joel ranted.
However, Juliette was having none of it and told the experts that Joel’s words proved he wanted to be the ‘star’ of the show, and simply saw her as a means of achieving that.
‘That’s not true, I never said that. It is just constant reputation-savaging, the way she talks down to me in public shows she has no respect for me. She said I have devil eyes. All you have done is degrade me, disrespect me,’ Joel added.
Joel finished by saying he felt his wife did not accept him for who he was, which was causing significant tension in their relationship.
A defiant Juliette tried to defend herself by claiming that Joel was ‘condescending’ towards her, but was left shocked as series expert John Aiken took the side of her husband, calling out her behaviour at the recent dinner party.
‘I find it breathtaking that you want an apology from Joel for last night. Your behaviour towards Joel was ugly, mean and cruel,’ John bluntly told her.
‘I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone on the attack in such a way as last night. You called him a liar, said he was embarrassing, that you found him unattractive.’
The experts then bluntly told Juliette that she should stop trying to justify her behaviour and instead apologise to her husband – and she said she would try to.
‘Joel, I have always said the wrong things. I don’t feel that much hatred towards you, I just felt watered down, tired and exhausted. I apologise for hurting your feelings, you are definitely a man,’ Juliette said.
However, Joel was having none of it and bluntly told Juliette that he did not accept her apology, as it didn’t feel genuine.
‘I don’t accept your apology, I think it is insincere. This is how it has been from day one, behind the scenes,’ Joel said.
The experts then asked the pair to vote on whether they would be leaving the program – and were left shocked when they picked differently.
‘I have too much respect for myself,’ Joel said as he revealed his vote to leave.
However, Juliette then shocked her husband by revealing she had written ‘stay’, saying she liked the ‘glimpses’ of fun she had with her husband, and wanted to continue working towards them.
In a shock move, Joel agreed to give their relationship another chance provided Juliette agreed to some ‘boundaries’ he set.
‘I will not be disrespected like that again, I will not tolerate it. I will always treat you with kindness and respect, I expect the same back. It is a one-strike policy, I will not give a second chance,’ Joel told her.
Juliette accepted Joel’s conditions and the pair agreed to give their relationship another shot.
It comes after Juliette left her husband Joel red-faced over his teddy bear during Wednesday’s dinner party.
The experiment was left in shock as the 27-year-old recounted how she had once tucked Joel into bed alongside his beloved stuffed toy on their honeymoon.
Juliette lashed out at her husband, calling him a ‘loser’, saying he had ‘devil eyes’ and insisted his appearance on the show was ‘a performance’.
Joel tried to remain calm as some of the group turned on him over his teddy, including Gia Fleur.
‘I would have cut its head off,’ the controversial bride said.
Turning to an embarrassed Joel, Gia asked, ‘Do you think having a teddy is manly?’
‘She allowed that [teddy] on the honeymoon, grow up, you are in your 30s…and for a woman to respect a man, it requires a masculine energy…’
This comment was Juliette’s opportunity to vent her frustration over her unravelling relationship.
‘What we are trying to say is, I’m not married to a man,’ she said.
Still, others in the experiment were more shocked by Juliette’s attack on Joel during the evening than by any ‘teddy bear confession’.
‘Is that the worst thing in the world for a guy to have, a teddy?’ Rachel Gilmore said in a debrief interview.
After reading the room, Juliette turned on Joel, revealing that the teddy was the least of her concerns.
‘I don’t have a problem with the teddy, I have a problem with Joel,’ she said.
‘I prefer the teddy to Joel. The teddy is not a c*** to me like Joel is. I’ve put up with two weeks of this s**t.’
The teddy drama was one of many humiliations inflicted on Joel during an explosive dinner party that saw the quirky groom called a ‘liar’ and ‘so cringey’ by his bride.
Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.