Married at First Sight star Mackinley Gilbert has revealed that he almost backed out of doing the show’s sixteenth season, which just premiered on Lifetime.
Mackinley, 34, was matched by Married at First Sight experts Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Pastor Calvin Roberson to wed Domynique Kloss, 25, on the show’s sixteenth season, which filmed in Nashville, TN.
But before Dr. Pepper and Pastor Cal told Mackinley that they had found him a match and he’d be getting married in two weeks, Mackinley was apparently seeing another woman.
“I had a girl that I was talking to,” Mackinley said on Married at First Sight: Afterparty, which aired immediately following the Season 16 premiere Wednesday night on Lifetime.
“But I don’t know that we were on the same path as far as marriage, and that’s something I’m looking for.”
Afterparty host Keshia Knight Pulliam therefore asked Mackinley, “Was there a scenario where you may have chosen not to be married at first sight?”
“100 percent,” Mackinley replied. “I was unsure that I was going to do it and, like, follow through.”
Mackinley said he was unsure whether to commit to the extreme experiment because he and this pre-show mystery woman “had a really good connection.”
“But yeah, I went in the opposite direction,” he confirmed.
Mackinley and Domynique’s wedding has yet to air on the show.
However, Mackinley was shown having a great time at the grooms’ joint bachelor party in Nashville.
Mackinley admitted to Keshia that he and some friends, including women, went to a strip club after the party Married at First Sight had thrown for him.
“We stayed the night together but everybody had their own rooms and stuff,” Mackinley claimed of his group. “[My friends] said, ‘This isn’t the bachelor party we wanted you to have,’ and so they took me out and we had a good time. I didn’t do anything bad!”
The guys agreed MAFS16 star Clint Webb had the most fun at the bachelor party.
The Married at First Sight experts dubbed Domynique “The Old Soul” and Mackinley “The Introverted Dreamer.”
Domynique described herself to the cameras as a mature woman. She’s an only child to a single mother, who is her best friend, but Domynique admitted she speaks to her mother multiple times a day — even on her lunch break.
Domynique’s mother, in fact, is the person who signed Domynique up for the reality show.
“It just seems there’s a lack of commitment… and so what better way to avoid that than going into a process like [this]?” Domynique explained.
However, Domynique’s friends said her future husband better be fine with girls’ nights out.
Meanwhile, Mackinley said he moved from Michigan to Nashville and was staying with his best friend’s family. Mackinley explained how he’s “a sleeper” who’s shy at first but can be outgoing and sassy once he gets to know someone better.
Mackinley apparently dropped out of college and started his own business. His parents have been married for 45 years.
When Mackinley was on the verge of getting engaged once, the woman apparently texted him a picture of her engagement ring from another man.
Mackinley said the heartbreak was real but he’s ready for love and to settle down.
“I want a long-term life partner, somebody to bring me out of my shell,” Mackinley noted.
Pastor Cal said Mackinley and Domynique have similar attachment styles in relationships in that they both like their independence and wouldn’t desire a spouse who’s overly needy or immature. Mackinley wanted an optimistic and outgoing partner like Domynique to expand his horizons.
Married at First Sight currently airs on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime
