Married at First Sight season 17 was a trainwreck, and there were several shocking moments throughout the season. Four couples began their marriage experiment journeys after saying yes to marrying a stranger. Lauren Goodger and Oion Martzloff, Clare Kerr and Cameron Frazer, Emily Balch and Brennan Shoykhet, and Becca Haley and Austin Reed all took the Married at First Sight plunge. In the second half of the season, viewers also watched Michael Shiakallis marry Chloe Brown.
None of the Married at First Sight season 17 marriages worked out. Becca and Austin were the only genuine couple to make it to Decision Day, and they said yes to each other only to break up the very next day. The Married at First Sight experts dropped the ball with their matchmaking, ability to guide the couples, and conflict resolution amongst the wayward pairs. There were many cringy parts to season 17, which began airing in mid-October 2023. Fans have yet to watch the messy reunion episode, where many accusations and drama will come to light.
Cameron left off with a ton of built-up animosity toward Clare, whom he deemed a “puppet master,” and vocalized that she made him lie for her. Lauren grew frustrated over and over with Orion post-divorce because he didn’t follow through with any of his supposed desires to “built a bridge” back to Lauren. Brennan said he lost all attraction for Emily upon returning from the honeymoon and it eventually came out that he lost attraction because Emily was negative and said harsh things about others. Becca pressured Austin to feel bad about his slow intimacy pace, and Austin thought Becca was out to make him look bad on camera. Chloe and Michael seemed perfect, but Michael decided he wasn’t ready to be a husband.
7. Michael’s Runaway Bride
A MAFS First
Married at First Sight season 17 got off to the rockiest start in franchise history. Michael was originally paired with a mystery bride, who made it all the way to the altar only to tell Michael she wasn’t ready to marry a stranger (via ET.) The situation was unprecedented and left Michael devasted. The runaway bride situation had lasting effects on the season, its credibility, and Michael’s ability to be ready for marriage. The situation was shocking and led fans to question the experts’ ability to match people.
However, Michael persevered and was asked by the experts if he was willing to get Married at First Sight again were they to find him another match. Michael said he was willing to try again, and that’s when he was paired with Chloe. In the whole runaway bride scenario, the experts never took accountability for matching him with someone who clearly was not up for marriage or the show.
6. Lauren’s Racist “Joke”
Orion Victimized Himself
While Lauren and Orion seemed like they were matched well and going to be one of season 17’s front-running couples, their positive dynamic quickly fell apart during the honeymoon. After sharing many personal things with one another, Lauren and Orion had a hot tub conversation that spiraled quickly. They were talking about ethnicity and Orion’s Native American pride when Lauren made a comment that was cringy and inappropriate.
“I don’t even know what red skin means honestly,” Lauren chuckled before saying, “Oh wait, I just looked at your face.”
Lauren and Orion were both each other’s first cross-cultural relationships. They both appeared to want to embrace the other’s culture and values, but their honeymoon misalignment proved to be too much to come back from. The jarring racial joke situation drove a wedge between the pair. Orion said he was able to move past it, but that turned out not to be true because he eventually identified the unfortunate scenario as something he couldn’t get over, ultimately leading to him asking for a divorce.
5. Austin & Becca’s Religious Conversation
Becca & Austin’s First Disagreement
Becca and Austin were another couple who appeared to be well-matched. They had instant chemistry and bonded quickly. Austin was accepting of Becca’s health issues and they showcased their fondness for each other throughout the honeymoon. However, their first fight occurred when they were settling into their married life and religion came up. Becca knew that Austin was religious, but she didn’t realize the degree to which he believed in heaven and hell and how a non-believing person would end up in hell in Austin’s eyes.
Becca didn’t like how negatively Austin viewed her agnosticism and she felt like she had to conform to Austin’s beliefs. After sitting down with Pastor Cal to try and mediate the religious conversation, it was clear that Becca and Austin had their first disconnect. That disconnect turned out to be the first of many and underscored Becca and Austin’s mismatching.
4. Orion’s Reaction To Lauren’s Recent Sex Life
Orion Flip-flopped About His Feelings
Lauren and Orion attempted to come back from the racist comment debacle only to be met with other problems that grew a life of their own. Lauren and Orion had a talk about their sexual interests at dinner, but things went sideways after Lauren revealed that she had sex with someone three months prior to coming on the show (via ET.) Orion expressed his immediate displeasure that Lauren had a recent sex life and vocalized that that changed things for him.
Lauren felt like Orion was shaming her, and the entire situation was cringy and uncomfortable to watch.
3. Brennan & Emily’s Restaurant Fight
They Had A Public Spat
Emily got into a near-fatal ATV accident while out with Brennan on a relationship-building date. Brennan supported Emily through the traumatic incident and the pair appeared to grow closer after Brennan’s reveal that he wasn’t attracted to Emily. All season long Brennan refused to reveal the real reason he lost attraction for Emily, but things came to a head when Emily and Brennan were out for dinner. Emily felt like she was in a better place and felt closer to Brennan and getting their romantic chemistry back, but Brennan was quick to tell her he wasn’t feeling the same way.
Brennan finally disclosed that he lost attraction for Emily because of her negativity and hateful comments aimed at others.
“You took the opportunity it was Michael and Chloe’s vows that were just beautiful and you just destroyed them.”
Emily felt blindsided by Brennan’s revelations and pushed the narrative that she was a positive person. Brennan said the romantic chemistry aspect between them wasn’t there and that asked the experts for a “positive, positive” person, and that’s not what he felt he got in Emily. Emily was in tears over dinner as the waiter awkwardly brought their food. Emily even ordered another glass of wine, prolonging the uncomfortable situation.
2. Becca Calling Austin “Dismissive” & “Combative”
Becca Made Austin Look Bad
One of the most shocking moments of Married At First Sight season 17 was Becca’s way of putting Austin down. When their relationship was crumbling due to Becca wanting to push her intimacy pace that was too fast onto Austin, they had a sit-down therapy session with Pastor Cal and Dr. Pepper. During the conversation Becca highlighted not feeling wanted by Austin and that she was dealing with days and nights of rejection (via Lifetime.) Becca went into detail about how she didn’t feel wanted by her husband despite him giving her reassurance in other ways.
During the conversation, Becca took things a step further by calling Austin out as “dismissive” and “combative,” two descriptions that really didn’t sit well with Austin. Austin expressed feeling silenced by Becca and that if the things he said didn’t fit into what she wanted him to say and feel then he was in the wrong. Becca’s negative comments about Austin felt like an attack on his character according to Austin, who felt like Becca was trying to make him look bad. Becca’s comments spelled the expedited end to her marriage with Austin.
1. Cameron Calling Out Clare At The Post-Decision Day Gathering
The Truth Came Out
Clare tried to paint herself as an emotionally intelligent person who always tried to do the right thing when in actuality she was an ice queen. She didn’t give her marriage with Cameron a chance, but evidently pushed Cameron to lead the narrative that they were amicable and she did nothing wrong. Things took a turn during the post-Decision Day group gathering after Clare alleged that she felt silenced by Cameron. Cameron was having none of that and called out Clare for lying and being a manipulator. Cameron’s revelations were shocking and proved that Clare was not the nice person she claimed to be,
Married at First Sight season 17 was historic not only for the unprecedented second wedding of Michael but also because it had so many shocking moments. Much of the cast showed their true colors and got villainized for it. This season had no shortage of drama and came to an unfortunate end for all the couples.
