Married At First Sight season 17’s Emily Balch came out as the villain of the season, which has led viewers to recount the moments where her behavior was cringe and irritating. Joining a series like MAFS can be difficult for anyone, but Emily’s attitude going into the show was a lot like others from her season and past seasons. Hopeful that she’d be able to find a lasting love, Emily submitted to the idea of having the experts match her up with her MAFS husband, who she’d marry sight unseen.
While Emily and her new husband, Brennan Shoykhet, had both signed up for the Married At First Sight season 17 experience, the pair’s connection was shaky during their time on the series. Though they both seemed interested in one another after marrying on the show, Brennan and Emily’s relationship quickly changed when it became clear that he didn’t find her as attractive as he’d hoped. Brennan tried to keep his feelings from Emily, which caused them to struggle within just days of their wedding.
Brennan and Emily did their best to connect during their honeymoon, but the couple weren’t on the same page and Brennan continuously kept things from his new wife. Though he’d vowed to continue to share his feelings with Emily, Brennan made the choice to keep his real feelings about his wife to himself. While the Married At First Sight season 17 couple were working hard to try and improve their relationship, Brennan’s lack of honesty was making it impossible for them to make progress.
As the season progressed, Emily came to realize that her MAFS husband wasn’t telling her the full truth. Though she had every right to push Brennan to be honest with her, Emily struggled to do so in a way that didn’t also make viewers struggle to enjoy watching her. Emily’s attitude about her relationship with Brennan wasn’t something viewers knew how to relate to, as it came off as somewhat desperate and overwhelming when he continually refused to open up to her.
After nearly half the time on Married At First Sight season 17 had passed them by, Emily and Brennan both seemed to understand that their relationship wouldn’t be progressing further. Despite knowing their marriage would likely come to an end at the end of the season, the couple felt a glimmer of connection after Emily had a difficult accident that left her with a major head wound. Though Brennan cared for her, the damage in their relationship had been done, and Emily came for her one-time MAFS husband at the reunion in a way that left viewers feeling uncomfortable.
8. Emily Told Brennan’s Friends She Would Sleep With Him On Wedding Night
During the earliest episodes of Married At First Sight season 17, Emily, Brennan, and the rest of the Denver singles were prepared for what could be the biggest moment of their lives. Getting ready for their weddings, Emily felt confident that if she met a match that she was interested in, things may get more physical than she originally assumed on their wedding night. While Emily wasn’t necessarily planning to get physically intimate with her new husband, she wasn’t ruling out the idea entirely.
After meeting and marrying Brennan, Emily shared with his friends that she would be open to sleeping with him on their wedding night. While it seemed like she was sharing this to be fun or cool, as well as upfront, his friends were put off by the declaration. Emily’s behavior was uncomfortable, making Brennan’s friends wary of her as they got to know the woman they hoped would remain his wife.
7. Emily’s Afterparty Behavior Toward Host Keisha Knight Pulliam
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Married At First Sight’s aftershow, Afterparty, is always an interesting look at the current episodes from the vantage point of the MAFS stars in the future. Seeing how the show is edited can be difficult for some MAFS stars, but allowing them to provide their commentary on the storylines that are playing out on the series can be insightful for viewers, who may not be grasping their headspace. Throughout Married At First Sight season 17, the stars joined in on the Afterparty episodes with host Keisha Knight Pulliam, including Emily and Brennan.
During Emily’s appearance on Afterparty, many noticed that her behavior was less-than-savory, leading some to wonder what happened later in the season to make her so salty. Particularly, Emily’s behavior toward host Keisha was incredibly uncomfortable to watch. Her responses to Keisha and her inability to accept her own faults was cringe, and made many question letting her join the aftershow again in the future.
6. Emily Dissing Michael & Chloe’s Wedding Vows
After her own marriage had started to break down, Emily struggled to understand the happiness of any of the other couples on the show. Early on in Married At First Sight season 17, Emily’s co-star Michael Shiakallis was left at the altar by his original bride, and when he was rematched with another woman mid-way through the season, the rest of the cast got to know the pair. During Michael’s wedding to Chloe Brown, Emily appeared jaded and unable to connect with the emotion.
Emily felt compelled to diss Michael and Chloe’s wedding vows, which were ultimately a sweet, emotional declaration of what they hoped to be for one another. With both Michael and Chloe hoping that their marriage would lead them to find the love of their life, they poured their emotions into their wedding vows, but Emily couldn’t relate. She chose to tear down the vows and make herself look bad, rather than allowing others to have a sweet exchange.
5. Emily’s Conceited & Mean Reunion Behavior
Throughout the MAFS season 17 reunion, the couples continually struggled to make peace with what had happened to them during the season, especially Emily. After revealing that the majority of the cast members, aside from Michael and Chloe, had tried to game the system and produce their own version of MAFS behind the producers’ backs, Emily was on the defensive. She continually appeared stand-off-ish and wasn’t able to handle a direct comment or criticism.
Emily’s behavior during her one-on-one sitdown during the reunion was petty and childish, as she barely let Brennan get a word in edgewise and when she did, she came at him to criticize everything he said. While Emily was tough on Brennan in the one-on-one moments, her attitude when the entire cast came together was even worse. Emily refused to let others speak about her, spoke over other cast members, and generally allowed her mean behavior to shine through any explanation she could’ve provided for her attitude on the show.
4. Emily Flexes Too Much On Social Media
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Emily’s attitude on social media after her time on MAFS has become too much for viewers to bear, as she’s proven to be one of the biggest MAFS clout chasers of the season. Emily’s social media, which was private during the season, has been revealed to be full of posts where she’s flexing the services she’s received, both free and paid. While Emily has been able to capitalize on her MAFS fame, it also feels evident that she’s not famous enough to actually get sponsorships.
In recent posts, Emily has shared about hair coloring services, facial and skincare services, and IV drip services. Her self-care may be enviable, but the fact that she continues to flex about the things she’s received due to her appearance on Married At First Sight is somewhat questionable. Emily’s behavior is cringe, and viewers who are finding her on social media aren’t exactly surprised.
3. Emily Saying Having Hate Was Good
Toward the end of Married At First Sight season 17, Emily was at a point where she wasn’t able to let go of the way Brennan had treated her, but she also wasn’t able to stay active in her relationship with him to try and fix things. Instead, Emily had a lot of resentment and anger she’d been holding onto, and she explained she wasn’t able to let go of it. Though she had been working hard to bring herself out of the spiral she was in, Emily wanted to hold onto some of her rage.
She explained on MAFS season 17’s final episode that holding onto her anger was likely better for her as an outlet than letting it go. Emily was clear that she wanted to stay angry in some ways, because it would keep the hurt fresh and therefore she would likely be able to remain more relevant. Emily’s need to hold onto the hurt and pain she felt so long ago feels unnecessary, and made her look desperate.
2. Emily Getting A Tattoo
During the finale episode of Married At First Sight season 17, Emily and the rest of the MAFS women aside from Chloe decided to go to a tattoo shop together. While Becca Haley and Lauren Goodger decided to sit out from getting tattoos, Emily and Clare Kerr, who was her closest confidant during MAFS season 17, chose to get tattoos to symbolize their experience on the show. Emily shared it would be her first tattoo, and she was looking forward to it.
Emily and Clare’s tattoos would be a small symbol of a wave, and though the tattoo artist wasn’t really curious about what it implied, Emily explained. She shared that she wanted to get a wave tattoo to share the MAFS experience, which felt both high and low in equal measure. Her desire to memorialize an experience she found to be difficult, strenuous, and painful with a tattoo felt odd, and left some viewers cringing.
1. Emily’s Instagram Bio Is Not Cool
While Emily’s entire social media presence is questionable, her Instagram bio is something that has left many confused as to how she feels she should be perceived. Throughout Married At First Sight season 17, Emily’s questionable behavior led to some major criticism from viewers. Many felt that he actions on the series were unkind, and others weren’t happy with the level of reality she seemed to be participating with, especially after she shared that she’d gone along with the plan to dupe the producers.
Emily’s Instagram bio explains she’s “the one who #disrespected MAFS S17”, proceeded by an eye roll emoji. Though she has admitted to going along with the same deception the rest of the cast did, Emily isn’t owning her actions when it comes to making the MAFS viewers and producers believe her lies. Her flippant disregard for the fact that she actually did disrespect Married At First Sight season 17 simply makes her even cringier.
