Married At First Sight Season 17: Who Was Telling The Truth In Each Marriage?

Many of the Married at First Sight season 17 cast members tried to outsmart the process and control the optics, and lies were told in the process. Season 17 was arguably the least successful season in Married at First Sight history. Only Becca Haley and Austin Reed said yes to each other on Decision Day, but they broke up the next day. Emily Balch and Brennan Shoyket had a nasty final argument and parted ways days before Decision Day but came together to throw shade at each other and say no formally in front of the experts.

Clare Kerr and Cameron Frazer mutually decided on separation on their one-month anniversary and then came together once again on Decision Day to say no to staying married. Lauren Goodger and Orion Martzloff got a divorce upon returning from their tumultuous honeymoon at Orion’s behest. Michael Shiakallis was originally paired with a mystery bride who ended up ditching him at the altar. After healing from that experience, the experts rematched Michael with Chleo Brown, and the pair started their experience in the middle of the season. Chloe ultimately said yes to Michael while Michael said no to Chloe.

Becca & Austin

There were a lot of dysfunctional parts of Becca and Austin’s relationship, but Austin was exposed to be a liar. Austin and Clare had differences over religion, intimacy paces, and controlling their images. Austin thought Becca wouldn’t let him be himself while Becca chastised Austin for caring more about optics than their relationship. Austin admitted to not wanting to be portrayed as a bad person and seemingly agreed that he was trying to control his image to Married at First Sight viewers.

While Austin and Becca may have said yes on Decision Day, Becca threw in the towel the very next day at the final group gathering. She found out the night prior that Austin and Brennan had gone out with a producer. Austin lied about it in front of everyone and was immediately called out by Becca for it.

Austin showed himself to be dishonest, which may have been the main contributing factor to the end of his and Becca’s marriage.

Lauren & Orion

Lauren and Orion’s disconnect happened when Lauren made an insensitive racial “joke,” which deeply offended Orion. Orion’s disdain was exacerbated after he found out that Lauren had sex with someone a few months before getting married. On the honeymoon, Lauren expressed that Orion said he was going to try and move past those things, but he actually came back with resentment and asked for a divorce.

Post-separation, Orion said he wanted to “build a bridge” back to Lauren but never followed through with anything actionable according to Lauren. Lauren grew frustrated by Orion’s empty words and she had a meltdown during a group get-together where Lauren got angry at Orion for giving up on their marriage (via Lifetime.) Orion admitted to being vague at the Married at First Sight season 17 Reunion, and Lauren continued to want to call him out. In a sit-down with Clare after the Reunion, Lauren referred to Orion as “Oliar,” which seems fitting based on his lack of follow-through.

Clare & Cameron

Clare and Cameron were apparently pretending to be amicable during the season and on Decision Day. Things came to a head at the get-together the day after Decision Day when Clare said she felt silenced by Cameron, which prompted Cameron to allege that Clare was being fake the entire experiment. Cameron said Clare did not want to look bad in front of viewers.

“I’ve literally lied every single day of this fucking marriage to protect [Clare]. “

Things got even more contentious between Cameron and Clare at the Reunion when Cameron said Clare had a boyfriend she was in love with and sleeping with throughout the process. Clare denied the accusation and said Cameron was the one who orchestrated the entire group to push false narratives to make themselves look better. Both Cameron and Clare seem to be guilty of lying. In spite of everything, Cameron said he would be willing to try a romantic relationship with Clare again, which could also have been a lie.

Emily & Brennan

Brennan lost attraction for Emily during the honeymoon but did not tell her why until the end of the eight weeks. He said Emily was a mean, negative person who put other people down and was not the positive person he asked for. Brennan’s assertions struck a nerve with Emily that she has not seemed to get over. At the Reunion, Emily had several nasty meltdowns where she accused Brennan of hitting on her friend and not letting her be authentic (via Lifetime.)

Brennan did take responsibility for omitting the truth about why he wasn’t attracted to Emily. He also alleged that Emily said she would publically destroy him, and it did seem like Emily was out to slander.

Based on Emily’s erratic and unbecoming Reunion behavior, she seems like the one in the relationship to escalate things and paint them how she sees them, which is not always the truth.

Michael & Chloe Stayed Out Of Marital Drama

Chloe and Michael largely stayed out of the drama, mostly because they joined the season late and were not a part of the contentious goings-on between the other cast members. Michael and Chloe also endeavored to be open and honest with each other and neither one got involved in any lie telling. Chloe got mixed up with the Married at First Sight season 17 women whom she says alleged she was a husband stealer since she had a close relationship with the season 17 men.

Chloe also claimed that the season 17 women made a burner social media account to say terrible things about her. Chloe is believable based on past behavior. Unless Chloe is a clout chaser who wanted more air time she had nothing to gain from having issues with the other Married at First Sight women whom she said didn’t want to heal.