EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Marinos has shared an insight into her relationship with Dave Thomas Hand.
MAFS fans are convinced Dave Thomas Hand has checked out of his relationship with Jamie Marinos. Photos: Channel Nine
Married At First Sight fans are convinced Dave Thomas Hand has checked out of his relationship with Jamie Marinos after a telling detail in Sunday night’s episode. While the outspoken bride excitedly told the experts at the commitment ceremony that she has said ‘I love you’ to her partner, he admitted he is yet to say it back.
Dave then avoided the question of whether he could see himself getting to that point and smiled awkwardly as Jamie continued sharing her feelings. He was also shown looking around the room and fidgeting with his fingers while the music swelled and relationship expert Alessandra Rampolla looked perplexed.
“This experiment, we’ve really done it properly, we have. And you can do it properly and not fall in love,” he said.
Many viewers took to social media following the episode to question whether the confusing ‘edit’ hinted that Jamie and Dave don’t make it to the end of the experiment.
“Yep Dave’s left the building, definitely checked out,” one person wrote, while another agreed, “Yeah a definite shift tonight”.
“His body language is changing quickly,” a third remarked, followed by someone else who said, “He is acting so weird and different!”.
“I’m hoping it was just edited to look that way, they made it so awkward to watch,” a different user replied, with another commenting, “Nah. It’s just editing to build drama”.
Dave was shown looking awkward while Jamie spoke about her feelings towards him. Photos: Channel Nine
Why didn’t Dave say ‘I love you’?
Jamie recently told Yahoo Lifestyle that she and Dave were moving at a different pace in the experiment because of what was happening in his personal life. The fan-favourite groom had previously shared at his wedding that his father was in hospital battling cancer and was undergoing his fourth round of chemotherapy.
“Dave was going through a bit of a hard time during filming. He mentioned in our wedding episode his dad was unfortunately unwell, and so he was actually going back to Melbourne for a couple of days to visit him,” Jamie detailed.
“It was a very tough go for Dave because he’s in this experiment but also, his mind was at home too. It was just this constant balancing act of being a good husband but also trying to process everything that’s going on in and out of the experiment.”
How did Jamie say ‘I love you’?
Jamie said that she quickly took on a caretaker role in the relationship and Dave’s unfortunate situation made her want to “give him as much love as [she] could”.
“So the night before he was leaving, he was catching an early morning flight, we were in bed and I just turned him and I said, ‘I love you, but don’t say anything. Don’t say anything, go to bed. Goodnight’,” she recalled.
“He gave me a kiss and he had a big stupid smile on his face. At that point, I knew we were in a different place because he wasn’t as 100 per cent there as I was. I had nothing weighing on my mind, I was just completely laser-focused on this man like, this is my job now. But again, Dave having to process what’s going on at home, I knew it was going to take him a little bit longer so I didn’t want to put that pressure on him.”