“Married at First Sight” experts react to [SPOILER] breaking up before the finale (exclusive)
“Married at First Sight” experts react to [SPOILER] breaking up before the finale (exclusive)
Sarah HearonThu, August 13, 2026 at 3:56 PM UTC
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‘Married at First Sight’ season 20Credit: Peacock
This post contains spoilers for Married at First Sight season 20, episode 14.
Key Points -
Experts Dr. Lisa and Paul pushed the couples on Married at First Sight to prepare to make a final decision in their relationships in the latest batch of episodes.
One duo, however, decided to end things early.
“I don’t think we were surprised,” Dr. Lisa tells EW.
Season 20 of Married at First Sight continues to deliver top-notch reality TV, with one couple calling it quits early in the latest batch of episodes.
During a group therapy session, Nick Uhlenhuth and Courteney Landis came to the mutual conclusion that their marriage was not working.
“I haven’t felt like it’s a romantic thing. … It does suck,” Nick said.
Courteney was the one to actually end things. “But I’ve obviously expressed that I don’t know about this long-term either. Somebody’s got to rip off the Band-aid. … I don’t think either of us is wrong, but we’re wrong for each other.”
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, relationship experts Dr. Lisa Paz and Paul C. Brunson agreed that the early breakup — two weeks before the end of the experiment — did not come as a shock.
Courtney Landis and Nick Uhlenhuth on ‘Married at First Sight’Credit: Peacock
“I don’t think we were surprised. I think it felt like it made sense and it felt like it was okay,” Dr. Lisa says. “We want to see greatness, but I also want to see everyone be in their truth.”
Nick and Courteney’s relationship has been rocky since their wedding day, with both viewers and people in Courteney’s life questioning Nick’s reality TV past. (Nick has appeared on Netflix’s The Circle, Perfect Match and Battle Camp.) The experts were also on the fence.
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“I think there was always a question mark for us, which is why we brought it up immediately when we first revealed to him that he’d be in the experiment, why we followed up on it in the first group therapy session and why we continued to push him — because that was always apparent,” Paul tells EW. “I think you only know at the end. You never know during, but you kind of know at the end. There’s a great moment in the reunion where I think it becomes very apparent why he was there.”
Paul teases that the Aug. 27 reunion will offer more insight about Nick’s intentions.
Paul C. Brunson and Dr. Lisa Paz on ‘Married at First Sight’Credit: Peacock
Dr. Lisa notes, “But if you watch, we are pushing him the whole way through to let the layers down, to show us more of himself and to Paul’s point, you will see.”
Both Paul and Dr. Lisa praised Courteney’s efforts to try to get Nick to open up on the show, but acknowledged that the audience may not understand her.
“I think she’s getting a tough rap. I adore Courteney,” Dr. Lisa says. “She’s honest and authentic, and I think she poured her heart into trying to show up.”
Paul pinpoints when viewers may have turned on Courteney.
“What’s interesting is that Nick did all these reality shows. People were skeptical on Nick, and I think they kind of wanted to hate on Nick and wanted to love Courteney. But the moment that Courteney started to put up this resistance, that’s when I think she disproportionately lost support,” Paul says. “But when you unpack what Courteney is doing, she’s just holding on to what she values. She’s holding onto what she believes, and she’s also demanding more from Nick. And in essence, she’s saying it, but she’s not doing it in an eloquent way. She’s saying, ‘I just don’t buy you.’ That’s what the audience is saying too. But she’s saying in real time, ‘I need more. I need more.’ But the way that it’s translating is, I think, unfair on her because she’s an incredible person.”
“And authentic,” Dr. Lisa adds. “She’s equal parts firecracker with a very sensitive side to her and has a softness that is not getting highlighted. She was frustrated with wanting more from him, then it came out as her browbeating or picking on him. It was really a solicitation for more. And to your point, she didn’t go about it very eloquently, but I think the intention was not quite as dark as it seems.”
New episodes of Married at First Sight stream on Peacock every Thursday.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
