In a revealing new interview with Chattr, Married At First Sight (MAFS) groom Sam Stanton recalls the precise moment he noticed his relationship with Chris was likely headed for the pits.
That moment unfolded on Sunday night’s episode, when the Adelaide groom, sitting alongside Chris, said he was underwhelmed by Juliette’s recent apology attempt, to which Chris somewhat curtly jumped in to defend her.
“He sort of shut me down,” Sam recalls, adding that he’d seen similar glimpses of Chris’ tendency to shut him down that made him wary of voicing his opinion more generally — for example, in relation to Chris confidently speaking about Sam moving to Sydney — without consulting him — at the Commitment Ceremony that aired on Sunday night.
“This is why I didn’t have the conversation [about Chris’ post-MAFS plans] straight after the Commitment Ceremony. You know, I saw this. I could feel it,” Sam recalls. The 34-year-old added that his chat with fellow groom, Filip is what helped him build the confidence to confront Chris.
“Coming off that conversation with Filip, and Filip validating that… I think, was a really important part that made me sort of confident to be OK,” he said. “Someone else is seeing my side here. I should go in and just at least approach this and have a conversation.”
Sam recalls his first fight with Chris
Looking back at his first confrontation with Chris about Commitment Ceremony comments, Sam says that he didn’t expect things to go as badly as they did. “If you watch me on that couch… I think you’ll see the light fall out from behind my eyes, like, this is who I’m in a relationship with,” Sam recalls.
“It was like I was starting to see the true colours come through of what [this relationship was] going to be like. And come from a past relationship that was always met with defensiveness.” The 34-year-old said that due to those past experiences, he felt strongly about holding his ground.
So, what’s next for Sam and Chris? It’s fair to say that we’ll be tuning into tonight’s Dinner Party episode to find out!
Married at First Sight (MAFS) 2026 airs Sunday – Wednesday on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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