If you were too wrapped up in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! to notice, a new season of The Ultimatum just dropped on Netflix, seeing couples ask the ultimate question of each other: Would you rather get married, or move on?
The premise is simple: One person in the relationship has issued the other with an ultimatum, essentially asking them to choose between a life-long commitment, or breaking up. During the experiment, each participant enters into a 'trial marriage' with someone from another couple, to see if they are A) ready for marriage, and B) believe their original partner was the right person for them. During this time, they're not meant to talk to the person they entered the experiment with, in order to give their new relationship a genuine try.
Only, er, during this phase of season three, two couples decided to secretly recouple with their original partners, and leave the experiment. But why?
In case you need a recap, during episode four of The Ultimatum, Vanessa Hattaway and Dave Adams, and Micah Hardeman and Chanel Watkins, decided to leave the show overnight, leaving their trial marriages without explanation.
Text popped up on the screen during the show to share, "Earlier in the day, Dave, Vanessa, Micah and Chanel secretly met off camera. That evening, surveillance cameras captured them packing. Dave, Vanessa, Micah and Chanel quickly departed, abruptly ending their experience."
Speaking to Variety about what happened, the show's creator Chris Coelen explained, "They snuck around. As a group, they secretly met. And listen, they’re adults. We don’t put restrictions on what people do or don’t do. But the expectation from the other participants is, ‘We’re going to be in trial marriages. Let’s actually do that, and not go hang out with our original partner.'"
Vanessa then took to Instagram to share her side of the story, replying to a fan comment asking why she left: "I know I just had to do what was best for my mental health. You’re only seeing 1%."
During the trial marriages, Chanel and Micah chose to recouple with each other, while Vanessa was paired with Nick Tramontin, while her boyfriend Dave was paired with Mariah Zernik. Therefore, Nick and Mariah were left single, and reentered the experiment together.
In response to another comment asking whether she had apologised to co-star Nick for leaving, she explained, "You don’t know what happened behind scenes. I have nothing to apologise for. "I will likely talk more about it at some point soon but there is only so much I can say. I’ll add more context after the reunion."
Chanel and Micah then both reposted a photo of themselves on the show to their Instagram Stories with the caption, "Well... this escalated quickly."
Whether Vanessa and Dave, and Micah and Chanel, are all still together, remains to be seen, but we can't wait for the next batch of episodes to drop on Wednesday.
