***Contains spoilers on Married At First Sight Australia season 12***
After weeks of weddings, explosive dinner parties, and chaotic Commitment Ceremonies, the first set of final vows took place on Married At First Sight Australia this evening. And what an evening it was!
Following last week's challenge, which saw the contestants getting the chance to meet their backup brides and grooms, things were still a little tense for Carina and Paul. Paul decided to go on his date with Hannah Renee, and Carina compared what he'd done to "cheating".
Paul wasn't the only one to go on the date, with Awhina meeting her almost-groom Tim, who she got on very well with. Similarly, Jacqui and Ryan, Beth and Teejay, Jamie, and Awhina and Adrian took the opportunity, although Awhina regretted the decision immediately afterwards. Rhi and Jeff were the only couple, who both rejected the offer.
With the first part of the final vows already taking place, read on for a full recap of what happened, including our hot take on all of the couples.
You'll have to tune in to the second part of the final vows to see Ryan and Jacqui and Rhi and Jeff take their vows.
Beth and Teejay
Despite making it this far in the experiment, the duo decided not to go through with the final vows altogether.
Speaking in their apartment, Beth told Teejay that she didn't want to put on a white dress and pour her heart out for someone she knows isn't interested.
"I don't want to stand there, put on another dress like I did on my wedding day, pour my heart out to you, pour my emotions out to you for you to just reject me again," she explained.
They said their final goodbyes and Beth went to her own apartment to cry it out.
Aww, Beth!
It's sad that things had to end this way, but Beth, we're over here clapping for you. With Teejay being her first ever boyfriend, let alone husband, Beth took it hard when he pulled back from her intimately, saying that he needed to form a deeper emotional connection to be able to sleep with her again.
The pair managed to get closer during Homestays, but when they met his friends, it seemed Teejay had taken some steps back as he told his pals that if he had to make a decision right now, it wouldn't be to stay with Beth.
Nevertheless, they pushed through and Beth wrote "stay" at the last Commitment ceremony. Teejay wrote leave, however, and both their decisions to meet their backup partners kind of confirmed things for us, so there was no surprise here.
On why they decided to end things before the final vows, an insider said: "They both already knew it was over, and as much as Beth was ready to go home, she also would’ve loved a chance to have an empowering moment where she told Teejay just how much he’d hurt her."
They added to Yahoo: "Producers didn’t think it would be worth the expense of them organising an entire ceremony for this to happen, or make sense to viewers as there would be no suspense to their final decision."
Jamie and Dave
Our fave couple of the season were the first to take their final vows in tonight's episode and it was good news for the duo, who decided to leave the show together.
"I came here looking for something that could last, something worth holding on and with you, I believe that's possible," Dave said to a smiling Jamie.
"So today, I choose us. Let's give this a real shot."
Jamie admitted that as much as she's loved their time together, taking that shot scared her after learning Dave's feelings were not as strong as hers during the couple swap week.
"That realisation hit me hard. I questioned our relationship, you as a person and even myself. It made me question if I'd really fallen in love with you or just the idea of you," she said.
She continued: "I deserved to be loved, Dave, and I just don't know whether I'm willing to wait to see if you can get there too.
"But I also know I'm not ready to walk away from this or from you, and my heart tells me I'm not ready to let go of you and everything we've built together."
As one of our fave couples to take part in the experiment, it was nice to see Jamie and Dave leave the show together, but we're not quite over him saying: "I don't hate the girl" after she declared her love for him, and it seems Jamie wasn't either...
While they left the show together, Jamie and Dave arrived at the reunion separately and are no longer together. Fans think that Jamie could now be dating Eliot, which we're not mad about!
Adrian and Awhina
After months of ups and downs, Awhina and Adrian's final vows ended in the exact same way - with us all confused.
"The brown haired, brown-eyed boy I've been looking for is at home, missing his mum," Awhina began.
"You are an amazing mother and I understand how important it is for you to get back to Perth to be with your son. And that's the problem," Adrian agreed.
They both then decided to go their separate ways in their speeches, well at least that's what it sounded like, because they then started flirting, kissing and walking off arm-in-arm after Awhina declared: "Adrian, you like me."
"We're just going to go back home and see where we stand and how we go, Awhina's a lucky woman," Adrian explained.
Hello, what's going on?
I mean this behaviour isn't much different to what the pair have displayed throughout the season. Despite many fallouts, they always found their way back together. But, will they last?
Well, as the episodes have already aired in Australia, we know that they're no longer an item, and Awhina is reportedly dating Billy, who was married to Sierah, so, so much for those final vows!
Carina and Paul
While Paul seemed keen to stay with Carina, saying: "There's not a doubt in my mind that you are the one for me, and I never want to risk letting you go again," it looked like Carina wasn't quite over his decision to meet up with his backup bride.
"You made a decision that would deeply impact our relationship - you chose to go on a date with another woman...As a Christian, I've been taught to forgive. I can't ignore the good times in this experiment where you made me feel special and cared for and loved," Carina said.
She went on: "A few weeks ago, this decision would've been easy for me. There would be no question I'd want to stay with you, but you threw it all away in a selfish act. Paul, I was yours. You had me and you ruined it, and now you're going to have to live with that for the rest of your life."
Paul said he was shocked and expected her to have tried "a little harder to move past it."
Their vows will continue in tomorrow night's episode (7th May), but as the episodes have already aired in Australia, we know that Carina decided to end things there.
And we can't say that we're surprised. Although, the duo got off to a strong start on the show, they encountered several issues along the way. Earlier in the season, Paul punched a wall because she told him she'd slept with a rapper and then he revealed a private comment to Awhina that Carina had shared with him in confidence. So, if you ask us, it was only a matter of time before they called it quits for good.
Married At First Sight Australia airs on E4 Monday to Thursday.
