‘Married at First Sight’ Season 16: Should the Experts Have Matched Shaquille and Jasmine Instead?
Did the Married at First Sight experts make a mistake with the season 16 matches? They paired Shaquille and Kirsten and Airiss and Jasmine. But after the latest episode of the Lifetime reality show, it’s looking more and more like Shaquille and Jasmine would have been a better fit.
Shaquille from ‘Married at First Sight’ Season 16 tells Jasmine she’s ‘beautiful inside and out’
On the March 29 episode of MAFS, Shaquille and Kirsten and Airiss and Jasmine went on a double date. After a guys vs. girls airsoft game, Jasmine and Shaquille and Airiss and Kirsten sat down with each other to talk about their relationships.
During her chat with Shaquille, Jasmine opened up about how she wasn’t sure where she stood with Airris. Sometimes, she said, it felt like her husband was “counting down the days until Decision Day.” At this point, her focus is on staying true to her feelings and not bending toward what Airiss might want, she explained.
Shaquille made it clear he thought Jasmine shouldn’t accept less than she deserved from Airiss or any other man.
“I would definitely say, not trying to come on to you or anything, like I got my own wife, but like, you are beautiful inside and out,” he said. “Continue to be yourself. Just continue to walk in your truth.”
Should the ‘MAFS’ experts have paired Jasmine and Shaquille?
With just a few weeks to go until Decision Day, neither Jasmine and Airiss nor Shaquille and Kirsten are in a great place in their relationship. Airiss and Jasmine are still struggling to connect on a deeper level. He’s finally started to open up more about his past. But she seems to suspect he might not be in the marriage for the long haul. Airiss’s initial lack of attraction to Jasmine might also be preventing them from growing in their relationship. Meanwhile, Kirsten is finally warming up to Shaquille. But she might scare him off by pressuring him to buy her an expensive house after just a couple of months of marriage.
In the latest episode of Married at First Sight, Jasmine and Shaquille both seemed more at ease with each other than with their respective spouses. It’s hard not to wonder why Pastor Cal Roberson and Dr. Pepper Schwartz didn’t put them together. Both Shaquille and Jasmine are accomplished and driven individuals looking for someone with whom they can settle down and start a family. They have similar values and seem to connect with each other in a way that neither does with their expert-picked partner. And each also has a career that involves mentoring young people. She’s a competitive cheerleading coach, while he’s a university administrator helping students achieve their goals. Of course, there’s no guarantee that they would have worked as a couple. But on paper, they seem to make a lot of sense together.
Shaquille’s wife Kirsten feels he doesn’t have her back
Shaquille’s wife Kirsten was a guest on Married at First Sight: Afterparty on March 29. Host Keshia Knight Pulliam asked her how she felt about her husband’s chat with Jasmine. Kirsten admitted she wasn’t thrilled he was opening up to another woman. Specifically, she felt Shaquille had thrown her under the bus when he told Jasmine he was upset he still hadn’t met Kirsten’s father.
“It’s always interesting to see the conversations he’s having with other people versus the conversation he and I are having together,” she said. “He’s not having my back, I don’t feel like.”
“He’s not saying like, ‘Kirsten is being proactive. She called her dad. I know she’s working on getting it set up [for us] to meet each other,’” she added. “He didn’t ever share that he was frustrated or upset.”
What’s next for Airiss and Jasmine and Shaquille and Kirsten? Find out when new episodes of Married at First Sight Season 16 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
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