Source: JCM Photography- Asheville, NC / lifetime
We may have already moved on to Season 10 of Married at First Sight, but Season 9 participant Iris Caldwell hasn’t 100 percent moved past her experience of getting married on TV to Keith Manley and having him break her heart by choosing to divorce her on Decision Day. She too has been watching the new season, and the drama of present couples is bringing back memories of what her relationship was like on the show.
Meka Jones and Michael Watson’s early marriage troubles have been particularly triggering in some ways. As we wrote about, Meka and Michael had a falling out on their way to their honeymoon after she claims he told her that if they didn’t have sex during the trip, he was going to have a hard time moving forward with the marriage. Meka, in a fashion unique for the show, confronted Michael on-camera about what was said off-camera to get him to own up to his remarks and let people watching know what she was dealing with. In her InstaStories recently, Iris said that after watching the couple’s predicament, in hindsight, she too wished she would have called Keith out about things he was saying and doing off-camera that were contrary to the image presented on the show.
“I’m very proud of Meka for calling attention to the issue,” she said during a Q&A session with Instagram followers according to Reality World. “Because I know that I should have said a lot of things, but I just didn’t. And so you had to put it out on the table for it to be solved. And I think that’s something I didn’t realize. So, I’m proud of her, kudos to that. You see something? Say something.”
And while it’s Meka’s word against Michael’s about his exact statements, Iris said in a video that she believes Meka, because plenty of men on the show have put on airs for the camera and been quite different when cameras weren’t around, particularly during Season 9.
“It happened with Amber [Bowles] and Matt [Gwynne],” she said. “Matt would say certain stuff off-camera and then come on-camera and be a whole different person. Yes it happens.”
“And I know someone who did that too,” she added, giving people the idea she was talking about her ex-husband. “But whatever! It happens y’all. It’s real.”
Back in November during a fan Q&A, Iris admitted she initially struggled to move forward after Decision Day and that no semblance of reconciliation happened after the reunion shows; nevertheless, she said she was in a much better place.
“So, for the first phase of our separation, it was really hard y’all. Like, I was growing in emotions with this guy and thinking about our future and babies,” she said. “And to have all that ripped from me was really, really hard, but I have definitely healed a lot since then and there’s been a lot of time. So, I’m good.”
