Source: LaJoy Cox of LaJoy Photography; The First Look Photography / lifetime
Last week, Vincent and Briana cemented themselves as our favorite couple. They seem the most stable, the most personable. And we couldn’t help but notice not only how attractive they both are and how much initial chemistry they seemed to share.
Recently, we had the chance to speak to Vincent about his decision to be married at first sight, his first impression of his bride and how he wants to put an end to some family patterns. See what he had to say below.
MadameNoire: How did you first hear about “Married at First Sight”?
Vincent: I heard about “Married at First Sight” on Instagram, actually. Someone reached out to me. I really wasn’t too familiar with the show. I did have friends—their spouses had watched but I never watched the show before that.
MadameNoire: What made you decide to go through with this? I mean, it’s a big step.
Vincent: It is a big step and as crazy as it sounds, to me, it just sounded like a calling to me. I’m a very spiritual person. When I got the Instagram DM, I didn’t believe it was true but as I got through the process, I told myself that if I was selected it was because it was supposed to be. So it was never I’m desperate to be married.
I did want to be married, for sure, and I wanted a family. I just thought it was a calling and that’s why I went through the process.
MadameNoire: We saw on the show that your friends feel like you’re ready to be married, which is a good sign. But how did your family take the news that you were going to be getting married to a stranger?
Vincent: So I am from the Dominican Republic and we marry younger, so they’re like ‘Vincent what’s going on? The clock is ticking.’ So they were really happy for me.
Source: Kinetic Content / Kinetic Content
MadameNoire: What were your first impressions when you saw Briana walk down the aisle?
Vincent: When saw Briana, I was extremely happy because she was exactly what I had described that I wanted: curly hair, Black. I said either Black or Latina. She’s Black, she was beautiful and I was just really happy. She was exactly what I had described so I was really happy.
MadameNoire: How has it been watching yourself on tv these past couple of weeks?
Vincent: It’s been a little crazy to hear my voice and to see myself. But I’m like, ‘I don’t look too bad.’ Laughs.
MadameNoire: You said this experience felt like a calling but what let you know that you were ready to be a husband?
Vincent: It was just the fact that I grew up without my mom or dad when I was very small. I really wanted that because I will say that marriage is not a big thing in my community. There are people that are married but I’ve never experienced that myself. A lot of my family members, they had kids out of wedlock and I just did not want that. I feel that I was really ready between 24 and 25. That was a little early on. But I was ready to commit to one person and just build. I felt like dating was lust to me and I was wasting my time dating around.
MadameNoire: What maybe kept you from getting to the marriage point in your past relationships? You spoke about one relationship on the show and how she had a problem with you being an entrepreneur. But what kept you from that point in other relationships?
Vincent: I was in relationships where I was ready to take it to the next level but I was scared. I was ready to be married but the thought always scared me. It had a lot to do with that. I don’t have anybody that I can reach out to. Me and my father’s relationship is not that great so those big questions, I just never had anybody to talk to about stuff like that if I was ever dating someone that I felt that I wanted to marry. But mostly it was about me being scared.
MadameNoire: What changed?
Vincent: I got way more serious about being married when the pandemic happened. It just told me that life was so uncertain. When I was alone in my apartment, during the lockdown, I just wished I had someone by my side. Because it was really, really lonely. I really wanted to be married and I also felt like I was meeting a lot of people who were not trying to achieve the same goal. People want to have fun. And recently, when I was 26, 27, I stopped dating to have fun. I was like, ‘If I meet someone, I want to stay with them.’ And I feel like in Atlanta a lot of people are just having fun. And there’s nothing wrong with it but I was more willing to settle down at that time. I still felt I was a little young but I wanted to find my soulmate. I didn’t want to waste my time anymore.
MadameNoire: Did you have any fear about trusting who the experts would pick for you?
Vincent: I felt that the experts meant well. As I was going through the process, with the show, I was watching the show. I was going on YouTube and I just felt like they wanted everybody to succeed. I felt that I could rely on these people and say that they wanted everyone to stay married after the show was done.
MadameNoire: Having children was really important to you and your wife. Why is that so important to you in this process?
Vincent: I want children because I have a little brother and he already has two. I just feel like whenever I see families around, walking—whether it’s a mom, dad, and baby in a stroller—it just warms my heart and I want that for myself. Children are amazing. I know that there’s a lot that goes into it. I’ve hung out with my nephew a lot and I just want the same. Children bring so much joy to families. I’m always mindful that I want kids but they’re not going to be easy to take care of. I’m ready to pass along all the things that I’ve learned. I really want to sculpt a person to go out in the world and spread more joy and be kind because there are some people out here who aren’t the nicest. So another nice person on this earth is not going to be a bad thing.
MadameNoire: Anything else you want to add?
Vincent: I would just say that there are a lot of men out there who were in my shoes, being scared to commit. But when they find the person that is for them, dive deep in. Find out do I really want to keep wasting my time or do I want to commit to somebody and build something that will bring happiness and will be something that is fulfilling. And that’s what I always felt I was missing when I was just dating.
A new episode of “Married at First Sight” airs tonight at 8 pm EST on Lifetime.
