The unexpected MAFS twist that saw fans finally siding with the experts

After John Aiken took aim at Eliot's toxic behaviours last week, viewers should have known the experts would be brutal this season. But, last night's commitment ceremony was on another level.

We’re only two weeks into this year’s season of Married at First Sight, and already, so much has changed.

Putting your current opinions aside, I’m sure you remember how much you, and the rest of Australia, loved both Tim and Katie, and Jake and Ash together at their weddings. I remember literally tearing up during Tim and Katie’s vows - but oh how the tables have turned!

After a more than tumultuous week in the suites, the couples faced the next phase of the experiment in last night’s episode: the very first commitment ceremony. And, for the first time for these pairings, it seems like the experts finally got it right.

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Image: Nine.

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The ‘Nice Guy’

We all know what they say about those people who label themselves as a ‘Nice Guy’ - they’re very rarely nice guys. And, this is what we saw firsthand with Tim.

Hurdle after hurdle, Tim failed to live up to his ‘Nice Guy’ persona, refusing to participate in any aspect of the experiment since their honeymoon, yet still throwing Katie under the bus when asked why it wasn’t working. That is, until he got sick of it, walking out of the first dinner party and deciding to never move into their apartment together - a pretty clear indicator that it wasn’t going to work, as far as I’m concerned.

For Jake, the realisation that he may not have been all he was chalked up to be was a little less straightforward.

Jake and Ash, like Tim and Katie, were the perfect couple on paper. Both a little quirky, and loving that about each other, they gave Australia a couple to root for after Tim and Katie took a turn for the worst.

But, though their downfall wasn’t so immediate, their honeymoon period was still undeniably short-lived, and instead came crashing down during the dreaded photo ranking task.

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TV’s most uncomfortable challenge

Though I agree that the photo ranking task makes for some incredible entertainment, every year I struggle to watch - the second-hand embarrassment is just all a bit much!

This year, though, we saw hope through couples like Carina and Paul, and Sierah and Billy, who put their new partner miles above the rest (and, as you should).

Others, like Jake, put their partner somewhere else in the mix, claiming honesty to be of the utmost importance in situations like this one. Rookie error.

For Jake, though, it was more an issue of how he framed this, making insulting digs about each of the brides as he went down the line - saying Jacqui had ‘crazy eyes’, Sierah’s face screamed ‘I could stab you in your sleep’, and that he ‘wasn’t racist’, but ‘liked Caucasian people, mostly’, and therefore wasn’t a huge fan of Awhina, in addition to all kinds of other disgusting comments - before putting Ash somewhere in the middle.

Ash, a certified ‘girls girl’, was rightfully insulted on behalf of her new friends, sharing what Jake had said with Sierah, who then told her new husband Billy.

Both parties claimed the relationship was almost irreparable, with Ash saying Jake’s words were far too hurtful, and Jake claiming Ash had broken his trust completely. But, it was in the Commitment Ceremony where it all came to a head.

Image: Nine.

Should I stay or should I go?

With most couples still flying high from a few weeks of wedded bliss, last night’s commitment ceremony was never posed to be overly chaotic.

Carina and Paul, Jeff and Rhi, Jamie and Dave, Sierah and Billy, Awhina and Adrian, Tony and Morena, and even Jacqui and Ryan all said ‘Stay’.

But, the energy in the room shifted entirely when Ash and Jake, and Tim and Katie took their seats on the couch.

Maybe they are really experts?

As viewers, it’s not all the time that we agree with what the experts say to the contestants on MAFS. But, I have to say, last night was an exception.

After seeing expert John Aiken absolutely roast Eliot earlier on in the season, I think we all knew he and the other experts would be taking no prisoners when it comes to calling out toxic behaviour from men, and their conversations at the commitment ceremony with Jake and Tim respectively were no different.

Jake and Ash took to the couch following overtly positive conversations with Jeff and Rhi, and Carina and Paul, which had both viewers, and the group, on a high.

But, things quickly took a turn when Ash hesitantly recounted the comments Jake made about the other brides during the photo ranking task.

After Jake tried to justify his comments, labelling them as harmless jokes that he hadn’t given much thought to, it was expert Mel who shot him down immediately.

“Jake, I’m going to jump on that, because you’re an adult, and it’s a cop out. It’s not okay, it’s an excuse for saying things that hurt other people,” she said.

“You have responsibility for what comes out of your mouth.”

And, the response to Tim and Katie was no different.

Tim’s appearance at the commitment ceremony after never moving into the apartments with Katie was a complete surprise, however it was worth it to see her scooch over a little extra after he met her on the couch.

Image: Nine.

Similarly to Ash, Katie led the conversation with the experts, leaving Tim to rebut accusations that he disrespected both Katie and the experiment entirely.

But, his repeated claims that it was actually Katie who refused to get to know him weren’t met with the response he was expecting.

“Just to recap the dinner party, when you sat there and talked at her, it was gaslighting 101,” expert John said.

“You deflected, you blamed her for everything, you said she broke your trust, you said that you were the most honest of the two of you, and ultimately you made her feel like she was going crazy.

“The thing that broke my heart completely was hearing Katie go on to blame herself for the downfall of the relationship.”

John then asked Tim to, for the first time in the experiment, take some responsibility for what happened.

“Tim, this is a crossroads for you. You will either keep doing this gaslighting, keep blaming, keep dodging accountability, or you will sit here tonight and you’ll say, ‘I’m going to do better’,” he said.

Of course, we never got that, but I have to admit both interactions were refreshing to see.

Justice for Ash and Katie!

Ultimately, whilst Katie and Tim both wrote ‘Leave’ and left the experiment after the ceremony, Jake and Ash were split on the matter, with Jake writing ‘Leave’ off the back of his loss of trust, and Ash instead open to working through it, meaning they’ll be continuing for at least a little while.

No matter what happens next, Australia has officially started petitioning for the return of both Katie and Ash to return to the series with new partners - and I have to say, I agree.

The incredible thing about this season so far has been the friendships between the brides, and the way they have built one another up to the point where Katie in particular was able to stand up to Tim in the commitment ceremony after being hurt so badly by his actions.

So, can we have Ash and Katie back in Season 13? Please??

Originally published as The unexpected MAFS twist that saw fans finally siding with the experts