‘Married At First Sight’ Star Derek Reveals His ‘Biggest Mistake’ With Katie

“Married at First Sight” fans know that the Season 10 reunion will hold plenty of drama. Fans are expecting Derek Sherman and Katie Conrad to detail their behind-the-scenes issues, which include cheating accusations, and some even think they may be getting a divorce. Before seeing Wednesday’s reunion revelations, however, Derek spoke to International Business Times exclusively via email about his biggest mistake and lessons learned on the Lifetime reality show.

IBT: If you could go back in time and give yourself advice at the beginning of filming, what would you say?

Derek: I’d tell myself that just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean you have no more work to do. In fact, you may have even more. I think my biggest mistake was assuming everything would just work out perfectly by simply being myself. When, in fact, you need to view every day as an opportunity to not only show her that you care, but also give her a reason for her to care about you.

IBT: What was the most important thing you learned about yourself throughout the season?

Derek: I actually realized I handled a lot of the tough times much as I did as a kid when life wasn’t going so well. I tend to handle stress by not ignoring it, but by focusing on the bright side of things as I work on handling the situation. Unfortunately, my optimistic views on things when things were going rough between Katie and I ultimately led to Katie feeling we were on different pages. When in fact we were on the same page, but just expressed ourselves differently.

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IBT: Tell us about watching your relationship back on the show. Is it awkward? Enlightening? Frustrating?

Derek: I suppose a mix of all of them. I’ll go ahead and say I’m my own hardest critic. Haha. But ultimately, it’s been fairly frustrating. Mainly because I had never heard about any of the conversations she’s had about me with the others. And frustrating at times when she says she’s carrying the marriage and that I haven’t done anything. But it’s somewhat disheartening to hear that most of the conversations she has about me are negative.

IBT: What do you wish viewers got to see more of?

Derek: If there was anything, I wish the viewers saw more of the little things we did every day. Along with the fact that we cook more than just mac n cheese. Haha.

IBT: Who did you form the closest friendship with among the other brides/grooms?

Derek: I became close with all the other couples, but I suppose I’d have to say Jessica and Austin.

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IBT: Do you have any regrets?

Derek: I don’t regret doing this for a second. I’m a firm believer in living life with no regrets, just life lessons. Because it’s the accumulation of those lessons that make us who we are today. While I’ll admit some lessons are bigger than others and some take a couple of tries, but getting married at first sight was definitely not one of them.

IBT: What is the most important thing for future “Married at First Sight” cast members to know?

Derek: I wholeheartedly believe the only way to truly allow the process to work is by not having any expectations on who their partner is. The moment you start comparing them to others is the moment you’ve given up on the process. They need to remember the experts matched you for a reason, and it’s your job to find that out. The last thing you want to do is go into it with a list of checkboxes you need them to check. Love doesn’t work that way. You have to be open-minded and patient. Otherwise, you could miss out on something special.

The “Married at First Sight” Season 10 reunion airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT on Lifetime.