Why ‘Married At First Sight’ Was ‘A Lot Harder’ Than Karen Expected

“Married At First Sight” certainly pushes husbands and wives to their limits on the Lifetime reality show. Karen, who married Miles on the series, opened up to International Business Times about the difficulties of marrying a stranger on television. The 30-year-old HR consultant also revealed her deal breakers, explained her “traditional” views and noted that she did her research on the “Married At First Sight” divorce rate.

International Business Times: Why did you want to participate in “Married at First Sight”?

Karen: Dating in New Orleans is hard. I hadn’t found the right guy the “normal way,” so I decided to take a leap of faith. I remember telling myself over and over, “high risk, high reward.” So I decided to shake up my world and not play it safe for once in the pursuit of love.

IBT: Did you watch “MAFS” previously? Any favorite couples?

Karen: I had never seen or heard of "MAFS" until a friend suggested that I apply. After receiving a call back for in-person interviews, I started to watch some of the prior seasons. Jephte & Shawniece and Greg & Deonna are two of my favorite couples. I can relate to their stories a lot (for different reasons).

IBT: Did you know how many “Married at First Sight” couples get divorced?

Karen: Yes. I did my research. I took a risk!

IBT: Were there any characteristics that you definitely didn’t want in a partner?

Karen: Poor hygiene, poor communication and bad credit were deal breakers for me.

IBT: How did your friends and family react to your decision to get married at first sight?

Karen: They were shocked that I was doing it. I’m usually a pretty private person and don’t take a lot of risks, so it was totally outside of the norm for me. But they were ultimately supportive, which I am so grateful for.

IBT: On the matchmaking special, you say you have “traditional views” of a husband and wife’s role. Can you elaborate on what that looks like to you?

Karen: I have an old soul. I still want to be the wife that cooks dinner for her family on a regular basis and makes sure household things are in order. I’d like to look to my husband to do the more masculine tasks (garbage, cars, yard work, etc.). But ultimately, I want a partnership. I want to trust my husband to lead our household (with input from his wife of course). He’s the head, but I’m the neck.

IBT: What was your biggest concern when you chose your dress?

Karen: My initial concern is that I wouldn’t find what I was envisioning. I wanted long sleeves with lace that showed my shape. A mix of classy and sexy. I was so happy when I found my dress. It was honestly the only one that I liked and it was exactly what I wanted. I felt like $1 million bucks! I felt great in it and thought it was worthy to meet my new stranger husband in.

IBT: What was the most surprising part of the process?

Karen: The most surprising part of the process for me was the pandemic happening. No one expected or planned for that. It definitely added a new element to an already stressful situation.

IBT: What was the most difficult part of “Married at First Sight”?

Karen: The most difficult part was being pushed to talk about feelings while I was still trying to process them myself with little downtime to do so. I had to talk about things with my new spouse that, typically, it takes months for me to talk to someone about. We had to rip the Band-Aids off pretty quickly. And that was hard for me. I’m an introvert and like to reflect a lot before making final decisions or sharing my thoughts. Trying to figure out how I felt about my new husband while being expected to share some pretty intimate pieces of my life at the same time was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

IBT: Who would you recommend to join “Married at First Sight”?

Karen: I don’t have anyone I would recommend. But for whoever would like to sign up for this experience I do have a few words of advice — realize what you’re getting into. You will be forced completely outside of your comfort zone and you have to be ready for that. To all my fellow introverts and to anyone that may not have an easy time opening up to strangers (spouse and production crews)... this will be an especially hard process for you.

“Married at First Sight” Season 11 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EDT on Lifetime.