When Married at First Sight‘s Greg Okotie first learned that his new wife, Deonna McNeill, hadn’t been an a romantic relationship for 10 years before she tied the knot with a total stranger, he was admittedly a little nervous at what the future would hold for them.
Ahead of Wednesday’s all-new episode of the Lifetime reality series (produced by Kinetic Content), Greg opened up to PopCulture.com about his journey with Deonna throughout the season, beginning with the “big sigh of relief” he took upon seeing her for the first time, walking down the aisle to say, “I do.”
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“She was/is absolutely beautiful!” he gushed. “I loved her initial smile when we locked eyes. Once I found out that I got matched, one of my major thoughts were attractiveness and was super nervous minutes before I saw her, but that all went away when she turned that corner.”
With the physical chemistry in check, Greg was quickly thrown for another loop when Deonna told him she had been single for a decade, choosing instead to date herself.
“My initial thoughts were shock and confusion,” he admitted to PopCulture.com. “I’m not sure if I heard Deonna right. Once she repeated herself, I was concerned that she did not have the experience to be married.”
He continued, “Not saying that it cannot be done, but there’s a lot that you learn about yourself and what you want in a spouse/marriage when you have been in previous relationships — a different type of growth that is attained than being single for so long. I knew that it would take a lot of patience going forward and I’d have to try my best to understand her starting point.”
Working through the first couple months of their unconventional marriage, Greg said that patience was one of the biggest takeaways he had, making sure not to reveal the choice he and Deonna made on Decision Day.
“I had to be patient with Deonna and understand that she was not starting at the same place I was with regards to vulnerability,” Greg told PopCulture.com. “There will always be different stages of growth in a marriage, and you will need patience and understanding to navigate through them. These traits really stood out to me and the ones that I had to constantly work on as I went through this experience.”
Married at First Sight (produced by Kinetic Content) airs Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
Photo credit: Kinetic Content/JCM Photography- Asheville, NC
