Brandin Brosh nearly said goodbye to Honeymoon Island — and her relationship with Jona Bienko — after being forced to confront how her past relationship was still affecting her.
On Tuesday’s episode of Married at First Sight: Honeymoon Island (produced by Kinetic Content), the 28-year-old boutique owner and her potential future husband found themselves at odds over the physical part of their relationship, when Brosh admitted she wasn’t one to express her love physically, despite Bienko’s desire for small affirmations such as hand-holding.
Videos by PopCulture.com
She admitted to Dr. Jessica Griffin that part of her desire not to express affection was just personal preference, but broke down explaining that it also had ties to her last serious relationship, which ended when her boyfriend of more than three years had cheated on her with another woman in their bed.
“I would rather be alone than have to go through that,” she told Griffin, adding, “I know that [being open is] why I’m here, but it makes me very anxious. I would rather just go home, like, I hate it. … I’m a very private person, so this is challenging for me already.”
Griffin was still worried about Brosh, and brought in her mom in a surprise visit to talk with the conflicted single, which stressed out Bienko, but helped her feel more secure in her ability to move forward.
In the end, the boutique owner decided to stay and pursue her relationship with Bienko. But after the drama of the last few days on Honeymoon Island, even he was reconsidering what he had gotten himself into, saying, “I want something that I reach for, that I desire. And I want to be that for somebody else.”
Prior to the series premiere, Griffin opened up to PopCulture.com about how the show compares to the original Married at First Sight premise.
“I think it’s different for us because, of course, we’re not involved in the matching part of it,” she told PopCulture. “It’s really up to them, but at the same time, Married at First Sight, we don’t always get it right when it comes to chemistry. We can’t predict what’s gonna happen when people see themselves at the altar, if they’re going to have that physical connection, that spark, that chemistry between them.”
She continued, “I think this idea that we’re sort of turning Married at First Sight upside down a little bit and starting with the chemistry will be fascinating to watch and whether or not that that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I think [viewers will] enjoy some of the expert consultation that we give the couples,” she added.
The potential for drama definitely didn’t surprise Griffin.
“It’s fascinating to watch actually from a sociological perspective and at some point [Pastor Cal Roberson] and I get to sit back and just watch them interact and you can see sort of different themes emerge — jealousy, insecurity. All of that happens as you would expect that to happen when you’re all trying to vie for love. First example is there is one person who several people are interested in. You’re going to see naturally how competition unfolds and are people going to handle that well and with grace, in a respectful way or are people gonna handle that not so well and in a way in which they don’t care if they hurt someone else’s feelings?”
Married at First Sight: Honeymoon Island (produced by Kinetic Content) airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
Photo Credit: Instagram/Shannon Raddler
