MAFS' Caitlin opens up about shock commitment ceremony: 'Confused'

Sunday night’s episode of Married At First Sight featured one of the most dramatic commitment ceremonies the series has ever seen, with expert John Aiken breaking protocol and allowing two participants to leave the experiment despite their partners' request to stay.

In addition to Melissa Shepherd and Josh White, Caitlin McConville and Shannon Adams left the show as John believed there was no way they could rebuild their damaged relationship.

The couple had a strong connection at their wedding but quickly fell apart when Shannon admitted he was still in love with his ex. Things got worse during Intimacy Week when he told Caitlin he didn’t find her attractive and blamed her appearance for the fact he hadn’t ended things with his ex.

Caitlin, who wrote ‘leave’ at the commitment ceremony, tells Yahoo Lifestyle she was “very confused” when Shannon said he wanted to stay in the experiment as she thought his actions proved otherwise.

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“In my head, I was really trying to make things work,” she says. “I was like, I'm going to push and push and push until I have nothing left.

“You give up so much to go onto this show, you have such high hopes and you want it so bad to find love, so I wasn't gonna walk away until I knew I had nothing left to give. And I was there. I had nothing left to give and there was nothing more for him to take. And to see him write ‘stay’ I was like, what more do you want from me?”

'Why didn't you just treat me better?'

Caitlin adds that she was even more perplexed when Shannon slammed his wedding ring on the table and stormed out of the room after she voiced her desire to leave the experiment.

“On the couch, he was saying, ‘Give me another chance’ and he wanted me to move back in and he was going to buy me flowers and all that,” she details. “For me, it was like, if you wanted this so bad, why didn’t you treat me well? If you’re so angry about me leaving, why didn't you just treat me better?

“I remember saying to him, this is exactly what you said last week and you got worse! So like, if he can say that on the couch one week and get worse the next week, what was I in store for the week after if I had stayed?

“I found that a lot of the stuff that he was saying on the couch was kind of like s**tting the bed and then pulling the doona covers up over it. Rather than cleaning the s**t and addressing the problem, you’re just kind of covering it and saving it for later.”

The 27-year-old makeup artist went on to say that the support and sympathy from her co-stars really “validated” her experience.

“It was amazing because you doubt yourself,” she explains. “You think, am I being too harsh? Is he self-sabotaging? And then to see and hear and get that support, it was so nice.”

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