Married at First Sight UK: Michelle Walder and Owen Jenkins reveal 'gruelling' application process

28 October 2020, 12:34 | Updated: 28 October 2020, 20:47

Michelle and Owen from Married at First Sight UK
Michelle and Owen from Married at First Sight UK. Picture: Channel 4

What happens in the Married at First Sight UK application process? Michelle and Owen reveal the MAFS behind-the-scenes secrets.

Michelle Walder and Owen Jenkins have become the first Married at First Sight UK success story after they decided to stay together during the last episode.

The couple were matched by MAFS’s experts back in January, and tied the knot at the end of March.

Seven months later, the couple are still going strong, with Michelle even moving to Sheffield to live with her husband.

And the couple appeared on This Morning on Wednesday, revealing how they ended up on the show.

Owen and Michelle got married at the end of March.
Owen and Michelle got married at the end of March. Picture: Channel 4

Opening up about the application process, Owen, 31, said the experts really put them through their paces, speaking to exes and trawling their social media accounts.

Read More: Married at First Sight UK 2020: What happened to Michelle and Owen Jenkins?

He told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: “They really grill you, they had conversations with my friends and my ex girlfriends.

“Basically they spend ages getting to know you, and then they get to know if what you've told them is true.

“They even looked at social media posts from ten years ago and started asking me about them, they go into an awful lot of detail.”

He went on to call expert Dr Angela Smith ‘a walking lie detector’ before adding: “It’s a very tough process so you have to be confident in who you are.”

Married At First Sight couple Owen and Michelle declare their love

Owen also revealed what goes on behind-the-scenes at the wedding, revealing he spent 20 minutes getting to know his new family before he laid eyes on Michelle.

“Because I’m at the altar for about 20 minutes before Michelle arrived,” he explained, continuing: “I chatted to my new sister in law and mother in law for a while before I even saw her.”

“And all our families had already been in the room for an hour before I got in there, so my family were all sold on Michelle and her family from the start.”

Michelle also opened up about her experience on the show, admitting her mum didn’t take the news well.

She said: “My mum really struggled with it to begin with, because you have this idea of your daughter getting married, the dress and spending time with fiance beforehand.

“But we only had six weeks so she didn’t have the time to process it.

“I was initially worried about it, but as soon as she met Owen and his family and friends, she was sold.”

Now Read: What happened after Married at First Sight UK?