There have been several dating games, but MAFS (Married At First Sight) takes things up a notch. Since the Danish adapted show premiered in America on FYI channel in 2014, over 25 couples have been married at first sight with 6 couples having their happily ever after. Matt and Amber came to gain fame from their appearance on the show.
The show which now airs on Lifetime television is hosted by one of the alumni of the show, Jamie Otis. Jamie Otis married his own partner Doug Hehner and both were a part of the first season which held in New York. Their family has expanded as they welcomed their baby girl Grace on 22nd August 2017 after they lost a boy in 2016.
Although, Married at First Sight is an American experimental reality show where couples could find their true love. Its success rate is unfortunately 24% as of 2019. Here is the story of two of MAFS’ participants Amber & Matt.
Matt and Amber’s Appearance In MAFS
Matthew Gwynne and Amber Bowles are one of the unsuccessful matches of the four couples experimentally paired in season nine. The former couple was among the 4 couples of the ninth season which premiered on 12th June 2019. Experts like Dr. Pepper Schwartz (sociologist), Greg Epstein (Humanist Chaplain), Pastor Calvin Robertson and Rachel DeAlto – a relationship and communication specialist were on the show to guide the couples through the process.
Matt who was 31 years was a retired professional forward/center basketball player, who works as camp director in Charlotte while his energetic 27 years old pair, Amber, is a Middle School teacher with a twin sister. Matt and Amber agreed to marry at first sight in the presence of family and friends.
However, the family of the ex-professional basketballer was largely absent during the wedding. His parents were had recently divorced at the time and things were still volatile between them during the time of his experimental wedding to Amber.
With honeymoon concluded, next, Matt and Amber began living together as a couple in their experimental home. Matt became withdrawn, his body language showed that he was tired of his new bride Amber as he spent multiple nights outside their home.
His excuse for his act was that he was stressed by Amber’s energy and that he still had not connected with her emotionally, despite the fact that they had had sex. His inability to effectively communicate and put in the required work to make his marriage work left Amber pretty heartbroken. His attitude undermined his relationship with the family-oriented Amber. She was very receptive to him putting in 100% work in order to make their marriage work.
Are Matt & Amber From ‘MAFS’ Back Together
As the saying goes, it takes two to tango, Matt and Amber may have been perfectly matched as a couple, but Matt did not see Amber in his world. Therefore it was not shocking when heartbroken Amber agreed to divorce Matt in the final day. The second couple who went through a divorce was Iris Caldwell and Keith Manley. Iris works as a program coordinator in a Non-Profit organization while Keith is a mentor/coach. Keith and Iris were the only couples that never consummated their union thus, Iris left the show as the divorced virgin.
The show did not end on a sad note as the season’s lucky couples were the bubbling, and passionate Elizabeth Bice, an account executive, and her partner Financial technician Jamie Thompson also Deonna McNeill who works as Operations Manager paired with Gregory Okotie who works owns a Math Learning Center were also successful.
Did Matt Really Cheat?
There have been questions on the faithfulness of Matt during the entire experiment to his then-wife. A school of thought believes Matt left his wedding band at home during one of his night out with friends because he wanted to cheat on Amber. He claimed he forgot to put the ring back on his finger after he worked out in the gym. Speculations are that his action was deliberate and calculated.
Matt cheating on Amber during his multiple-night outs was buttressed by two accounts. Amber found out that Matt indeed asked out another girl out whilst they were still married. Unfortunately for him, that lady was a friend to one of Amber’s colleagues at school where she taught. Another incident that supported the fact that Matt Gwynne cheated was when he was seen drinking at a bar with a lady whom he allegedly spent the night with.
Matt was disrespectful to Amber in the course of the show plus his words did not match his actions. One of such was when he apologized the first time he slept out promising it would not repeat itself, and he had told Amber he liked being married, but he ended up abandoning Amber several nights.
For whatever it was worth, many fans of the reality show and experts are thankful that Amber made the decision to be divorced from Matt as no one deserves to be disrespected in the magnitude Matt showcased throughout the eight weeks while on the ninth season of MAFS.