Nothing says festive cheer and wholesome Christmas vibes like a table full of drunk adults with overlapping romantic interests and a history of going hell for leather at each other on TV under the guise of a civilised dinner party, right?
That’s exactly what theMarried At First Sight Christmas reunion delivered when select cast members from both this summer’s series and last gathered together to purportedly bury hatchets, forgive and forget and reminisce about the happy memories from their times on the show (I’m sure they did have at least some, maybe we just didn’t see them?).
But, much like the original dinner parties from the main series, the event was nothing but drama, with the added ammo of Thomas Hartley from this year’s series and Nikita Jasmin from last yearboth in the same place at the same time. The pair predictably found kindred spirits in each other, but proved to butt heads over the dinner table even as they appeared to be arguing the same point.
Anyway, despite being at the centre of all the drama, there was certainly a lot of other stuff to unpick from the 100-minute special.
Adrian gave Thomas a lump of coal
Early on in the episode a game of Secret Santa left Thomas sour-faced when he received a lump of coal. Tom had been one of the first to arrive and explained that while he and Adrian hadn’t spoken recently, they would always be like an old married couple and would make up soon.
When his ex-husband Adrian Sanderson turned up, he told a different story, saying Tom had blocked and deleted him across all social media and he had no idea why. Later on when they were discussing their Secret Santa presents, Adrian admitted giving the coal to Tom because he was ‘very naughty’, and Tom said he’d known straight away it was from his ex, but ultimately the whole shtick seemed to have been made in good spirits and by the end of the episode there were no hard feelings between the pair – although it doesn’t look like there’ll be a reunion any time soon. Probably for the best.
Duka tried his luck with Chanita
Viewers will remember that Duka Cavolli, who’d been jilted by his bride Whitney for another person in the experiment early on, made his attraction toward Chanita Stephenson known toward the end of this year’s series.
He appeared to double down on his intentions when he bought Chanita a Secret Santa jumper with the words, ‘one man’s trash, another man’s treasure’ emblazoned across it. Despite the sentiment being questionable – not sure we should be describing women as trash OR treasure, tbqh – Chanita seemed touched by the effort, but their flirtations were thwarted when Jordan Emmett-Connolly made a surprise late appearance.
PJ said he’d have liked to retake the experiment with Nikita – but then swiftly backtracked
During a game of honesty crackers – a similar concept to the honesty box from the main series but with a fun festive twist - Dreamboy PJay Finch was asked who he’d like to retake the experiment with given the chance. He’d mentioned Alexis Economou and Nikita, both from the 2021 series, in pieces to camera, but raised everyone’s eyebrows when he admitted he’d have liked to be paired with Nikita.
That was until the major drama kicked off just moments later, and in the immediate aftermath PJay stood up to ‘own’ his mistake and asked for another cracker.
Chanita fumed at Jordan for telling Nikita the gritty details of their relationship
And what exactly was it that triggered the almighty explosion of a combination of both Nikita and Thomas’ wrath in tandem? Nikita and Alexis had been exchanging swipes since Nikita’s late arrival, and Nikita and Thomas found themselves arguing over who around the table they ‘loved’ (judging by their behaviour, you’d hazard a guess and suggest none of them, but apparently not) and then when Nikita brashly inserted herself in the middle of Chanita and Jordan’s relationship, loudly proclaiming she’d known him longer than Chanita had anyway, things really kicked off.
Amid the chaos, Chanita could be seen tearfully askingJordan why he’d told notoriously meddlesome Nikita so much about their relationship, while Jordan insisted he ‘barely knew’ the Geordie.
And then turned down his proposal of giving things another shot
What was clearly exacerbating the whole thing was that, despite ending things shortly after filming on the series wrapped, there’s evidently still a lot of feelings between the pair and they had had a meaningful relationship. Jordan admitted to being riddled with anxiety heading back into the reunion dinner and, in an effort to show Chanita that he did appreciate her – something which Chanita cited as one of the main reasons for their split – had made a box full of things he loved about her. It was all very sweet and moving, but when Jordan asked Chan if they could ‘pick up the pieces’, a tearful Chanita asserted that it was probably too late, and while their castmates are hopeful for a reunion in future, for now, it looks as though the door has closed.
Amy and Jonathon had a lovely snog
A refreshing reprieve from the – less face it, extremely stressful – reunion chaos was when Amy Christophers from last year and Jonathan Wileman, who married Sophie Brown earlier this year, snuck away for a catch up in the snow. While the drama continued to rage indoors, Jonathan reflected on how nice it was to chat to someone who understands him and didn’t ‘base their opinions off of throw away comments’ (could he be talking about his infamous ‘horse legs’ tirade? Who knows) and Amy, being the go getting gal that she is, went in for a snog under some mistletoe that she’s sneakily swiped from the table and brought outside with her.
The Yorkshireman doesn’t exactly come across as the suave Casanova type, and was visibly pink in the face when he gave his piece to camera after the surprise kiss, but the couple returned to the table hand in hand. A quick glance at their social media accounts prove they’ve been spending quite a lot of time together this festive season.
And… Nikita stormed off early.
It was either going to be her or Thomas, wasn’t it?
After the drama reached it’s crescendo, with Chanita screaming at Jordan, Zoe screaming at Nikita, Nikita screaming at literally everyone else and Alexis laughing maniacally (bonus points if you spotted an utterly bewildered Adrian in the midst asking himself, ‘what the hell is wrong with these people?’) Tom headed outside to check on Nikita after she had been sent outside to simmer down – potentially by producers, given the legacy left in her wake after her one and only dinner party during her own experiment last year. After asserting to Tom that she had ‘nothing to apologise’ as she’d ‘done nothing wrong’ – a refrain which will feel familiar to Tom given that he uttered exactly those words on multiple occasions during his time on the show – she left the dinner party, seemingly without saying goodbye to any of the guests.
As equilibrium was gradually restored, the party took on a more convivial atmosphere and the festivities ended with them all gathered round a grand piano singing Wham’s Last Christmas, which definitely wasn’t staged.