Married At First Sight: Michelle Tomblin’s Mean Conduct Proves The Experts Are On The Wrong Track (The Pairings Just Aren’t Working)
Michelle Tomblin married David Trimble in the season premiere of Married At First Sight season 18, and her casting exposes the Married At First Sight experts for their poor choices. Married At First Sight season 18 has been a bit of a disaster this time, with all the couples barely staying afloat well into the experimental show’s process. There’s a Married At First Sight couple swap allegedly afoot, suggesting the experts have no idea what they’re doing. However, Michelle is the worst choice.
In addition to Michelle and David’s trainwreck, other couples aren’t doing so hot, either. Ikechi Ojoré and Emem Obot are incompatible, making their marriage a potential waste of time. Madison Myers isn’t attracted to Allen Slovick, who’s trying his best to make it work. Karla Juarez and Juan Franco seemed perfectly matched in the beginning, but cracks are beginning to show in their views on gender roles and lifestyle choices. However, it seems like no one is struggling more than Michelle and David, largely due to Michelle’s onscreen behavior.
Michelle Is So Nasty To David
Michelle hasn’t been very nice to David during Married At First Sight season 18, and she can even be uncomfortably nasty. When David was trying to address their communication issues, Michelle snapped at him. He was obviously at his wit’s end trying to figure out how to effectively keep conversation going during the week. “I left you a note on the table. I got no response on it. I was just trying a different kind of communication because I know,” he began, with Michelle interrupting, “So you wanted me to leave a note?”
“Don’t call me, don’t text me.”
It seems to be a pattern that Michelle automatically shuts David down in conversation and doesn’t let him get a word in edgewise. She had been avoiding David at all costs, even saying to him, “don’t call me, don’t text me.” No wonder he wanted to leave a note. Their relationship was probably over the moment Michelle’s red flag detector went off regarding David’s living situation, but she never gave him a chance.
Michelle Clearly Has An Attitude
Michelle’s consistently bad attitude has been a throughline on Married At First Sight. David has been exactly what she asked for from the start, right down to his beard and tattoos. However, it’s not good enough for Michelle, who’s been noticeably cranky towards her earnest husband. She referred to his lifestyle as “small time,” referring to his choice to live with his parents. David openly admitted in a confessional that he felt defeated by the whole process, even saying he felt like a punching bag.
Michelle got vulnerable early on in the season on the boat with other couples, realizing that she had put walls up with David. However, it may have already been too late to remedy her bad attitude.
She’s struggling with the fact that she’s not attracted to David, but unfortunately, she’s taking it out on him.
The MAFS Experts Should Have Noticed The Red Flags
Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Pastor Cal Roberson, and Dr. Pia Holec’s decision to pair Michelle and David together is perplexing. The experts probably noticed the red flags between them and disregarded them to increase drama and conflict. Michelle specifically seems like an emotionally distant and potentially combative person, and while those personality traits should have made the experts think twice about casting her, it seems they rolled the dice on viewership versus genuine connections.
Michelle and David may have looked good together on paper, but it became clear that compatibility didn’t translate to the real world.
While entertainment value is paramount to the continued success of a reality TV show, the increasingly bizarre and incompatible pairings definitely raise eyebrows among stalwart Married At First Sight fans. Success rates among Married At First SIght couples remain low, with less than one in five couples remaining together in 2025. It’s unclear if any of the couples on Married At First Sight season 18 will stay together, but chances are especially slim for Michelle and David.
There isn’t confirmation about which couples swap in Married At First Sight season 18, but recent evidence points towards David and Madison connecting. It’s possible that Married At First Sight experts and producers wanted to keep David’s edit positive, so viewers would applaud their relationship. Michelle might not be the villain 100% of the time, but her pairing with David definitely brings the Married At First Sight experts’ judgment into question.
