Married At First Sight Season 18: Experts Wouldn’t Help Ikechi (They Deserve All The Blame For Terrible Matches – Cast Members Get Their Hopes Up Way Too High)
The experts on Married At First Sight are the main reason so many relationships on the show fail, and their inability to help Ikechi Ojoré is a perfect example. After several attempts to join, Ikechi was finally selected for Married At First Sight season 18. Because he had auditioned for two previous seasons before securing a spot, producers should have questioned whether Ikechi’s interest in the show was driven more by a desire for fame as a reality star, but they still decided to cast him.
Ikechi was paired with Emem Obot, who seemed like a good match for him based on their profiles, but that was far from the truth. Though the couple appeared to get along during the early stages of the Married At First Sight process, it quickly became evident that Ikechi and Emem had different expectations of a relationship. Emem wanted a partner who could support her as she navigated life, while Ikechi seemed to be looking for someone he could control, an obvious mismatch the experts should have noticed early on.
Ikechi Isn’t Perfect But He Was Paired With The Wrong Person
From the moment Ikechi met his wife Emem, he has been struggling to connect with her on physical and emotional levels. Rather than trying to engage with Emem in a productive way when he’s uncertain or feels boundaries have been crossed, Ikechi’s attitude has pushed him to be non-responsive, dismissive, and ignore Emem’s feelings.
Ikechi’s actions on MAFS season 18 have shown that he struggles with being in a relationship with a woman who is successful in her own right and doesn’t rely on him to feel fulfilled. While Emem is seeking a life partner, she leads a high-achieving life and doesn’t base her worth solely on her romantic relationships. Ikechi initially claimed he wanted a spouse who shared his values, but he didn’t want an independent woman, which is who the experts paired him up with.
Emem Just Isn’t Ikechi’s Type
The lack of attraction between Ikechi and Emem seems to be at the heart of the problem. There’s no real chemistry or romantic spark between them, and while they seem to be making an effort, it just isn’t enough. If there was any real romantic connection, Ikechi wouldn’t have told his wife that he prefers women with “softer” personalities, which scarred their marriage.
It’s hard to recover from comments like that, and to make matters worse, Ikechi ignored Emem’s messages as a power move. Since they’re on a reality show, they have to reconnect eventually, but this power dynamic proves their relationship would never make it in the real world. So many miscommunications there are between these two, along with a clear lack of attraction, proves the MAFS experts had no idea what they were doing when they matched Ikechi with Emem.
Are The MAFS Experts Playing With Fire?
While the experts on MAFS often emphasize their ability to create successful matches, it’s become clear in recent seasons that they’re not always pairing the right people together. This season’s couples are a mixed bag, but most of the pairings made by the experts don’t seem to be working, and it’s unlikely these relationships will improve. In addition to Ikechi and Emem, Michelle and David and Madison and Allen have also faced significant drama due to how mismatched they are.
The dynamics in each couple have been shifted by the “villains” of the relationship, and while the experts aren’t expected to create perfect matches every time, it’s been obvious from the start that some couples weren’t a good fit. The season 18 pairings are struggling because they don’t have the right connection, something the experts should address. Ultimately, it seems the Married At First Sight experts have dropped the ball this season, and the couples aren’t working out as they might have if more thoughtful matches had been made.