Married at First Sight turned 20 this year, marking two decades of strangers saying “I do” on national television, guided by experts who supposedly know better than the rest of us what makes two people compatible. Set in Seattle, Season 20 offered a record seven couples as Peacock took on the franchise from Lifetime, and it should feel like a celebration. For Black viewers, it felt more like a familiar frustration.
Two of the season’s seven couples were Black — BelleJolie Force and Mecca Amen, and Nikki Jefferson and Shawn Best. The real question Black audiences have been asking all season is whether the experts, new faces Paul Brunson and Dr. Lisa Paz, ever set these couples up to win.
Now that the finale is here, we know who succeeded — and who called it — which has left viewers with questions. Warning: spoilers ahead.
BelleJolie and Mecca: When One Person Is All In, and the Other Isn’t
BelleJolie Force, a 28-year-old singer-songwriter, makeup artist, and dance instructor, has been all in on this marriage from day one. She rated her new husband a nine out of ten while talking to his father on their wedding day. She has been openly affectionate, consistently supportive, and emotionally present throughout the experiment. Mecca Amen, also 28 and a part-time model who works at his family’s sanitation business, has taken a considerably more winding route.
The moment that defined their season came on the honeymoon. Mecca told BelleJolie unprompted that he felt she was more attracted to him than he was to her. He tried to correct himself, but the damage was already done. BelleJolie responded by dialing back how open she was about her attraction to Mecca. She has spent the rest of the season doing exactly that —…
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