When Dave McClelland first laid eyes on his new bride Julia Malley at the altar he was completely blown away.
On paper they seem to be a good match. Julia is quick to talk about what a great guy Dave is and how much fun they have together. But something seems to be holding her back.
Here, Dave opens up about their marriage and whether or not he thinks the experts got it right.
Were you surprised to see Julia struggling so much on your honeymoon?
Obviously, attraction is a big thing and you can’t force it. It’s water off a duck’s back for me, but she must be quite torn. She’s put quite a lot of pressure on herself. It’s just her personality, but I’ve seen her when she isn’t like that.
How do you feel about her close bond with Sam and Tayler?
It’s a bit weird and it’s starting to get unhealthy. We need time to ourselves. When times get tough, she’s running to Sam because they’re extremely good friends.
I appreciate Sam being there for her when she doesn’t want to talk, but I’m here too. I can handle talking to her through this. She needs to come to me and talk, but the attraction thing is just a subject she won’t talk to me about. She’s putting a lot of pressure on herself to deal with this no-attraction thing.
Julia and Dave have formed a close bond with Sam and Tayler – but Julia is taking her friendship with Sam to the extreme.
Why did you sign up for the show?
I signed up to find the woman of my dreams. I’ve had bad luck in the past and a lot of it’s my doing. I work pretty hard and travel a lot. It’s hard to establish genuine relationships when it looks like, from the woman’s perspective, that I’m trawling around the country looking for someone else.
When you get to my age, women have children and I wouldn’t expect them to uproot their kids for me. There’s been a lot of that and it’s not through lack of trying, that’s for sure. This was an opportunity for me, like, maybe the experts could get it right. I thought if they know what they’re doing, they would find me a good match.
Do you think the experts got it right?
I think they did. On paper, we are awesome. Through everything, we’re still quite affectionate. There’s something there. There’s just something in her that’s not allowing her to give it a crack. She needs to answer the question in her mind – either “yeah, it’s amazing” or “no”.
Have you been friend-zoned in the past?
Yeah, I have. It’s different times, different places, different scenarios. Maybe I sat back to take it all in for too long and came across as a nice, placid, quiet guy. What I’ve learned from that is to grow a bit of backbone and ask the question, like, “What on Earth is going on here?”
For more juicy Married at First Sight season 2 gossip, including Ottie’s body blues and Ksenia’s struggle with self-hate, see the latest issue of Woman’s Day.
Read here: Dave’s bride Julia Malley reveals she once dated another MAFS groom.
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