Before we can get to the wedding of the next couple, we pick up where we left off in the last episode where Wayne and his Russian bride Ksenia exchange vows at the altar. When Wayne finds out his wife-to-be is Russian he imagines all of the travel they can do together. Ksenia is buoyed to find out that her new husband is funny.
“Wayne has a great sense of humour and I’m a person who loves to laugh – that made me very comfortable being next to him,” she says.
They share a very sweet moment after being pronounced husband and wife where Wayne asks if he can kiss her – and Ksenia accepts. Wayne then does the most adorable little dance to rival Fraser’s fist pump from the first episode.
“Being a married man? It’s not that bad,” he quips, clearly smitten with his new bride.
There’s muted applause as the newly married couple walk down the aisle and the guests seem a little bored. Granted, it’s hard to be invested in such a made-for-TV event, especially when a lot of the elements of a normal wedding – like music to walk down the aisle to – are missing.
The new Mr and Mrs head off to get their photos taken. You could drive a freight train through the distance between them as they awkwardly pose with the spouse they’ve just met. But things slowly start to warm up as they get more comfortable with each other. And then we get to it – the question Ksenia’s been dying to ask him all day – the one she was musing about when she was getting ready – and again in the car on the way there:
“What’s your last name?”
“Macintosh,” Wayne replies.
“That’s a nice name,” Ksenia declares as we breathe a sigh of relief. If you weren’t aware, a good last name is about as important to her as someone she can feed the ducks with. “I wanted McKenzie but Mackintosh is close enough,” she says with a giggle.
As for her verdict on her new husband? “I think he’s a nice, kind person, got a good sense of humour but there also has to be a spark and connection and I think that will happen only if we get to know each other.”
The operative word here is if, not when. The experts had already stated their concern that she might not give him enough of a chance. “I think time will tell,” she concludes.
The wedding photographer asks them to go in for a kiss and Ksenia is more worried about what’s going on around her than what’s going on in front, as her eyes dart all over the place.
“Communication is definitely going to be an issue but it’s not because she’s from Russia,” Wayne muses, “it’s because I’m hard to understand as well.” We can’t help but feel a sense of the foreboding with this comment.
“How’s your new husband?” Ksenia’s bridesmaid asks her. “Nothing’s concerning me,” Ksenia replies. And then again, with that sense of foreboding, as the next question is “You like?” to which Ksenia replies “Right now, yes.”
Ksenia goes all out and asks Wayne if he likes her and he tells her he “won the wife jackpot.”
“There is a bond there because we’re going through the same experience,” he tells the camera later on. “Whether it’s chemistry, I’m not sure.”
Ksenia’s bridesmaids give Wayne a resounding vote of confidence when asked if Ksenia likes him. “She doesn’t hate him, let’s say.”
All in all, the new couple seem to like each other. “Yes I do have a genuine shot of creating a life with her,” Wayne says. “Hopefully the awkwardness sort of goes away.”
Ksenia agrees. “I can say that I like Wayne. I think he’s got a great personality and he seems like a very nice, genuine guy.” But, she continues, “I’m not ready for any physical intimacy just yet.”
And just in case Wayne was getting any ideas about possible wedding night activities, Ksenia fires off a warning on the way to the hotel.
“Did you know that Russian women are very dangerous,” she says. “You should watch out…honestly.”
Wayne laughs nervously as he crosses his arms across his body, protecting his vital organs. Ksenia’s not done yet though.
“You should be sleeping with one eye open,” she warns.
Things head south when they get inside the hotel room and Ksenia tells her new husband to make himself comfortable on the couch. But it’s still salvageable… until she ridicules his tattoo. Ksenia almost can’t get her words out through her laughter. This does not bode well…
Self-described “party girl” Ottie meets “good guy” Gareth
32-year-old Ottie is definitely a character. She describes herself as a party girl and reveals her youth was spent “going missing and drinking too much and getting tattoos at parties.
“I sort of didn’t have any boundaries, and probably still don’t.”
She reveals she was in a 13 year relationship which ended in “the worst way possible” – with infidelity on his part. But she’s decided to put herself back out there and is looking for “a big, burly bad man.” Tattoos are a real plus.
Enter heavily tattooed Gareth. The experts think Gareth offers everything Ottie asked for.
“She has admitted that she likes the bad boys,” Trisha says. “And she’s kind of getting a bad boy package in Gareth, but a good guy inside.”
Gareth is only 26, so there’s a fair age gap there. He’s an apprentice barber from Central Otago, but would have loved to have been a tattoo artist. Instead he’s decided to use his “body as a canvas.”
Gareth, too, had his heart broken with his past relationship. “I thought I was going to marry that girl and when it did fall apart, I kind of went into a bit of a spiral.”
He bravely reveals he dealt with depression but that it was his best mate who helped him through it.
Living in a small town like Cromwell has made it hard for Gareth to meet someone, because “everyone knows everyone.”
Gareth’s mum is “shocked but not surprised” that her son has decided to meet his wife at the altar. He doesn’t tend to do things in the traditional sense.
Ottie said she wanted someone with a sense of style and it could be a case of ‘careful what you wish for’ when Gareth goes shopping for a purple suit. Turns out the suit shop can’t cater for exactly what he wants, so he settles for a purple waistcoat instead.
Ottie chooses a dress that shows off one of her tattoos. Already these two are a match made in heaven.
Gareth looks nervous, waiting to enter the venue, but Ottie on the other hand takes it to the extreme.
“So many emotions are going through my head right now,’ she says. “Mainly fear, negative, run, runaway type bride emotions.”
Ottie needn’t have worried about whether or not she’s going to like her groom or not though – he bridesmaids give him the tick of approval.
“I reckon he’s alright,” one gushes. “He’s got a neat tattoo.”
Gareth’s eyebrows lift as he sees his bride for the first time, and Ottie seems equally as impressed.
Gareth describes his new bride as “so much more than I wanted or ever thought. She is absolutely gorgeous. She is stunning. I’m a very happy man.”
“He was shy almost straight away which was cute,” says Ottie. “Awesome first impression.” And yes, she’s impressed with his tattoos.
“He’s cheeky. He sounds naughty. He’s funny. He’s beautiful. I feel like we’ve got a good connection already.”
Friends wipe away tears as they exchange vows and they share a kiss and a hug as they’re pronounced husband and wife.
Ottie likes what she sees. “I am physically attracted to Gareth, yes. I think he’s pretty.
“I love his style and his tattoos.”
There could be problems ahead though as they start to discuss future plans. During the photoshoot Ottie asks Gareth if he wants kids and he says yes. When he asks her the same thing she says kids have never been on her radar.
Gareth’s friend isn’t sure how it’s all going to turn out. “I think they’ve got these personalities that they could be a perfect match for each other… they’re either going to get on like a house on fire, or they’re going to burn it down.”
Could these two be the Brett and Angel of season two? Or will it go the way of Sarah and Telv from the Australian season. We can’t wait to find out.
Married At First NZ airs Sunday’s at 7pm and continues Monday’s and Tuesday’s at 7.30pm on THREE.
