This week, MAFS‘ three new couples were not allowed to choose whether they wanted to stay or leave the experiment. Instead, the experts said they would advise them on the early stages of their relationships while they’re still in the ‘honeymoon phase’.
New groom, Tyson, has already shocked viewers with his “traditional values” and anti-woke views. He has also seemingly made very little effort to try to bond with his ‘wife’, Stephanie.
Cosmina Naum, a self-worth and relationship coach, spoke to WHO about Tyson’s ‘dominant’ behaviour, revealing what she thinks it really meant.
What is behind Tyson’s behaviour?
“The danger isn’t traditional values themselves. It’s control disguised as preference,” she said.
“When a man defines what a woman should be, how she should behave, or how independent she’s allowed to be, that stops being about compatibility and starts being about power.
“If those ideas aren’t challenged, they risk normalising the policing of women’s autonomy under the banner of love or morality.”
She added, “I’m also interested in what sits underneath rigid beliefs. Often, beneath rigid structures is fear. Structure provides safety.
“If equality feels threatening, we have to ask, what does it destabilise in him? Power? Identity? Masculinity?
“This can be about fear of losing role clarity in a changing world. When power feels unstable, people cling more tightly to roles.”
Tyson shocks the experts with ‘submissive’ wife comments
When Tyson and Stephanie sat down with the experts, he said he felt she didn’t support him.
“I felt like I had everyone against me,” he said of Wednesday night’s dinner party. “I felt like Steph didn’t really support me…
“She’s very quiet, and I get it, she’s a female, so she probably didn’t want to get too argumentative.”
The comment shocked the others in the group – mostly the women, let’s be real.
Tyson continued, saying that he hasn’t felt “that connection” with Steph since they got married.
He told the experts (not his ‘wife’) that she speaks “very pretentious”.
Interestingly, but not shockingly, Tyson always addressed John specifically when speaking to the experts.
“Look John, she does talk down to me, I’m so sick of her talking down to me like that, we constantly bicker and argue over this,” he said.
When John questioned if Tyson had “heard” how he speaks to his ‘wife’, and his response? Stony silence, of course!
John recounted some of the things Tyson said at the dinner party, including how he called Steph his “temporary wife” and “far too much like a man”.
“I’m at my breaking point now, I really do feel like I want to leave the experiment,” he said.
Then, leaving the women in the room shocked, he added that Steph isn’t “the submissive type”, adding he thought she was masculine because she “challenges” him.
When asked his type, he responded, “Just the opposite of Steph.”
Tyson faces off with Mel Schilling
Mel Schilling then had her time to address Tyson, saying, “You’re using another word to describe this ideal partner, that I think is a little bit concerning,” referencing his constant use of the word “submissive”.
“You’re saying, I want to be with someone, who will lie down, give up their rights, not try to have their needs met, who will make the relationship all about you and your needs,” she said.
“I’m not saying that,” he responded, and she hit back, “Well, you are.”
Oh boy, don’t you know you don’t argue with Mel?
“What would you call it then, if I didn’t want someone so challenging and dominant in a relationship?” he asked the expert.
Mel questioned whether he meant he didn’t want to be in a relationship with someone who challenged him at all, and he responded, “Essentially.”
His reasoning is that it creates conflict in a relationship, with Mel saying that a good relationship includes challenging each other – exactly as Cosmina told us above!
“More importantly, you’re not superior to Steph,” she said, with him adding that he never said that.
“Well, you’re behaving as though you are, you’re behaving as though you should not be challenged, you should only be the one with a right to challenge her. Can you see that?” Mel said.
Steph ‘frightened’ of a relationship with Tyson
When John asked Stephanie if she was attracted to Tyson, she said she thought he was physically attractive, but his personality turned her off, which appeared to shock the groom.
“I’m not that bad, am I?” he asked.
She responded, “No, you’re not that bad, Tyson. I think you’ve got very outdated views, but I’m willing to continue to try and work with that, because I see a lot of good in you, and I can see why we’ve been matched.
“I just think it’s very clear to me why you’re also single, because you’re looking for someone that’s maybe not out there unless you find them in church.”
He responded, saying, “That’s a good way of looking at it, I agree actually.”
John told him that he shouldn’t have come on MAFS if that’s what he thought, adding he was a very difficult person for them to match.
Steph then shared with the group that she felt “frightened and scared” about the idea of a relationship with Tyson after being single so long, and he said that it made him feel “like a bit of a failure, to an extent”.
John told them to try to get closer and actually learn about each other without constant arguments.
But, to be clear, it doesn’t really feel like Tyson got the message at all.
No doubt, we’ll be in for a lot more arguments next week…
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