She and “husband” Jordan Emmett-Connelly delighted fans during the latest series of Married At First Sight UKafter their romance went from strength to strength.
And now Chanita Stephenson says she still can’t believe that she got so lucky on the show – where couples are matched scientifically by a panel of experts and meet for the first time on their wedding day.
Chanita tells Closer, “I signed up to the show on a bit of a whim and I just didn’t expect my experience to be as positive as it was. I was very open-hearted and ready to explore something with whoever was at the end of the aisle, but luckily it was Jordan. And I didn’t have to try very hard to be attracted to him – we clicked from that very first moment. It’s been a total whirlwind and I loved it all – the highs and the lows.”
Chanita and Jordan – both 29 – bonded over their similar backgrounds, which included being raised by single mums and wanting to start a family.
The couple cheekily opened up about their sexual chemistry too – revealing on the show that they’d consummated the marriage on their honeymoon.
Looking back on the experience, Chanita confesses that despite them being constantly filmed, having sex during the experiment didn’t feel weird.
She says, “Both of us are naturally quite affectionate people, so we were always holding hands at the dinner parties and kissing. We both got used to the cameras surprisingly quickly and didn’t adjust our behaviour depending on whether we were in front of them or not.
“We had sex on our honeymoon because Jordan and I felt like we’d known each other for years – it felt very easy and natural. Plus, the honeymoon was ridiculously romantic. I did find it awkward talking to the experts about it though and I got the giggles – just because I knew my family would be watching.”
Sadly, as revealed in the teary reunion show, Chanita and Jordan didn't last.
“When we came out of the experiment, everything just changed," Chanita explained to her friends on the show, after walking into the reunion solo.
"Basically, I kept saying ‘I feel like you’re not interested in me, you’re not making an effort, you’re not doing this’, and he’s all, ‘no, no, no, I can’t wait to see you’ - and then I was right!”
"“And then he was like, ‘oh, I don’t think we’re compatible, I don’t want to be with you’ - it was really weird,”
While social worker Chanita and Jordan didn't make the distance she does say she’s still close with a number of her castmates.
The show saw the husbands and wives meet for explosive weekly dinner parties, which often ended in fiery arguments and tears.
But despite the drama, solid friendships were built and Chanita now says, “I FaceTime Adrian [Sanderson] at least three times a day and I’m always talking to Zoe [Clifton] and Sophie [Brown]. I’ve made such incredible friends from the show, and I can’t imagine my life without them now.”
The biggest scandal of this series was the romance between Whitney Hughes and Matt Murray, who got together despite being “married” to other people – causing upset among the group, as Gemma Rose – Matt’s wife – broke down in tears.
Remarkably, Whitney and Matt – who said “I love you” after two weeks of knowing each other – appear to still be together. But Chanita – who was vocally disapproving of their relationship on the show – says she
still stands by her comments.
She says, “I would never want to deny anyone the opportunity to have the experience that I did on MAFS, but Matt and Whitney went about it completely the wrong way. It was amazing to see Whitney so happy, but there’s an argument to be made that it should have been done outside of the experiment.”
