MARRIED at First sight groom Stephen Nolson is adamant that he comes with no red flags.
But as his new bride Hannah Norburn is finding out, there appears to be a bundle of skeletons in his closet.
First he dropped a bombshell on their wedding day by revealing that has four children from a previous marriage.
But then on their honeymoon, he has repeatedly insisted that he needs ‘space’ and wishes to spend time alone.
In the episode which airs tonight he said: “Moving forward tonight for me, this nothing against you, but I am going to stay on my own again. I’ve got a lot of things going on in my head right now, I’ve got a lot of thinking to do.
To which Hannah replied: “It just feels like everything is muy fault.’
Stephen then said: “I just need to be in my own thoughts,” which prompted Hannah to snap back: “That just tells me that you don’t want to make this work.”
Stephen’s reluctance to spend the night with Hannah is beginning to overshadow the honeymoon, but the signs of discord were there on the their wedding day.
Initially sparks were flying between the pair when technology technician Stepehn 33, tired the knot with gym owner Hannah, 33. The newly weds even said that their marriage felt ‘too good to be true’ just after they said their vows.
But the fairytale began to unravel when Stephen dropped the bomb about his four children.
She asked: ‘Who do you live with?’
Stephen replied: ‘On my own.’
Hannah asked: ‘Number one question, really important. Would you move?’
‘I’ve got something in Leeds, that takes me to Leeds all the time’, Stephen said.
Hannah quivered: ‘Okay. Have you got a child?’
‘Four children’, Stephen said.
‘FOUR! You have four children?’, she added.
After the dinner reception, Hannah said: ‘Four children is a lot. Like, four is a lot. I was not expecting that’.
Stephen said: ‘My kids do come first.’
‘Obviously it’s raised a red flag in my head. It’s massively important that whoever I am with wants children. Would you have another one?’, she asked.
He said: ‘I’ve always said if I don’t have anymore I’d be happy. But if I meet someone who I fall in love with and I can give them children then I would.
How many do you want? I could probably give you a few’, he joked.
Hannah said: ‘Just a couple but like soon’.
Speaking to the camera, Stephen said: ‘It’s a relief the way she has reacted’.
Meanwhile Hannah told the camera: ‘I think him being open to children, that’s really important to me. He has been really sweet with me. He is a nice boy.’
Viewers then took to social media site X to query why Hannah, who has made no secret of wanting children, was mismatched with a man who is already a father to four kids.
Some wrote: ‘I want children when the times right. Experts: Let’s put Hannah with a guy with 4 kids’,
‘“I really want children” Experts: “excellent, here is 4” #MAFSUK’,
‘Going on married at first sight when you’ve got four kids (and open to more?!?!) and then being matched with a woman who has none is INSANE to me #MAFSUK’,
‘Sorry but 4 kids is extremely wild to someone who doesn’t have any at all. Of course his kids come first but she doesn’t have to stay for that ride unfortunately #MAFSUK’.
Loved-up Tayah Victoria and Adam Aveling of series six fame had the first Mafs baby.
The pair couldn’t keep their hands off each other on the programme and quickly found their feet in the outside world, moving into Adam’s Doncaster home.
Just 18 months after meeting, the couple welcomed their daughter Beau.
Season five couple Michelle Walder and Owen Jenkins also managed to make their marriage work away from the cameras and had their first child in December.
Teacher Michelle, 29, has no regrets about taking part in the experiment. She told us: “I just feel very lucky and thankful that it has worked out – and excited for everything to come.”
Michelle and Owen were both sick of dating apps when they applied in 2019.
Owen recalled: “I had been out for some drinks with a friend after work.
“While he was out for a cigarette I was scrolling on Instagram waiting for him to come back in.
“The MAFS advert was the last thing I saw, and I joked, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if I signed up?’
“A few beers later when I was back at home I sent in the application, and the rest is history.”
Another couple to make Mafs UK history is Zoe Clifton and Jenna Robinson.
Despite a slight rocky start, where they clashed over Jenna’s vegan lifestyle, the show’s first same sex pairing are still going strong.
They even have a successful podcast together called Life With a Pod.
Jenna shed light on being involved in the show earlier this year when she told us: “We’re not legally married, and I never felt like we were. I definitely feel the process makes you take the relationship a lot more seriously and having the help of the experts… if you can survive that process it sets a firm foundation for a long-lasting relationship.”
