Married At First Sight’s ‘love expert’ John Aiken calls out Steve Burley and Mishel Karen

On Wednesday’s episode of Married At First Sight, Steve Burley and Mishel Karen were forced to face some uncomfortable truths about their relationship.

Taking a seat on the couch for the show’s final commitment ceremony, Steve, 52, claimed things were going ‘really well’ in the couple’s relationship, even though they were yet to share a bed together. 

‘That sounds like a very comfortable friendship,’ ‘love expert’ Dr Trisha Stratford told the pair, before telling Steve he was ‘stuck on first base’.

Trisha then asked Steve if he could see their sexual relationship ever developing, and he responded: ‘Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.’

‘If it’s not our time to have that romantic relationship during the experiment, it could be another time. Maybe this was not our time,’ an emotional Mishel, 48, said.

Reading the hesitation on Steve’s face, fellow ‘love expert’ John Aiken was quick to call him out.

‘I’ve got to call it for what it is. You guys started out as friends, eight weeks on, you’re still friends,’ John told the couple. 

‘You’ve not got out of the friend zone at all. You are essentially two people that have not been able to get onboard the process. 

‘It is the same conversation we’ve had the last four or five commitment ceremonies, and you need the feedback. What I’m saying is, we can call it, it’s friends, it’s not lovers. And it’s not going anywhere… I’m calling BS on this.’

His comments left Steve ‘frustrated’, with fellow ‘love expert’ Mel Schilling pointing out: ‘This is Married At First Sight, it’s not Mates At First Sight.’

Steve confessed he’d been ‘fighting with the attraction side’ of his relationship with Mishel, but insisted he was ‘loving the way we are right now’.

Despite the tense conversation, both Steve and Mishel chose to stay in the experiment, continuing their relationship. 

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine