Emily Balch’s After Party Behavior Has Been Troubling (Is She As Nice & Positive As She Says?

Summary

• Emily’s positive portrayal on the show contrasts with her aggressive behavior on the Afterparty.
• Emily snapped at host Keisha Knight Pulliam during a conversation about couple’s therapy.
• Emily attacked Austin for his lack of intimacy with his wife, damaging her fun-loving image.

As Married At First Sight season 17 draws to a close and Decision Day nears, Emily Balch is receiving criticism for her aggressive behavior on Married At First Sight: The Afterparty. The long-running matchmaking series doesn’t have a good track record of pairing lasting couples, and Emily and her husband, Brennan Shoykhet, are no exception. Since premiering in 2014, the show has been marrying strangers paired together by relationship experts who take the participants’ lives and personal traits into consideration. Though the show has had some success stories, the couples usually break up.

Emily and Brennan, one of the couples set up by the Married At First Sight relationship experts, were so happy on their wedding day and seemed to really hit it off right away. However, it wasn’t long before Brennan revealed he simply wasn’t as attracted to his wife as he’d like to be, but he was still firmly committed to making the marriage work. Emily, who has presented herself as a positive ray of light, has shown what some believe are her true colors during Married At First Sight: The Afterparty, hosted by fan Keisha Knight Pulliam.

Emily Portrays As Nice & Positive On The Show

Married At First Sight season 17 portrays Emily as a fun-loving party girl with an infinitely positive outlook on life. She’s emotionally empathetic, kind, and always smiling, even after Emily sliced her head in an ATV accident during a couples retreat weekend with Brennan and the rest of the cast. She’s shown cheerfully dancing up a storm at the wedding of Michael Shiakallis and Chloe Brown while Brennan sulks in the corner, embarrassed by his fun-loving wife’s carefree behavior.

In sharp contrast to her positive portrayal on the show are her appearances during Married At First Sight: TheAfterparty show, during which she snaps at the host, avoids answering questions, and is aggressive with her fellow cast mates. Seeing her behavior during Married At First Sight: The Afterparty puts the rest of her behavior during the show into question and makes Brennan’s discomfort with her behavior seem more rational. One can’t help but wonder what Emily is like when the cameras aren’t around and she’s alone with Brennan.

Emily Snapped At Afterparty Host Keshia Knight Pulliam

During the January 17 episode of Married At First Sight: The Afterparty, Keisha was asking Emily about a couple’s therapy season with Dr. Pia that she and Brennan had attended when Emily lost her cool. Emily was frustrated by Keisha’s questions because Keisha wasn’t going along with Emily’s bashing of Brennan, who wasn’t there to defend himself. Keisha wasn’t even taking Brennan’s side in the conversation, she was simply asking questions to help put the therapy session into context for the viewers. However, Emily interrupted Keisha and snapped at her repeatedly.

”
Why don’t you just have sex with her
?”

The exchange, which was posted on Instagram by a MAFS fan account, was made especially frustrating by Emily desperately trying to make herself a victim during the exchange despite accusing Brennan of playing the victim. Emily paints Brennan out to be a manipulative mastermind who, at one point, tried to emotionally blackmail her into staying quiet on camera about their problems. She also claimed that Brennan screamed at her but was annoyed when Keisha rightfully asked further questions about the allegation. Emily wanted free rein to cast Brennan as the villain without being challenged.

Emily Attacked Austin For Not Being Intimate With Becca

During another Married At First Sight: The Afterparty clip posted by the MAFS fan account, Emily attacks fellow Married At First Sight season 17 cast member Austin Reed about his intimate relationship with his wife and castmate, Becca Haley. Emily just bluntly asks Austin, “Why don’t you just have sex with her?” Austin, taken aback by the question, gently asks if it’s fair for Emily to ask the question. He implies that Emily is a hypocrite because she claims to be sex-positive but isn’t extending that positivity towards him.

”
You keep saying “I want to improve intimacy” and she keeps trying, but you’re not putting in any effort, reciprocation, and definitely not initiating anything
.”

Emily then throws Becca under the bus by revealing that Becca has told her things about Becca and Austin’s lack of intimacy. “She keeps telling me you guys are having these talks,” Emily said. “You keep saying “I want to improve intimacy” and she keeps trying, but you’re not putting in any effort, reciprocation, and definitely not initiating anything.” The fact that Austin stayed calm and didn’t snap at Emily for her inappropriate behavior shows how patient he is.

Has Emily Damaged Her Image?

Emily’s aggressive and disrespectful behavior during Married At First Sight: The Afterparty has damaged her image as the warm, sex-positive, fun-loving woman who Brennan is crazy not to be in love with. Her Married At First Sight: TheAfterparty appearances present the image of an angry and emotionally demanding young woman who goes after anyone who challenges her. Seeing her in a new light also makes Brennan’s comment about Emily being a “red flag” suddenly make a lot more sense.

Married At First Sight

airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on Lifetime.

Sources: MAFS Fan/Instagram, MAFS Fan/Instagram