Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (2024)

As the oldest couple in the experiment, single parents Melissa and Josh have experienced both love and heartbreak in recent years.

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The two comfortably clicked on their Married At First Sight wedding day, despite not having matching personality types. Father-of-two Josh, 40, loves gaming, Disney and a quiet night in. Mother-of-one Mel, 41, loves sex, role play and Thor – and his "big hammer".

But Josh's calm kindness and Mel's bubbly zest for life meant the pair were off to a positive start, despite the negative vibes from her dubious friends at their wedding.

Here, we follow Melissa and Josh's journey: from the aisle to the bedroom and beyond.

Are Melissa and Josh still together?

During the second Commitment Ceremony things reached breaking point for Melissa and Josh.

After "degrading" and "dehumanising" him, Josh was completely done with the relationship. But when he poured his heart out on the couch it came as a surprise to Melissa, who had no idea he felt that way.

EXCLUSIVE: Why John Aiken put an end to two relationships for the first time ever

Josh wrote 'leave' while Melissa opted to stay and in a first for the experiment, expert John Aiken overruled the split decision and put the choice in Josh's hands.

He stood by his original decision to leave, ending his relationship with Melissa and their time in the experiment. 

Second Commitment Ceremony:

Melissa and Josh had a fiery Intimacy Week but not in the way the experts may have intended. They laid it all on the line in front of the experts during the second Commitment Ceremony and it was a tense one.

"The last week, we started off in a messy week and a difficult position," Josh admitted.

"We tried to hit the reset button with some dates, some quality time together and physical intimacy, and that didn't seem to work."

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (1)

Melissa explained that she feels like the dominant person in her relationship with Josh.

"I feel like I'm the alpha in the relationship, I just feel in this relationship I'm definitely more dominant and it's just showing," she said.

EXCLUSIVE: Melissa reveals her 'heartbreak' after she was asked to leave the experiment

Despite Melissa saying that Josh's conservative attitude towards intimacy was the problem, Josh began to argue that Melissa's controlling behaviours were the issue.

"You're saying I'm some kind of shrew or 40-year-old virgin which I am not, in any way shape or form," he snapped.

"There is a significant issue in this relationship about control," he continued. Josh went into detail about her attempt at controlling who he sees and restricting his access to his phone, TV and books.

EPISODE 13 RECAP: With two couples beyond repair John Aiken is forced to step in

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (2)

"She's used degrading and dehumanising language to me, questioning my manhood, so when we talk about getting at the core of the issue, that is the core of the issue right there," he continued.

"If I was a woman saying these things, the crowd would feel very differently about them."

"Is Josh not man enough for you?" expert John Aiken asked.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (3)

"I just feel like he's not a big man," she responded.

"I don't feel protected by Josh and I feel like I'm protecting him.

"I feel no protection, love or support and it's not something I'm used to, I'm used to a man, I want a manly man."

Duncan couldn't hold back and jumped in to defend Josh.

"A man is someone who can really talk about their emotions and get deep and be vulnerable, what a man isn't is someone who just wants to chop it up and not talk about anything, to me that's not a man," he said.

Layton added: "Any indication of a man I've got that from Josh more than anyone else."

When asked to imagine the roles reversed, Melissa acknowledged that a questioning of manhood would be hurtful but unprovoked she made a confession that pushed Josh to breaking point.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (4)

"That intimacy night during Intimacy Week it was just sex, it was a transaction," she said.

"I didn't feel like it was a genuine thing, it wasn't how I imagined to have an amazing sex life with someone, it was just physical and that was quite awful."

The experts were confused as to the intent of her story.

"Those words have an awful lot of power because you're diminishing him as a person," Mel Schilling told her.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh reveals crushing moment he was ghosted by an ex

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (5)

Josh choked back tears as he told the experts that after coming out of a long term relationship, this "overwhelming" experience was the last thing he needed.

"I feel like I'm pretty broken," he said and walked out of the room.

The other men in the experiment got up and followed him out, showing their support for him. 

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (6)

Josh revealed that he wanted to leave after his wife made some cruel comments about their sex life in front of the nation – but Melissa wasn't so ready to give up and wrote 'stay'.

However, John decided to change the rules and gave Josh the opportunity to choose to leave the experiment.

"Josh, we can see clearly that you're pretty broken right now," John said. "I've never seen a relationship like this before in the experiment.

"We've also been around long enough to know there is no coming back for you in this experiment Josh, and we're not going to subject you any longer to this."

Josh opted to leave the experiment and ended his time with Melissa.

Intimacy Week:

Following a tumultuous period for the couple, Melissa couldn't hide her excitement when Intimacy Week came around – but she was soon met with the realisation that perhaps it wasn't the all-enthralling, raunchy experience she'd been hoping for.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (7)

"We're just talking about toast, and butter, and bread," she told the camera, clearly bored.

"Being my favourite week, I thought it would be so different. But it's so awkward."

Following a meeting with sexologist Alessandra Rampolla, Josh was tasked with creating an intimate date night for his wife. Aptly, he decided they should make a Lego build of 'Thor's Hammer' together to spark a deeper connection.

After an awkward morning, the couple laughed and giggled their way through the build and even got to know about each other's childhoods in the process.

But the happy moment dissolved into more drama the next morning, with Melissa furious that her husband hadn't kissed or cuddled her when they went to bed.

"It's ridiculous," Josh fumed to cameras. "When I say good morning to someone and they say, 'You didn't kiss or cuddle me' – that's a really weird way to kick off a day."

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (8)

In the evening, a clearly frustrated Melissa came in guns blazing.

"You have a problem with touch and intimacy!" she yelled. "I'm living with you. I'm dating you. It's uncomfortable. You don't kiss, you don't touch – I don't know what is wrong. You can have sex, but you don't how to love and I don't know how to crack it."

Josh to laugh in disbelief, and he stood with his face in his hands as he absorbed what had just happened.

"You have a problem with intimacy, Josh!" Melissa continued, as Josh left to grab a drink of water. "I'm too much for you, and you don't know what to do.

"I'm going to speak my truth for every God damn woman in the world..."

Melissa was adamant that when she tried to get close to Josh, he would just "lock up or walk away" – words which left her husband dumbfounded.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (9)

"I don't think I have a problem with intimacy," he told the cameras. "It feels pretty horrible to have someone say all these things to you, over and over again... a relationship is so much more than physicality.

"All I've ever wanted with Mel is a deep conversation to try and get to know her more."

Clearly frustrated, Josh told Mel to her face: "You don't have a depth to you to understand anything other than sex."

A "floored" Mel disagreed, and bit back with: "It bothers you that I like intimacy more than you. It rocks something in you... what, because you can't keep up? Does it de-man you? You're the big man you said, your wife likes to be intimate with her husband.

"You know what, maybe my girlfriends were right. Maybe he is too much for me, maybe they saw the writing on the wall."

In a piece-to-camera, Josh became visibly emotional as he said: "I'm giving so much up to be here... but what am I doing it for? What am I actually doing it for? I just don't know if I can be in this experiment anymore."

Confessions Week:

Right from the outset, Melissa and Josh chafed against one another when it came to openly discussing intimacy. Melissa is unabashedly highly sexual, while Josh preferred to keep the details of their private life, private.

Josh was also eager to forge a bond with Melissa that went deeper than just sexual chemistry. "I think that we have a really great connection, it's just that you want to further that," he explained.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (10)

Their first challenge was aimed at doing just that. Tasked with writing a 'Confession Letter' to one another, Josh emotionally shared how he experienced a crisis of self-identity following his divorce, as he struggled to establish who he was and how to manage not having his children with him full-time.

"Sometimes, I'm lonely," he admitted. Privately, he shed tears as he confessed that on occasion, when he wasn't with his kids, he would allow himself to crumble.

To Melissa, Josh explained that being single was "horrific", adding it felt like a continuous stream of first dates, followed by many nights of loneliness. "It's hard, life's hard," he choked, racked with emotions.

Melissa didn't comment on his heartfelt confession and as Josh collected himself, she simply began reading her own.

"I am disappointed," Josh noted to the camera privately. He admitted he would have liked it if Mel had probed further and asked him questions about what he had shared.

Mel's confession was an explanation as to why she found sex so important. "My first marriage was a loveless and sexless marriage," she began. "So, I Ieft."

She explained her biggest fear was once again ending up in the same situation. "I promised myself … that it would not happen again."

"I am very sexual," she said as Josh assured her, "I know who you are."

Mel told Josh that he "ticked all her boxes" and their intimacy was "phenomenal" but Josh was getting increasingly agitated. "I'm really frustrated," he said. "There's so much more to life than just having sex." While he enjoyed sex, Josh added that it was also vital to be able to connect in other ways too.

The concerns that had been bubbling within Josh began to rise, as he realised his needs weren't being met – with a strong focus being on what Mel wanted instead.

His fears grew bigger when the experts then delivered the 'First Impressions' task. The pair were given videos of their wedding day, which revealed the initial thoughts they had about one another.

Initially excited to watch, Josh was left horrified when he realised what he had said about Mel was in stark contrast to what she had said.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (11)

Mel had been touched to hear her husband rave about her warmth and the "click" they had. "You're really, really kind," she said to Josh. He, however, was not thrilled to hear Mel talk about his likeness to Thor and his 'big hammer'. He cringed as he heard Mel describe him as a "freak in the sheets" and speculate on the size of his appendage.

"I can't quite shake that I'm just seen as a sex object," Josh told the cameras.

With tension simmering between them, the third task of Confessions Week caused an explosion. Asked to rank their priorities for their 'Five Year Plan', Mel and Josh's differences became even more apparent.

The pair were aligned on career being a top priority and family being a focus. But when Mel listed 'healthy sex life' as her third priority and added some of her other goals were also linked to having a good life in the sheets, Josh lost patience. "You have sex as an extension to how you feel about someone," he said. "It's not what you put on a five year plan."

He quizzed Mel on whether she may be putting too much focus on sex, as she defended her choices and said it clearly was important to her. To the camera, she added, "I'm sorry but if you can't keep up… there's the door."

Mel began spiralling, as she wondered whether Josh was disinterested in sex and unwilling to keep up with her healthy appetite. She fretted she had already found herself in a "nightmare marriage".

Privately, Mel said if Josh wasn't willing to "keep up" there was "a lot of fish in the sea that would be happy to take Josh's place, let me tell you."

"I'm not having an ultimatum put to me to have sex in order to further the relationship," Josh said, exasperated.

The pair fell quiet and later, Josh gently checked in with how Mel was feeling. She asked Josh if he had joined the experiment to find a friend, or create a marriage with an active sex life, adding that she felt both rejected and judged. "I'm scared that this is going to get very boring, very quickly," she said.

Josh took umbrage with Mel's insinuations that he was not keen on sex and hearing her detail again just how vital it was to her, he finally snapped. A producer asked him how he was feeling, and Josh said, "You know what? I am absolutely, out of my mind angry.

"I am a man. And I am not a f**king disposable sex toy."

Furious, he added: "I didn't come here to meet someone, to just f**k them all the time."

Josh explained he felt Mel had come on the experiment purely to find someone to constantly have sex with. He was incensed that Mel was "driving a narrative" that he was "a super conservative guy", adding he simply wanted love and a "normal" relationship.

To Mel, he said their argument was actually her issue. "If you want [sex] to be something that is the defining personality trait of what you have, that's for you [to figure out]'."

Mel defensively explained sex was merely in her top five list of priorities, but Josh countered that it was actually her main priority. Mel told her husband that her cup was feeling empty, but Josh used that as a chance to raise how his own cup was going.

"You have never showed any interest whatsoever in learning anything about me," he said, bluntly. "What do I do for a job?"

When Mel admitted she didn't know, Josh was flabbergasted. He told the producer there was one reason Mel didn't know anything about him – she had never asked.

"Unless I am servicing her needs, there's no needs," he said.

Realising Josh was upset, Mel backed down, suggesting they temporarily removed sex out of their union altogether. Josh countered that he didn't think Mel was capable of doing that, and Mel said quickly, "Don't tell me what I can and can't do."

Both parties on edge, Josh headed to bed and Mel remained on the couch. She called out that she would tap him when she joined him later, but Josh asked her not to.

"No touching. Wow." Mel said, sadly, as Josh removed his wedding ring and slipped it into a drawer.

The honeymoon:

The pair headed to Fiji on their honeymoon, and appeared to be having a whale of a time. But when Mel's sexy seduction attempt failed, she was left wondering if their initial spark would continue to burn as bright.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (12)

Fretting she wasn't to her husband's liking, Mel was shattered when she learned he had denied they'd been intimate when asked by producers. Josh felt he was demonstrating integrity by protecting their privacy, but Mel felt rejected.

"I want to keep some things for us," he explained, as Mel stated that it had instead put a "huge wedge" in their relationship.

The wedding:

As a nervous Josh waited at the aisle for his bride-to-be, Mel's friends began speculating on whether he would be a good match for their vivacious pal.

In Pictures

Melissa and Josh's Wedding Album

"Freak in the sheets" bride meets her Prince Charming.

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"I'm worried he's a bit nerdy for her," one mused. "Like, a bit too nice looking." Oblivious, Melissa was grappling with nerves of her own, but the second she spotted Josh her fears dissipated. He may not have fit her description of her ideal man as "burly", hairy and blokey, but Josh's kind eyes and big smile immediately reassured her.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about MAFS 2023

"There's this handsome, amazing man standing there who is everything that I've wanted," beamed Mel. "That is my Thor and Gladiator in one."

"I think he looks like the boy next door but I think he could be a freak in the sheets too," she added, grinning.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (14)

Mel may have been swooning but based on first impressions alone, her friends weren't as thrilled by the union. "Poor guy," two of them muttered, watching the pair swap vows. "He's not really the alpha male, is he?" another said. "She'll eat him alive!"

At their flirty wedding photo shoot, Melissa was doing her best to give it a red-hot crack. Describing the chemistry as sizzling, the pair got flirty before sharing a passionate smooch. "I'm just hoping I don't get an erection," whispered Josh.

"I really believe my energy can bring out a really fun side of Josh," enthused Melissa as the pair made their grand entrance into their reception.

The blissful pair swapped stories, with Josh revealing he had packed his Nintendo Switch and Mel laughing in delight. But watching on, her friends were less thrilled. Again deeming Josh as "boring" and not Mel's usual type, one friend explained she hadn't seen a fun and vibrant side to the groom and laughed wryly as she predicted the union wouldn't last long.

Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (15)

When Mel pulled her friends aside to ask for their take on her new man, she was crushed when most of the group told her they weren't sure they could see the potential in the match.

Mel fought back tears as she told her friends that while they meant the world to her, she knew she had chosen the wrong men for so many years and was hopeful and ready for a new beginning. And with Josh, she wanted that more than anything. In fact, she believed he was exactly what she had ordered.

"He's a great guy … A kind, nice guy, [that is a] Dad," she said. "He fills my cup."

Fretting she had misread the situation, Mel pondered, "Have I got it wrong... again?"

Grabbing her trusted twin sister, she desperately asked for reassurance. "I see no red flags," her sister said, settling her nerves. "I genuinely feel he is the person."

READ MORE: Exclusive: Why Melissa wants to 'break the stigma' around talking openly about sex

"He has my heart," Melissa admitted, deciding Josh was indeed 'The One' and she was ready to tap out from being the wild single girlfriend and focus instead on her own, happily married journey.

That began in earnest when the pair made their way back to their hotel for their first night together. Mel had been very open about her plan to sleep with her new husband on their first night of wedded bliss and not even Josh's Toy Story themed PJs could throw her off her mission.

But the next morning, a chivalrous Josh denied consummating their wedding night. Melissa, on the other hand, was more than happy to divulge how the evening went.

"Thor does have a big hammer," she grinned.

Married At First Sight continues Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and9Now.

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Stream every episode of Married At First Sight for free on 9Now.

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Melissa and Josh's MAFS journey (2024)

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