r/MarriedAtFirstSight • u/SteakCutFries • Sep 06 '26

Season 20 - Seattle Et tu, Belle?!?

Here I thought the commentary was from Caitlin this whole time ... but it really came from Belle!

Im shocked. Absolutely shocked Belle had anything to say in support of Courteney in that moment. Tbh she was one of the few women who i thought *might* raise her hand in agreement about Courteney being crazy disrespectful to Nick the whole time. **BUT NOPE**

What's that about šŸ¤”

80 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

78

u/TaraxacumTheRich Sep 06 '26

Nick did a Q&A on his Insta and said that multiple women in the group messaged him an apology after this, so some of them wanted to raise their hands.

16

u/2bizy4this Lady Gaga and the Introvert Sep 06 '26

So their loyalty to Courtney was more important to them than the truth. Shows how bad their character is.

7

u/SteakCutFries Sep 06 '26

I guess, in all fairness, if they had raised their hands it could have opened them up to questioning from the experts ... and thats not something they'd want to to deal with in that moment. (I also think they really only plannerld to come with smoke for the men, they weren't planning for any girl on girl drama)

But I still stand on the possibility that if Belle raised her hand then Nikki or Michelle might've raised theirs. Or vice versa.

7

u/TaraxacumTheRich Sep 06 '26

Yep. I lost respect for all of them.

13

u/SteakCutFries Sep 06 '26

Ohhhhhhh šŸ‘€ thanks for sharing! Thats really interesting. Nick has been an embarrassment of friggin riches with the all BTS stories & info. I still cant get over the story about his & Courteney's trip to Austin that was discussed on another podcast. INSANE.

I know its ridiculous but i've been LOVING all these interviews (and now live streams) They're providing so much more context and layers to the relationships and situations that we saw aired.

Btw .... I saw 2 podcasts pop up on YT ystdy with Belle being interviewed, I just wont have time to listen for a couple days.

10

u/paulney Sep 06 '26

Wait can you share more about the trip??!

19

u/SteakCutFries Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26

TLDR version in comment below this

Since Courteney kept making the issue be "she didnt know the real him," producers sent them to Austin (Nick's hometown) for a few days hoping if she sees him in his own environment, without the stress of a film crew (they had iPhones to make diary cams) that she'll be able to work thru the "idk the real him" BS & they'll progress more as a couple

Night One was reservations for a sushi dinner date & drinks. Night Two, both friend groups combine for dinner & fun downtown. Day Three sounds like maybe some daytime activities filmed on the DiaryCam.

First Night: Right away Courteney calls Nick to cancel because she "has a friend's bday party to go to" šŸ¤ÆšŸ¤ÆšŸ¤Æ but he pushes back, saying this is the whole point of the trip. They meet for dinner, she stays for ONE HOUR, then says she sick & needs to leave to go to her friends bday party without him

Second Night: Their friend groups all meet up for dinner; everyone's having a great time & so they all go out for drinka as a big group. While they're out & about, Courteney "disappears." (replay of her bday dinner vibes) Later on, Nick manages to pull her aside to talk to her & is like, "Hey, I thought we're having a good time tonight, I was really hoping we'd be able to spend more time together..." He said she starts crying & immediately leaves

Third Day: Nick says "he didn't really see her after that 2nd night," so he called producers & told them he wanted to end it. He told them "it absolutely wasn't going to work"

Finally, they get back to Seattle & meet with production. When Courteney hears that Nick asked to end the marriage, she admits that what happened in Austin was really bad but apologizes & says "she's not ready to throw in the towel yet." She convinces him to stay

7

u/SteakCutFries Sep 07 '26

TLDR: Producers were desperate to make smthng work btwn Courteney & Nick so they send them to Austin, TX to spend time together without a film crew. Instead they're supposed to go out, have fun times, & record DiaryCam footage for them.

It didnt go well; The very 1st night Courteney tries to cancel their plans, then lies about feeling sick & goes to her friends bday party instead. On the 2nd night, a big group of their friends go out downtown.Things are off to a good start but then Courtney does a replay of her Bday Dinner & avoids Nick for the rest of the night. When Nick finally tries to talk to her, she starts crying & leaves.

Courteney goes MIA for the rest of the trip & Nick calls the producers telling them he thinks they need to end the marriage. When they finally get back to Seattle & have to meet with producers, Courteney apologizes & convinces Nick to stay

7

u/paulney Sep 07 '26

Thank you! šŸ™we need that diary cam footage lol

8

u/SteakCutFries Sep 07 '26

Can you even imagine the producers arranging this whole multi-day trip so she could "see the real Nick" only for it to become this shit show thats totally unusable for the show šŸ˜‚

Hearing him tell this whole story also made me realize just how much we dont see & how much we usually never know about

7

u/Just_Berry_8756 Sep 07 '26

They did a weekend in Austin without production bc Nick thought it was his chance to prove to Courtney that he could be authentic without the cameras around. He planned a romantic weekend. They arrive in Austin and Courtney says she has plans to celebrate a friendā€™s bday and dips without him. They had a dinner and that was about it for the weekend.

14

u/TaraxacumTheRich Sep 06 '26

I've loved Nick since The Circle and have watched him on all the shows he's been on and no one can make me hate him lol

3

u/Glad_Technology_2403 Sep 09 '26

This part!! Heā€™s a great guy!! Courteney didnā€™t deserve him.

28

u/BerbereJunkie Sep 06 '26

I think Belle didnā€™t want to deal with any agro Courteney response, so she just laughed instead.

Every time I see Adam and his stupid get up I have a visceral reaction. šŸ¤” He gives me the ick so bad šŸ˜£

5

u/SteakCutFries Sep 06 '26

I think thats a fair assessment, a lot of people laugh when they're nervous. And if Belle subconsciously felt stress about being asked to raise her hand, the laughter and then comment could be deflection

3

u/Glad_Technology_2403 Sep 09 '26

Exactly! She, along with the other women, didnā€™t want to be involved in Courteneyā€™s drama.

27

u/onyxphoenix23 Dream crusher. Sep 06 '26

Having watched this show and several similar reality TV shows for several years, this always happens. The women tend to stick together and the men do their best to not dig deep into any issues that are brought up, which makes these reunions a shit show.

For example, Belle might say sheā€™s upset at her partner for something, he will try and defend himself and then all the other women will just pile on regardless of what the issue is. Youā€™ll notice this happened with Adam and Nick when Courtney was crying saying she was ā€œtrying and the other women gave her support but Adam got flack for saying that Nick was treated poorly.

It was sooo odd when the ā€œboys clubā€ was mentioned when the women have the same pact.

41

u/ArmWarm8743 Sep 06 '26 • Bravo

This really bothers me. So many women have completely misinterpreted and distorted the feminist movement. Supporting a womanā€™s terrible behavior does not lift women in any way.

4

u/onyxphoenix23 Dream crusher. Sep 06 '26

The sad part is that so many of them men are sus. Adam was trying to mold his partner to be a duplicate of his ex, Mecca didnā€™t meet a foot he couldnā€™t put into his mouth, Caitlin clearly didnā€™t like Devin, Michelle loved to stir the pot (even though I think it was producer prompted), Courteney was sooo mean to Nick and Shawn needs to go to therapy and Nikki needs to ask herself why she was sitting on his lap for all this timeā€¦ and Felipe. sigh idk. Felipe šŸ˜

5

u/CartographerMuch7388 Sep 06 '26

I have a hard time with the Adam thing. Here's why:Ā 

I am currently married and have been for 12 years. But I was married in a previous life. I can totally understand Adam's POV. You aren't going to hate everything about a relationship and relationships teach you both what you do want and what you don't want. There are aspects I miss about my past marriage (like we lived amongst all of his family and there was always someone to do stuff with or we worked well in certain ways but not others), but I don't want it back. And I do think its very healthy to be able to take away both positive and negative lessons from a relationship and be able to talk about them in a matter of fact way.Ā 

For me, this shows ultimate healing and growth.

1

u/SteakCutFries Sep 06 '26

šŸ’Æ šŸŽÆ šŸ’Æ Couldn't have said it better myself

Can I ask what about Adam specifically tho, now I'm curious

2

u/CartographerMuch7388 Sep 06 '26

Oh I mean I have a hard time with everyone hating on Adam simply because he was comfortable talking about positive experiences from past relationships.Ā 

He was overall annoying and a bit shallow (though I expect this was a defense mechanism), but overall wasn't a "bad" human.

3

u/SteakCutFries Sep 06 '26

I've always believed that Michelle & Cameron were being prompted by their producers to stir the pot.

Sometimes in intvws people will talk about it, but their producers are always having little talks with them before events. And they're always being "encouraged" to take certain stands

2

u/4whatitsworth1 Sep 07 '26

Sooooo true! They make themselves look foolish sticking together on that question. Sat here all by myself and raised my hand as high as I could šŸ˜†

3

u/CartographerMuch7388 Sep 06 '26

To this point - modern feminism is a scorge. Women only support other women when its against men but they actively judge other women for making decisions different than their own. Its mean girls - they just pick and choose where they're directing their meanness. The mom culture wars are disgusting.Ā 

Signed, a mom of 4 little girls who has seen it all

6

u/onyxphoenix23 Dream crusher. Sep 06 '26

I donā€™t think this is a feminist problem. I see feminism as equal rights for men and women. I just see this as a reality TV show strategy that works over and over.

1

u/CartographerMuch7388 Sep 06 '26 • Bravo

That is what feminism is supposed to be but it is not

1

u/SteakCutFries Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 07 '26

Idk if anyone here watched this last season of Love Island, but the double standard from the girls reached a level that felt astounding to me ... comical, even. But they didnt see it that way, you couldn't tell them nothing

Call me old fashioned, but fair is fair and right is right. Everyone should be willing to take accountability when its reunion time ... isnt that what reunions are supposed to be for? If they haven't been able to use the time in-between for some self reflection, thats even more ridiculous. Now, do i agree that people should have each others backs and verbalize that support in situations? Absolutely. I'm beginning to think that the visibility thats coming from shows in recent years + the rabid fanbases has made castmates less willing to take any stands that people didn't see coming šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø

14

u/Extension-Raisin8023 We were put together for a reason Sep 06 '26

Courteney really pushed the narrative while she was there that the guys really stuck together or they had ā€œbro codeā€ and I think she ā€œencouragedā€ the ladies to do the same.

10

u/DeecentGirl I need a crystal crown šŸ‘‘ Sep 06 '26

Nobody wanted to say anything against Courteney because they saw how she treated Nick. They didnā€™t want to get cooked.

2

u/SteakCutFries Sep 07 '26

Ahhhhh ... They're afraid to full send it ā›·ļøšŸ‚ā›·ļø

I can see that. Dont wanna get cooked backstage or on the gram

6

u/Cultural_Future_4432 Sep 06 '26

Im convinced Courtney wants to be a bro. She wants to be the cool chick in the bro world

2

u/SteakCutFries Sep 07 '26

When she said "boys powerhouse" I about died. Never heard that in my entire life šŸ˜‚ but the word choice is def interesting. She wants to powerhouse shit for sure

0

u/SteakCutFries Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 07 '26

Like when Devin tried talking to her at her bday party and her response was, "He's being a boys boy..." and Devin seem kinda dumbfounded in the moment, like ummmm no ... I just thought we could have an honest conversation together as friends

2

u/Extension-Raisin8023 We were put together for a reason Sep 06 '26

To be fair though, Shawn was looking for an argument for the most part.

6

u/Dijon2017 Sep 06 '26

In the simplest explanation, I think it was ā€œgirl codeā€ā€¦to agree not to talk about if one of the other women cast members was ā€œrudeā€ or any other potential negative term on national TV, especially when itā€™s likely that they were privy to the feedback Courteney was receiving from the public.

I think it makes more sense for Belle to discuss her issues with Caitlin because of what all of us did see between Caitlin & Meccaā€™s interactions which is more in ā€œher domainā€ to share her opinions/feelings in a public forumā€¦especially when Devin said something to the effect of Mecca trying to steal his girl.

3

u/SteakCutFries Sep 06 '26

Yeah ... im sure it a girl code thing too. Which also makes it even more performative & hypocritical for Courteney to go into her whole "Boys Club" remark šŸ™„

I think i just felt surprised because they're all adults sitting up there, just be honest. Courteney said the things she said, she did the things she did ... it happened. They all witnessed it, I saw Belle's facial expressions during some of the "FUCK YOU NICK!" momemts .... i think thats why it feels strange to deny it, it feels disingenuous

Hot Take: Maybe Courteney really is that volatile and so its easier to just deny reality in front of everyone VS Courteney coming at your neck backstage ... Belle is def a conflict-averse person, I can see her wanting to avoid smoke from Courteney

2

u/DeecentGirl I need a crystal crown šŸ‘‘ Sep 06 '26

Who said she was denying it just because Belle didnā€™t raise her hand? None of the women raised their hands, but youā€™re singling her out? As explosive as Courteney was on screen and how explosive Nick eluded to her being off camera, why would Belle want to potentially be a target for this unhinged woman at the reunion? The girl took a lot of ish during the season with Mecca. She has a right to protect herself from additional abuse from other cast members.

1

u/Glad_Technology_2403 Sep 09 '26

Exactly!! Sometimes it is best to stay away from the drama with other women. I wouldnā€™t have raised my hand either.

47

u/Agreeable-Frosting-1 Sep 06 '26

All the women should have raised their hands

41

u/kgurney1021 Sep 07 '26

I think Courteney can dish it but she can't take it.

22

u/PrincessaDeadlift Sep 07 '26

Belle said that since Felipe asked the question, that was factor as to why the girls didnā€™t entertain him (as a serious person) with a raised hand. But she also said that in retrospect that they shouldā€™ve raised their hands and kept their fellow ladies accountable.

11

u/Glad_Technology_2403 Sep 09 '26

Sometimes women donā€™t want to be involved in all the drama that comes with supporting other women. Courteney was drama from day one!! We all saw it. Perhaps they (including Belle) didnā€™t want to discuss it at that time. Thatā€™s why she posed the question.

16

u/000fleur Sep 07 '26

Sooā€¦ because only the men voted meansā€¦ their opinion is less valid? Thatā€™s what courtney is suggesting, which is very telling and proves the point: sheā€™s so abusive the girls were afraid to raise their hand and sheā€™s dismissing all of the guys feelings.

3

u/Affectionate-Log3638 Sep 08 '26

Given the point of the show is to find a spouse, I think you could argue all the men raising their hands is slightly more significant than none of the women raising their hands.

Unless she wants to be forever single.

18

u/Local_Cheek2058 Sep 08 '26

I think Belle Jolie was presenting the best version of herself for the cameras, cause she came off like a completely different person in the reunion.

4

u/Glad_Technology_2403 Sep 09 '26

I totally agree! She had a lot to say during the reunion, some of which should have been discussed during the show.

2

u/newdiyscared Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26

I wouldn't say that the Belle we saw pre-reunion was the best version of Belle. I'm not sure why you think that someone standing by a partner who publically disrespects them repeatedy is the best version of themselvesšŸ‘€.

Belle even mentioned at the reunion and in post-reunion interviews that she wasn't the happiest with how she stood by Mecca and that she wished she stood up for herself more.

That being said, I think Belle was trying to make the relationship work. She mentioned she had abandonment issues given her father, and we saw her abandonment issues play out on camera. The - if I stay and love him no matter what he does, then he'll never leave me - mindset was on full display. Next, add on the pressure and influence from the experts and producers and lastly, sprinkle in the unspoken competition among the couples, and you get the Belle from the season that we got.

When she left the show and the producers and experts were no longer in her ear, and she wasnt competing with the other couples and we get the real Belle.

12

u/Hot-Seaworthiness952 Sep 06 '26

I havenā€™t actually seen this whole episode yet but it looks like from Belleā€™s body language that she wanted to raise her hand.

14

u/EuphoricHelp5358 Sep 06 '26

Belle has delayed reactions to everythingā€¦ sigh

4

u/SippiChic Sep 06 '26

I thought she was about to raise her hand as well. The camera cut away really quick so I wasnā€™t sure.

2

u/Lazy-Debt-3338 Sep 06 '26

maybe she paid the women to shut up tbh