They weren’t the loudest couple on Married At First Sight.
But behind the scenes, the cracks between intruders Sam Stanton and Chris Robinson were quietly building long before their relationship fell apart.
From communication breakdowns to simmering resentment, their connection didn’t explode overnight – it slowly unravelled. And now, Sam, 34, is finally telling his side of the story.
Speaking to Daily Mail in a raw and unfiltered interview, the groom admitted watching the series back has been ‘frustrating and confronting’ – but it was one unseen moment that left him reeling.
‘Watching everything back… it really takes me back to how I felt in that moment,’ he said.
‘But the biggest thing sitting with me now is the unseen footage… I’m pretty f***ing hurt by it.’
They weren’t the loudest couple on MAFS, but the cracks between intruders Sam Stanton and Chris Robinson (both pictured) were quietly building long before their relationship fell apart
Speaking to Daily Mail in a raw and unfiltered interview, the groom admitted watching the series back has been ‘frustrating and confronting’ – but it was one unseen moment that left him reeling
Sam said he was blindsided after hearing how Chris, 38, allegedly spoke about him behind closed doors – including claims about his finances and living situation that he insists are completely false.
‘Not only was it nasty – it’s not even true,’ he said.
‘I never once used a coupon in the time we were together… I actually think I spent more money than him over the experiment.’
‘I lived with my best friend – not in a share house, dorm room situation like he made it out.’
He added that even if those claims were true, they should never have been weaponised.
‘If I did use coupons or lived with more people, that’s not a reason to insult someone anyway,’ he said.
‘That just makes it worse.’
While Sam admits he’s less surprised now seeing it play out, he said hearing those comments at the time would have changed everything.
‘Watching everything back… it really takes me back to how I felt in that moment,’ he said. ‘But the biggest thing sitting with me now is the unseen footage… I’m pretty f***ing hurt by it’
Sam said he was blindsided after hearing how Chris allegedly spoke about him behind closed doors – including claims about his finances and living situation that he insists are completely false. ‘Not only was it nasty – it’s not even true,’ he said
‘That’s not the Chris that I thought that I knew,’ he said.
‘And that’s not the Chris that I tried to make it work with for another week.’
‘It makes me really angry watching it back.’
On screen, the couple appeared relatively stable early on – but Sam said the issues were there from the beginning.
‘I felt like I was being spoken over quite a lot,’ he revealed.
‘If you look back at our first commitment ceremony, he talks the whole time.’
‘I remember saying, ‘Can you let me speak a bit more?’ – and he still spoke over me.’
According to Sam, that dynamic only intensified, with Chris becoming defensive whenever he tried to raise concerns.
He added that even if those claims were true, they should never have been weaponised. ‘If I did use coupons or lived with more people, that’s not a reason to insult someone anyway,’ he said
‘The first time I tried to speak up, it just blew up,’ he said.
‘He couldn’t see my side because he was so focused on protecting his image.’
‘It stopped being about the issue almost immediately.’
Sam also claimed key moments never made it to air – including what he describes as a pivotal conversation where he felt his concerns were turned back on him.
‘He said I’d shut him down many times,’ Sam said.
‘When I asked for examples, he said he didn’t have any.’
‘You can’t just flip things like that… that’s gaslighting.’
He added: ‘He doesn’t take accountability. He just deflects.’
On screen, the couple appeared relatively stable early on – but Sam said the issues were there from the beginning. ‘I felt like I was being spoken over quite a lot,’ he revealed
Another major fracture in the relationship centred around future plans – particularly where they would live.
Sam said while he had expressed openness to relocating, it was never a mutual agreement.
‘I said I was open to moving… but we never had a conversation that I would move for him,’ he explained.
‘It became this big plan that we’d never actually discussed together.’
For Sam, everything shifted at the commitment ceremony when Chris chose to write ‘leave’.
‘I went in thinking we were both going to write stay and work on things,’ he said.
‘But as soon as I saw him write leave, I was like… what am I doing here?’
‘Why have I put so much effort into this?’
From that point on, he said the emotional connection was gone.
Unlike some of this season’s most chaotic pairings, Sam and Chris didn’t implode in one dramatic moment.
Instead, their relationship quietly deteriorated through a series of unresolved issues – miscommunication, defensiveness and emotional imbalance.
And now, with the experiment behind him, Sam isn’t holding back.
‘I think I’ve already said too much,’ he joked.