The Welshman and his bride are now planning to start a family but it hasn’t all been easy
Welshman John Shepherd and Abigail Chahwan said I do as strangers on Married at First Sight UK, now they are planning their future together outside of the experiment(Image: Channel 4)
Finding love can be hard. From dating apps to messy situationships, it can often be difficult to find “the one.” For some they’d rather take the pressure out of their hands, and instead enlist professional dating experts to find their match for them. That’s what Welshman John Shepherd and his bride Abigail Chahwan have done.
The pair said “I do” as strangers on this year’s series of Married at First Sight UK (MAFS), and have walked away as the only couple still in a relationship following the experiment.
During the series they went from strength to strength, and are now planning their future together away from the show. We sat down with the couple to discuss all things MAFS, moving across the UK and starting a family. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter.
Since appearing on the series Abi returned to her job as a Veterinary Nurse in Bournemouth, and John headed back to Flintshire where he runs his own marketing/social media business. They are both navigating working full time jobs, a long distance relationship and all of the exciting opportunities that have come their way following the the series’ broadcast.
The thing they are finding most difficult since their time on the series has to be the roughly 300 miles between them. Abi explained: “Throughout the experiment we spent a lot of time together. You’re together 24/7, so we got to know each other really really well and built such a strong foundation and I think if anything that’s just helped us on the outside.
“It was different initially you know going out into the real world and having that distance between us where we didn’t have that at first, and of course it’s hard because you do want to spend all your time with each other and you know it wasn’t something that we were used to but we managed to kind of you know work through it.
“We made sure that we always had plans in place and knew when we would see each other, because I think that definitely helped.”
John added: “It was gutting to leave the experiment because you know that you’re not going to be waking up with each other every day. Obviously I live in North Wales, Abi lives in Bournemouth and there’s 5 hours difference between us.
“But, everything that we wanted to happen exists outside of the experiment. So, you know, bringing Abi up to north Wales to see my family, and integrating Abi with my friends and family and that kind of stuff.
“Although we know that we’re not going to be waking up with each other every day, we know that exciting things live after the experiment. It was mixed emotions leaving to be fair, but I think we’ve managed it really well. “
Abi continued: “The thing is as well, the long distance will only be short term as well, like we know obviously there’s a point where we are going to move in together. So it’s just that’s another thing that we can look forward to. So this period isn’t forever.”
John was gutted to leave the experiment as he lives five hours away from his wife(Image: Channel 4)
Despite the frustration of the distance between them, it never seemed to be a barrier for John and Abi, as thankfully the groom runs his own business and is able to work from home. However, they are planning to move in together in the new year and have exclusively revealed where they’d be living.
John will be moving down to Bournemouth with Abi, which means she’ll have to clear out a lot of her wardrobe space and make room for her new husband which she says she is “more than happy to do.”
The groom explained: “Obviously Wales is home and we’ll miss home of course, we’ll miss the people here and the beautiful scenery in North Wales. I mean I’ve spent a lot of time up here as well in the summer, but home will always be there.”
During their homestays John took Abi to North Wales to meet his family(Image: Channel 4)
They did reveal that they also have a long term plan which involves moving back to Wales to start a family in the future. John shared: “So, for the short term, I’ll be moving down to Bournemouth. Then the plan is that hopefully children will be on the horizon, let’s not put a timeline on it, but medium to long term, and we’ll be moving up to North Wales when that is the case.
“So, that’s the plan. Bournemouth for the short term and then North Wales later on.”
Abi added: “I get the best of both worlds. So, it’s a win.”
The couple have exclusively revealed that they will be moving in together in Bournemouth in the new year(Image: Channel 4)
When applying for the show John said, “what’s the worst that can happen?”
Thankfully, the 39-year-old found himself a wife after wondering “what did I do wrong there?” after several situationships. He told us at the time he was thinking: “I hope that if I don’t find the love of my life which- obviously I have which is amazing- I’ll learn a lot about myself.
“I’ve got myself in little situationships for many, many years and they’d finish and you’d be like, ‘God, what did I do wrong there?’ Do you know what I mean? And like there’s no feedback form at the end of these kind of things.
“I’d be like, ‘I’m 39 and I’ve still got so many questions like why have things gone wrong? So maybe in going on Married at First Sight, I’d be able to find out a little bit more, get some help from the experts to go, ‘All right, okay, John. Well, maybe you shouldn’t have done that. Maybe you should have done this other thing here.’
“Obviously I got so much more than personal development. I got my wife.”
Abi added: “I went in wanting to meet the love of my life. I’ve been so unlucky in the past and I was like, ‘I’m just going to go for this’.
“I was so hopeful, and I know this might sound a bit unusual, but I had a good feeling. I do believe in faith, but I didn’t realise it would be this incredible. I’ve met John, he ticks all the boxes and many, many more that I could ever ask for in a partner.
“So, I think, you know, I was hopeful, but I didn’t realise how incredible this would be.”
Abi went in to the show wanting to find the love of her life, and John ticked all the boxes(Image: Channel 4)
The pair have received some negative reactions on social media where fans couldn’t quite believe that their relationship was going so well. The pair had to wait roughly five months before they could reveal that they were still in a relationship, as the series was filmed earlier this year and the reunion episode aired on Friday, November 14.
Now that they can be more open about their relationship, and show the reality outside of the experiment, fans of the show have been more responsive.
John told us: “I think people previously maybe couldn’t believe how good a relationship we’ve had. So like now it’s so nice to go ‘no look, it is real and it is normal as well.’
“Like we go through normal things like navigating five hours distance between us and stuff. They’re normal problems that we’re navigating, and I think that makes things a lot more real than, you know, just seeing us on TV like every evening telling each other how how much we love each other.
“But like we’re in love and we’re really really pleased that we’re in love, and being in love is a very new experience for both of us. So yeah, damn right we were happy.”
The pair once again committed to each other at the vow renewal ceremony, and they have been a strong couple ever since(Image: Channel 4)