Nathaniel Drury and Madeleine Gilbert have spoken out following their shock MAFS NZ exit. Photo / Warner bros. Discovery
Nathaniel Drury and Madeleine Gilbert have spoken out following their shock MAFS NZ exit. Photo / Warner bros. Discovery
Married At First Sight NZ was rocked by its first exit last night after Madeleine Gilbert and Nathaniel Drury made the tough decision to end their marriage and their time in the experiment. The former couple speak to the Herald about their experience and reveal where their relationship stands now.
Tears were shed during last night’s episode of Married At First Sight after Madeleine Gilbert and Nathaniel Drury announced their shock exit just two weeks into the experiment.
After arriving at the dinner party individually, the pair - who had been struggling to find a spark in their relationship since their wedding day, tearfully told the other contestants they made their decision with a “heavy heart” but said it would be “dishonest” for them not to do it.
Now, reiki healer Gilbert and aviation officer Drury speak to the Herald about their shock departure, lifting the lid on what led to the decision and sharing the current status of their relationship.
“In all honesty, there isn’t a friendship now,” Gilbert candidly confesses. “I don’t know if there will be.”
The 37-year-old free spirit explains that both their friendship and relationship potential were put to the test on the show. She felt as though she wasn’t receiving the energy back that she was putting out and says: “Because I’ve settled in the past, I wasn’t going to settle.
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“That doesn’t mean I have high standards or high expectations or anything like that, it’s just, I want to align with someone who makes me become a better person and I can make that person be a better person.”
It’s a sentiment Drury echoes, but for different reasons.
Nate and Maddy were all smiles at their wedding. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery
Admitting he found it increasingly difficult to connect with his then-wife, Drury says he felt as though Gilbert only wanted to get to know him on the cameras. “I tried to have conversations with her at night and she is like, ‘yeah, can we just not have this?’, ‘can you save it for when the cameras are videoing us?’,” he recalls. “I don’t feel like conversations flow like that.”
The former couple blame their downfall on more than a lack of effort, though, and say it also came down to their physical, emotional and mental connection.
“Sometimes it’s hard to try something when there’s just no spark there,” Drury confesses.
The couple were all giggles in their first few days of marriage but things took a teary turn before their honeymoon concluded. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery
For now, the pair are estranged and Gilbert says she is taking some time away from any possibility of a friendship with Drury.
“I’m quite hurt and a bit upset by how some of things played out, but that’s just part of how it is. I just need to do some healing there,” she says.
But, as a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, she admits she isn’t completely closed off to the idea of rebuilding their friendship and admits they have reached out to one another on appropriate occasions.
Drury explains: “When there was one of the three episodes and they made a funny gesture of her laughing and I saw comments about people hating on her laugh, so, I messaged her just saying, ‘hey, just know I’m here for you. If you need someone to talk to.’”
“It’s good to just catch up with her,” he says.
Gilbert adds: “Who knows what the future holds in terms of friendship?”
The pair went on multiple dates, including a couple's massage. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery
Ultimately, the former MAFS bride wishes nothing but the best for her ex-husband.
“Nate’s a beautiful person,” she confesses. “He’s fun, he’s got a big heart and he’s kind and I know his person is out there for him, it’s just, it’s not me.”
Meanwhile, Drury says MAFS was by far the “hardest thing I’ve ever done”, but he has no regrets about participating in the experiment.
“It was meant to be, I was meant to go through that phase. I was meant to see a part of me that I probably didn’t know,” he thoughtfully states. “It’s good. I can give myself a pat on the back and go ‘kudos to that’.”
Upon returning to Auckland, things took a turn for the worst. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery
Nate and Maddy’s MAFS journey
Gilbert and Drury’s decision to leave the experiment may have come as no surprise to fans as the former couple had been struggling to find a connection since returning from their honeymoon in Vanuatu.
After returning to Auckland, where they moved in together, they sat down for a candid conversation where Gilbert confessed to her TV husband: “Honestly, the past couple days of the relationship, I’ve been really f***ing struggling.”
The couple stayed in separate apartments after a disagreement. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery
She went on to note that Drury didn’t possess the qualities she was looking for in a partner, while Drury admitted he felt as though she often “shoved” him to the side and didn’t pay much attention to him.
Gilbert went on to move into her own apartment away from Drury, resulting in experts Jo Robertson and John Aiken calling an intervention.
“It’s hard to fight for someone and something when they don’t really want to fight for you either,” Gilbert told the experts while Drury raised concerns that his on-screen wife was only open to getting to know him while they were on camera.
The couple had to do an intervention with the experts. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery
“There have been times where I’ve tried getting to know her and it’s just not worked outside because she wants us to talk on the camera, like getting to know her while we’re getting filmed,” he said.
In the days after the intervention, the pair were tasked with spending time together as friends and trying to develop their relationship and understanding of each other’s wants and needs that way, however, by the time the dinner party occurred on Monday night, the couple had come to terms with their lack of chemistry.
Going outside for a candid conversation after Drury admitted Gilbert wasn’t someone he could see a long-term future with, the pair put everything on the table.
“Are you willing to sort of look at what Jo and John were saying or do you just want to say cut it and go now? Because it is hard to try and find a friendship when I personally just don’t feel like you’re even bothered to do that,” Gilbert told Drury.
We know a stare off when we see one. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery
“I think I tried to make an effort, think I tried to have a laugh with her I think I tried you know, just having a chat as a friend but if that’s the way she thinks, that’s the way she thinks,” Drury told the confession cam.
Ultimately, they returned to the dinner party where they told the other couples, “It is with a heavy heart that we will no longer be continuing in this experiment.”
Nathaniel Drury and Madeleine Gilbert were both visibly upset when leaving the experiment. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery
“Nate just isn’t my person and it’s nothing against him,” Maddy said. “I think I knew that the moment I saw him when I walked down that aisle, but I held on to the faith and the trust of why we were put together and I tried, I tried really hard.”
“The biggest thing I’ve learnt is just keep it real and honest. I was here to find love, I was here to find that special person,” Nate said. “It just didn’t happen, it’s quite sad but, hey, I gave it my best shot.”
Married At First Sight New Zealand airs on Three and ThreeNow every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Lillie Rohan is a London-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating.
