Zoe Clifton and Jenna Robinson took off their wedding rings, but not for the reason you may think (Picture: E4)
Married At First Sight UK has had its fair share of failed matches, but the success stories don’t come much better than Zoe Clifton and Jenna Robinson.
The couple met on the 2022 series of MAFS – they may have been strangers on their wedding day, but the connection between them was instant.
Of course, they also faced a few obstacles – a clash in lifestyles as Zoe was a meat lover while Jenna was a proud vegan, the distance between Stafford-based Zoe, 30, and Jenna, 33, whose zero-waste store was based in Blackpool and the dilemma about whether or not they would have children – but that didn’t stop them for saying ‘I do’ for a second time in their vow renewals at the end of the experiment.
When they left the E4 show and went back to their normal lives things seemed to get even easier for them.
‘The problems we had in the experiment just weren’t an issue when we were back in the real world,’ shared Zoe.
Their issues seeming bigger than they were may have a little something to do with producer involvement and the need for storylines.
Zoe and Jenna are very happy in the real world (Picture: Instagram / Zoe Clifton)
While participating in the experiment Zoe noticed the impact their presence was having on the relationship and asked for the team to stop asking the couple questions about veganism.
‘It was causing problems, so I had a quiet word with production and asked them to stop it. They did respect it and we weren’t asked about it again,’ she revealed.
Despite their fairytale start to life in the real world, the pair decided to take their wedding rings off.
‘We took our wedding rings off about six months into our relationship. They now live on our bedside tables,’ disclosed Jenna.
Zoe had a quiet word with producers (Picture: Instagram / Jenna Robinson)
‘Between us, we decided that we just wanted to be a normal couple and date. The process definitely sped things up for us and gave us a good start but we wanted to date.’
‘Although we had this mad start to our relationship, which is a cool story we do just feel like any other couple,’ Zoe sweetly added.
The wedding ceremonies on MAFS are not legally binding, and so Jenna and Zoe, who now live together in Stafford, plan to do it for real one day.
This time they’d like to spend more time with friends and family, without the stresses of trying to get to know a perfect stranger.
They do want to keep one thing the same though: ‘We’d like to get married on our original wedding date,’ shared Jenna.
Jenna and Zoe would like to get legally married in the future (Picture: Instagram / Jenna Robinson)
They may be able to use the date, but they’d struggle to use the same venue.
‘We still don’t know where we got married,’ stated Zoe.
‘We were taken to an unknown hotel, then driven to our wedding venue, then whisked away for the honeymoon. I need to ask someone about that!’
Children are firmly on the table for them too. Although Jenna voiced reservations while partaking in the series, she can now see it in the future: ‘I can imagine us having a gayby. We spend a lot of time with our nieces and nephews, and I can picture that life for us.’
For now, the couple are focused on their podcast Life With a Wife, where they discuss drama from Married At First Sight.
Jenna sees children in their future (Picture: Instagram / Jenna Robinson)
The pair also tell listeners what’s been going on in their lives, answer questions sent in, and share how they annoyed each other. In a recent episode, Jenna told Zoe her voice was too loud. Her response was at least she doesn’t sound like a mouse. Their back-and-forth, and natural chemistry will no doubt have you giggling.
‘Zoe was worried about how we’d fit it in on top of everything. We have our media jobs, Zoe is a quantity surveyor, and we just have a lot going on but actually, it’s just so nice to catch up each week.
‘It’s quite funny now as sometimes, Zoe will be saying something funny to me and I’ll go “no, save it for the podcast” so we can get that natural reaction.’
Now, over a year and a half since they tied the knot, the pair look back at their time on the series with fondness and each day it becomes clearer why they were matched.
‘The experts really do care about matching people well. They have our best interests at heart. We actually texted Paul C Brunson the other day to ask if he could tell us why they put us together, and he still had his notes which he shared with us.
‘There’s one part that stood out. I’d said I wanted someone to look after and Jenna had written she wanted someone to look after her.’
Life is pretty sweet for Jenna and Zoe (Picture: Instagram / Jenna Robinson)
That’s certainly what they’ve been doing, but admit sometimes it can be difficult without the weekly therapy sessions at the commitment ceremonies.
‘Having therapy was so helpful. I learnt so much about myself and we were given so many tools. Sometimes if we have a disagreement it would be nice to just speak it out with the experts. It was a safe space,’ stated Zoe.
‘Well,’ interjects Jenna. ‘There were a lot of people sharing their opinions.’
Zoe laughs at her wife’s interruption and subsequent disagreement. If you want to hear more of their lovers’ tiffs then you’ll just have to tune into their podcast.
Married At First Sight UK continues tonight at 9pm on E4.
Life with a Wife is available to listen to every Wednesday and Saturday wherever you get your podcasts.
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It’s quite a sweet reason.