Married at First Sight alums Jamie Thompson and Elizabeth Bice are officially calling it quits and getting a divorce.
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Jamie, 39, revealed in a Friday, June 30 Instagram post that he filed the divorce paperwork on June 23.
"I did something I thought I would never have to do. Here I am, sitting in front of the Denver courthouse," Jamie captioned a selfie of himself looking glum on Instagram.
"After months of deliberation with Beth, we were just unable to find common ground. I had really hoped to resolve this, but it feels like we have reached the point of no return. So, I made the decision to go ahead and file for divorce for the sake of my own mental health and wellbeing."
Jamie called filing for divorce "one of the hardest things" he's had to do "in a very long time."
The Married at First Sight alum continued in his post, "It saddens me a lot to be at this point. I was never sure if I would get married. But, I sure didn't want to get divorced either (even if it was an arranged marriage courtesy of Hollywood)."
Jamie went on to thank the people who have shown him "love and support" amid his split from Elizabeth.
"Thank you so much to EVERYONE that has reached out to me... I am truly grateful for you all," Jamie concluded.
"I have really exciting life changes coming my way. Stay tuned for Jamie 2.0!"
Many members of the Married at First Sight family commented with encouraging and comforting words. Doug Hehner, for example, told Jamie that there are "better times to come," and Mark Maher said he'll always be available if Jamie needs anything.
Jamie had announced in late April that he and Elizabeth were separating and he wasn't sure if their relationship would ever recover, and then about a month later, Elizabeth broke her silence and told her Instagram followers in a Q&A session that she wasn't in the best place to talk about her relationship.
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"I'm not ignoring [your messages]," Elizabeth wrote in May. "[I'm] just not [quite] ready to open up. But I appreciate you supporting the journey."
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Elizabeth subsequently took to Instagram in mid-June with a video titled, "Let's talk Separation."
Elizabeth wrote in the caption, "Okay, it's time to address this moment happening in my life... I think you all deserve some honesty. I am healing and finding my new path and really appreciate all of the love and support. It means the world to me!!!! Xxoo Beth."
Elizabeth began the video by "getting the elephant out of the room" for her fans.
"I know everyone wants me to talk about my separation right now... And I don't want to gatekeep what's going on. Everyone who follows me has pretty much followed me because I was on the show where I married a stranger, and I totally welcome that. Welcome to my life! I'm not upset my relationship is in the public eye," Elizabeth said.
She reasoned, however, "But come to find out, I'm a real human and I have these real emotions, and I'm just not ready to talk about some things in public yet. There are a lot of emotions that come with getting out of a long-term relationship, and when that time comes, I will talk about those."
"But I can't even form sentences right now," she admitted, "because I can't even put my emotions together."
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"I still cry in the middle of the night right now, guys, okay?!" Elizabeth confessed.
"So that being said, I totally respect everyone's comments and concerns, and I love you for that -- I do. Just give me a little bit of time... because I can't!"
But Elizabeth assured her fans that she'll get to the point of sharing eventually, adding, "So stick around and watch the show."
Jamie revealed on April 22 that he and Elizabeth had already been living apart for a month. He claimed Elizabeth left him because their "fighting had gotten really bad" and he had said a lot of things he shouldn't have "out of anger and frustration."
Jamie said while time away from Beth was "not easy" to deal with, he believed it was "necessary" to become a better version of himself.
Jamie then revealed in a Q&A session that, although he had "made a lot of mistakes," he wasn't willing to accept all the blame for the falling out with his wife.
"I also haven't felt like I've had any reciprocation back of, like, how to fix this and how to move forward. So she's been gone for four weeks. I think at this point, it's better for me to focus on myself and trying to become a better version of myself, honestly. That's all I can say," Jamie explained.
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In terms of what happened or what went wrong, Jamie surprisingly disclosed, "Nothing. It's basically death by a thousand paper cuts, at this point."
"I think the winter was really hard on us here in Colorado and we weren't ready for all that," Jamie elaborated. "And being stuck inside with sub-freezing temperatures daily and snow on the ground for weeks at a time -- and we're both active... people."
"So I think we just pushed each other's buttons, honestly. And five months of doing that straight, here we are today."
Jamie told his followers, "I say things I shouldn't say and I get more angry than I should get sometimes, but I've got to go take care of myself now... I've got to control myself. It's like Mental Health 101 -- focus on yourself, love yourself first before you try to love somebody else. So that's where I'm at today."
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"To me, that's not real. We took a lot of heat coming off the show. We were our most authentic selves, our most raw selves on that show, and I just want to be honest... A lot of people are invested in our life, and I feel like I owe you guys an explanation," Jamie said.
When asked why he couldn't work on himself while continuing his marriage -- given the couple had made a vow to support and love each other through sickness and in health -- Jamie said he believes a healthy marriage is when "people grow and evolve together."
"I don't think being apart and growing and evolving is always the best solution. I don't know, it's just my opinion. Why would you need to be apart to work on yourself?" Jamie shared, seemingly criticizing Beth's need for some space.
"It almost seems like maybe you shouldn't be in the marriage at that point... If you get to a point where things aren't evolving or getting better, then that's where I'm at today. I've got to step away and take care of myself."
Jamie went on to admit that he wasn't sure if Elizabeth was going to be angry at him for speaking about their separation publicly.
"I don't know. I'm really trying to do this in a tactful way. I don't want to say anything bad about her. I'm not here to bash Beth and drag her out behind the woodshed, so to speak, as we say in the South," Jamie noted.
Jamie said that prior to his April 22 separation announcement, he and Beth had talked about potentially going public with the news of their breakup in a united fashion.
"If we could've worked together to address this publicly, we probably could've worked together to work on our marriage," Jamie said.
Jamie later insisted he was "absolutely not" ready to date again.
"I'm good on the dating streets. I think for me, right now, I just want to take some time to work on myself. Dating is not going to solve anything. Finding that perfect someone is not going to make life great all of a sudden," Jamie reasoned in his Q&A.
"It kind of sucks because I'm 39-years-old and I would like a family at some point, and I was hoping that was going to be possible with Beth. But I don't know after all this."
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Jamie said at the time that he and Elizabeth were both going to therapy and he planned to continue working on his anger management.
Jamie acknowledged he and Elizabeth probably "should've been going to therapy" together and that they had swept a lot of their fights under the rug -- which resurfaced and worsened later on.
But Jamie insisted on April 23 that he still loved Beth "a lot" and cared for her "tremendously."
"We just can't seem to get to the point where we can have enough healthy conversation to start discussing what this looks like going forward," Jamie said.
"Initially, I wanted her to be here and work on things together when she left. I thought this was going to be a three or four-day thing... It hurts. It's not what I want."
Jamie, however, said he recognized they both probably needed a little space from each other.
"And now I'm like, 'How do you keep reaching somebody who doesn't want to be reached?' She just wants her own space, and honestly, I've got to do what's best for me and take my own space too," Jamie said.
Jamie admitted he definitely "lost" himself trying to please Beth in their marriage, although he wouldn't call her a "demanding" person. He said he really wanted their relationship to work.
"I started putting my hobbies, my goals, my own personal stuff aside trying to focus on this relationship, and that's just a piece of advice -- don't lose yourself. Be true to yourself. Know yourself," Jamie told his followers.
He also said they got in "way over their heads" with moving around the country for Jamie's job -- including stops in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, North Carolina, and then Colorado.
Jamie and Beth's split came as a surprise to fans given they had just celebrated their four-year anniversary in early April.
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Elizabeth and Jamie chose to stay together on Married at First Sight's ninth season, which was based in Charlotte, NC, and aired in 2019.
Back in May 2021, Elizabeth and Jamie talked about having kids together on a Married at First Sight: Countdown to Decision Day special that aired on Lifetime.
"Are we waiting? What are we doing, babe?" Jamie asked Beth on the show.
"Speaking of babies," Elizabeth began, "Jamie and I are actually thinking to start towards the end of the year now. So, like, it's in the conversation... I am going to be a cool mom!"
Elizabeth and Jamie hit it off right away when they met at the altar as strangers on Married at First Sight four years ago.
Elizabeth and Jamie were crazy about each other, as well as sexually attracted to one another, but their passion and tempers often resulted in explosive and volatile arguments.
Elizabeth sometimes got overly emotional over things that bothered her and memorably flipped over their living-room table, while Jamie sometimes used his words as weapons and complained about their lack of physical intimacy. He even called Elizabeth "a materialistic c-nt" at one point.
However, with the help of the Married at First Sight's experts, Elizabeth and Jamie managed to get through every rough patch and effectively communicate, resulting in what they thought would be a happy and long-lasting marriage.
Both spouses recognized by "Decision Day" that they didn't want to live without the other.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
