t’s the morning after the fifth Commitment Ceremony. Our couples are processing Claire and Jesse’s exit from the experiment and laying blame on Harrison for their demise. Despite this, Harrison denies any wrongdoing. His wife Bronte feels relieved she and Harrison are still strong but worries about the constant drama coming from the group, particularly Melinda. Down the hall, Melinda similarly comments about this long-running feud with Bronte and Harrison to husband Layton. But Layton is keen to ignore the drama and work on their own relationship moving forward.
The Experts introduce one of the most innovative and radical phases the experiment has ever done: Feedback Week. And the first stage of this brand-new phase is the partner swap. Participants will move into a newly assigned pairing for the next three days to gain fresh perspective from someone else within the confines of the experiment. Most couples are enthusiastic to read about their new partner: Tahnee with Rupert, Lyndall with Ollie, Alyssa with Cameron and Evelyn with Duncan. But after finding out Melinda and Harrison, and Bronte and Layton will be paired together, Melinda and Layton are outraged and refuse to take part.
The time comes for the participants to pack and swap. Melinda has had a change of heart and is now willing to participate, but Layton is still adamant against the task. Harrison rocks up at their front door ready to move in, only to witness a tense fight between Melinda and Layton. Layton storms out, frustrated with the task and lack of support from Melinda.
As our participants settle into their new pair arrangements, Lyndall is surprised by the understanding and support from Ollie about her marriage to Cam. Melinda and Harrison undertake the first task of the swap – the hard-hitting questions task. This task leads both to dish out hard truths about their respective relationships. Conversely, the hard-hitting questions task sees Tahnee offer Rupert positive words of encouragement.
Despite not being prepared to move in with Bronte for the partner swap exercise, Layton is willing to at least participate in the allocated task with Bronte. Bronte gives him brutal feedback on how difficult Melinda is, leading him to question his marriage even more. Meanwhile, Evelyn and Duncan, and Alyssa and Cameron undertake a second task – the honesty letter. In this task, they write their concerns in a letter to their spouse, and then read this letter to their new pairing for some honest feedback. Duncan worries about Alyssa’s negative tone as Alyssa shares her concerns about the future with Duncan and prioritising her child.
After three days, it’s time for the couples to return back home. The first couple to reunite is Alyssa and Duncan. Despite Duncan feeling re-energised by the swap and organising some romantic gifts Alyssa feels flat. She wants to talk about how much of a priority her child is to her and how Duncan doesn’t understand this. Despite Duncan showing support and understanding, Alyssa becomes combative and walks out leaving a sobbing Duncan feeling rejected and broken.
