Miles and Karen on Married at First Sight
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Their relationship didn’t exactly get off to a great start, but can Married at First Sight stars Miles and Karen make their love last? During the premiere on Wednesday, July 15, fans watched as the bride balked at the idea of tying the knot once she accidentally found out who her husband-to-be was. The drama was real, but In Touch got the exclusive opportunity to get to know the season 11 couple a little better.

Karen, 30, may not have been sure about marrying Miles, 26, but the stars are ready to walk down the aisle. In fact, both the bride and the groom came pretty close to getting engaged in the past. “I thought [my last partner] would be the man that I married,” Karen tells In Touch. “But God had another plan.” Miles tells a similar story — and he even “planned on proposing” before he and his ex ultimately went their separate ways.

That doesn’t mean no one was allowed to get cold feet, however, especially when it comes to wedding a complete stranger. But once the couple actually met, things started looking up. After his identity was accidentally prematurely revealed, Karen cyber-stalked her soon-to-be boo and admits the real deal was much better than she expected.

“He actually looked better in person,” she says. “I was happy to meet my handsome groom. … I was so emotional that day and terrified, to be honest. It was legit the scariest thing I’ve ever done. But after we got a few moments to talk and break the ice, things went surprisingly well! It felt very natural and we ended up having a blast. At one point I forgot the cameras were there!”

The groom was nervous, too, but he knew he wasn’t going through it alone. Not only was his bride on a similar journey, but he’s also best friends with Woody, one of the other season 11 grooms. Woody was the one that referred him to the producers — and it was history from there.

Once the couple met, they were able to be on the same team when it came to taking on this challenge. Both asked the experts for someone who could communicate well and handle conflict in a mature manner, skills they desperately needed when it turned out the experiment had an extra obstacle with the coronavirus outbreak.

“[I have] no regrets, but I do wish the timing of things would have been different,” Karen says. “Going through this process during a pandemic and having the experience last over twice as long as anticipated was so hard. I was challenged in every way. It took a minute to get comfortable in the process and my relationship.”

Miles agrees, adding, “There were so many elements of our life that were out of our control that made life really difficult and overwhelming. … [But] I believe everything happened in the way and time that it needed to.”

Married at First Sight airs on Lifetime Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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