Married at First Sight: Sheffield couple Michelle and Owen talk about plans after 'amazing' honeymoon

Owen Jenkins and Michelle Walder tied the knot as complete strangers in front of television cameras in March 2020 and are the biggest success story from the Channel 4 show in which people are paired by relationship experts.

We caught up with the lovebirds as the latest series of Married at First Sight UK, which has undergone a major change in format and switched to E4, airs, with Sheffield man Richie Dews among the singletons taking part.

“It’s all good. No complaints,” said Michelle, aged 28, who upped sticks from Sussex in August 2020 to move to Owen’s home city of Sheffield and make a new life together.

“We often say it’s a bit weird because other than getting married on TV as strangers, our life’s a very normal married couple one.”

Despite being plunged into married life together shortly before the first lockdown, Owen, a 34-year-old IT worker, and Michelle, who teaches at a school in Woodseats, have never looked back.

They recently returned from their first overseas holiday together, an ‘amazing’ trip to Rhodes, which the pair said they treated as their very belated honeymoon.

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“We’ve talked about what’s next on the agenda over the next few years, which will be getting a dog and having a thinking about kids and things like that,” said Owen.

“It’s kind of weird really because a couple of years after meeting we should be thinking about getting engaged and married but we obviously fast-tracked that.”

Michelle adds: “The natural question everyone asks is when are we going to have kids but I’m only 28 and we don’t want to rush it.

“We’re still enjoying just spending time together and exploring the world.”

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Asked about their favourite memories so far, Owen says: “It’s the small stuff. Almost from day one we’ve got on so well and it just seemed totally natural.

“Some of our favourite times have just been sitting in bed together having a laugh and a giggle. It’s so nice to have found that so quickly and easily from such a strange process.

“We’ve also enjoyed exploring the Peak District and having nice pub dinners together.”

Michelle insists she’s not once regretted moving up to Sheffield, even if it was a big decision to make so early in their relationship.

“It was a big move but I’ve found a really lovely school to work in and I’ve joined Woodseats Musical Theatre, which I love. It’s a great city with a really nice community vibe,” she says.

Michelle and Owen were one of just two couples featured on series five of Married at First Sight UK, and the others, David and Shareen, proved a complete mismatch.

However, Michelle said two other couples were paired but never appeared due to lockdown. Both those couples are still together, giving that series an impressive 75 per cent hit rate.

While one couple opted to remain private, the other duo, Ally and Paul, have a child together and post updates as the ‘Unseen Couple’ on Instagram.

Michelle and Owen will be watching the new series, they say, to see if any of the latest pairings match their success.