Married at First Sight: Sheffield couple who wed as strangers on TV announce exciting family news

Owen Jenkins and Michelle Walder had never set eyes upon one another before they tied the knot in March 2020 on Channel 4 show Married at First Sight. But that big gamble paid off handsomely and nearly three years later they remain smitten.

The lovebirds will be spending Valentine’s Day on a skiing holiday in Bulgaria with Michelle’s family, and they are planning another vacation involving just the two of them to celebrate their third anniversary next month. Speaking to The Star, IT worker Owen and teacher Michelle told how they are also looking to move to a larger home where they can start a family of their own.

“We’re thinking about potentially moving house and finding somewhere a bit bigger and more family friendly,” they said. “We both know we want kids and it’s in the pipeline in the next few years.”

Michelle moved from Sussex to Owen’s home city of Sheffield in August 2020 and quickly fell in love with the Steel City. She teaches at a school in Woodseats and is a member of Woodseats Musical Theatre Company, with whom she is due to appear in Legally Blonde the Musical at the Montgomery Theatre this July. The couple said they would like to stay in Sheffield but would consider moving just outside the city if they found the right place there.

In other big family news, Michelle revealed that her sister Katarina has got engaged. Katarina organised Michelle’s hen party in Brighton and Michelle told how she is excited about repaying the favour and has already been making plans with Katarina’s friends.

Talking about their upcoming skiing trip, Michelle said it would be Owen’s first time on the slopes but that he was confident he would quickly master them. “He’s convinced he’s going to be, in his words, ‘rad’,” she said. “He’s decided he’s not going to do any practice and he’ll just get on a snowboard when we’re out there and be awesome. I’m expecting to spend a lot of time watching him on his bum in the snow.”

Michelle and Owen watched Sheffield singleton Richie Dews on the latest series of Married at First Sight UK, and although things sadly didn’t work out quite as well for the 51-year-old rocker as they did for them they said he seemed ‘nice’, with Owen drolly describing him as ‘another lovely northern bloke’.

The reality show has undergone a major change in format since Owen and Michelle appeared on it and the pair admit they would probably have ‘struggled’ on the programme as it is now. “The dinner party element puts a lot of pressure on,” they said. “The nice thing about what we went through was that we had the time as just the two of us getting to know each other. With the pressure of group situations, it’s a very different dynamic which I think would have been difficult for us.”

Owen jokes that Michelle would have ‘loved the drama’, but the pair show their romantic side when asked if their relationship would have withstood the pressure of the re-jigged Married at First Sight. “I think we’re very well matched,” said Michelle. “It would take a look for it not to work out between us. I can’t imagine a situation where I wouldn’t want to be with Owen forever. I can’t even imagine what that would look like.”