Married At First Sight: Shy bride Melissa is paired with cocky groom Bryce

Married At First Sight took a major risk by pairing a cocky, newly single radio presenter with a fragile woman who hasn’t been on a date in more than a decade.

Monday’s season eight premiere saw Melissa Rawson and Bryce Ruthven, both 31, tie the knot – and despite the odds being stacked against them, they really hit it off.

The newlyweds with seemingly opposite personalities couldn’t get enough of each other after they met for the first time at the altar.

‘Wow… you’re alright. You’ll be fine. I’m like you, don’t worry,’ the handsome DJ reassured his bride as she made her way down the aisle.

A confused Bryce then asked Melissa’s father, who had walked her down the aisle, ‘What do we do? Is that my job or your job?’ before he took off his bride’s veil.

‘Straight away I am thinking [the] experts have done a good job. The fact that he made eye contact and kept it, I instantly feel relaxed,’ Melissa said afterwards. 

Bryce also told producers he was pleasantly surprised with his match.

‘There’s just something about her, like an aura or demeanour, there’s something that’s really calming,’ he said.

As the newlyweds sat together at their reception, Melissa said she was thrilled to be able to skip the usual steps of courtship, after going 12 years without a date.

Bryce didn’t seem bothered by her admission, telling her: ‘People are different. I’m not judging you on it.’

She replied: ‘I’m very particular about [whom I date]… and I just don’t want to get in a relationship just because. When I meet somebody, they’re the one.’

Things briefly became tense later on when Bryce told Melissa he’d ended an engagement just six months ago.

‘It’s a bit of a red flag that Bryce was engaged six months ago,’ she said, but insisted she would put aside her concerns and try to get to know her husband properly.

‘You’re super easy to talk to. I’ve never met [someone] I thought, “You know what? I can literally sit here and have a conversation with you all night,”‘ Bryce said.

‘When I first saw you, [I was] over the moon,’ Melissa added, to which Bryce responded: ‘Really? I’m a bit kind of taken back by that. Like, I think you’re gorgeous. I’m not going to lie.’

Bryce told his bride he was instantly attracted to her, saying: ‘When I turned around, the nerves went straight away so I was like, “You’re here and look how lucky I am here.” So it’s there from my point of view.’

Bryce’s appearance on Married At First Sight came six months after he abruptly called it quits with his ex-fiancée, a woman named Lana.

Speaking to TV Week on Monday, Bryce said he had been with Lana for more than five years, but ended things when he realised they were on different pages.

‘Towards the end of it, I was keen on locking in a wedding date, talking about having kids, but we just weren’t on the same page,’ he said. 

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine