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The couples who really regret going on Seven Year Switch.

Monday night’s reunion episode of Seven Year Switch gave Australia one last opportunity to feel better about their own relationships.

It also revealed that not all the couples were happy to have agreed to take part in the experimental program. When host Edwina Bartholomew asked the couples if they regretted taking part all the couples agreed the experiment had brought positive outcomes to their relationship… but not everyone would do it again given a second chance.

Cassie and Ryan were the first to answer and offered audiences another opportunity to watch as a steady couple gave a steady answer.

"Looking at where Ryan and I are now to where we were before the experiment, how could you regret it?" Cassie said.

"I mean, I couldn't be more proud of how hard we worked and how far we've come - you can only contribute the show to all that hard work."

The question was then posed to split couple Michelle and Jason/  We all leaned forward - ready for an on-screen meltdown, ready for somebody to say the phrase, "if only I had known!" - but their answer was as bland as a white rice sandwich.

Jason was the first to answer and reminded us all that dating people is hard and sometimes, no matter how much you love somebody, not everyone is meant to be together.

"No. I don't regret it at all and I know that might sound odd coming from us," he said.

"We have a better relationship now - separate - than before we went on the show."

Michelle did her best to echo his sentiment -  truly, she said the exact same thing but with different words.

"It's been hard and I haven't liked all of the things I've seen of myself. I don't regret it though," she said.

"I feel stronger and I feel now, we're in a better place than we had have been, if we had not tried."

When the question was thrown to Jackie and Tim, I was bracing for another round of: "I love it, thank you Channel Seven" but somebody in the world of television production must have heard my plea because not this time.

Tim began toeing the same, boring line but because he's Tim, it came across with far more enthusiasm.

"It's definitely made us stronger so not at all - I loved it," he said.

Jackie then turned her head, smiled and began to make 'eehhhh', 'nyehhh' noises.

Audiences around Australia looked up from scrolling through Facebook.

"I might be one of the only people that regretted doing it," she said.

"I think good has come of it. I don't know if I'm a better person. It's just different. We've had a lot of stressful things going on at the moment while the show has been going to air - I think that's probably affected my opinion."

You would think that Bartholomew would sense this is a pretty interesting little tidbit and try to draw out this line of "nah, not again, mate" but instead, she rallied to defend the experience.

"In many ways that was the happy ending you wanted, though... you're engaged, you're having a baby, you're moving to Queensland," she said.

Jackie was painfully forced to agree.

"Yeah, definitely," Jackie said.

It could have been left at that but Bartholomew wasn't finished reminding Jackie that her feelings are wrong because Channel Seven has saved her relationship.

"Do you think that would have still happened without this experience?" Bartholomew  said.

Tim then jumped in to give his two cents even though he just told audiences that he 'loved it' twice.

"I don't think so I still think we'd be in Melbourne in a rut," he said.

Jackie then agreed and once again audiences saw the Michelle/Jason dynamic of repeating everything the other person said play out once more.

"We were definitely stuck in a rut," she said.

"We really discovered how much we meant to each other - which we may not have ever known had we not done it."

The episode ended with arguably the most controversial couple: Brad and Tallena.

Brad began answering by reminding audiences that he almost singlehandedly provoked all the drama and interest of the show.

"I regret having to go on the show to find myself. I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to see myself in a different light. I hated the scenarios I was put in because of the person that I'd seen and I didn't like," he said.

"But here we are now - we're bigger, stronger, happier people."

Tallena then pulled a few faces that gave the hint she might be doing a Jackie but pulled back at the last second.

"Look, at the end of the day, we have both move past that - we're happy now, we're married now and you know, that's all that matters for us," she said.

The episode kept all the best moments till the end, allowing the couples to revisit some of the show's dramatic high points: Brad is still mad about the naked spa, Tim still doesn't care and the other couples still feel like they can sit on the high horse about Brad's behaviour.

It may be easy to watch and laugh at the behaviour displayed by those in this series but there is a lot we can learn from them too.

Because it's no easy thing to take your problems, air them through the editing channels of a production team and then allow your own reflections to be broadcast to an audience of millions.

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Top Comments

hmmm 8 years ago

Let's be clear. This was not an experimental program. It was a TV show. It was an ugly piece of voyeurism for the titillation of the viewing masses - and those who took part knew it. How could they not know given they had TV cameras in their faces every sleazy moment?