You can’t always get what you want — or what you need. On the Friday, October 28, episode of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, the couples came face to face with their wants and needs, and whether their partners were meeting them. Spoiler alert: They weren’t!
The episode commenced with an exercise in which each person received a cardboard cutout of their ideal mate, and then pinned cards to that person listing the emotional attributes they would like. Tanner Tolbert knew instantly what the most important trait was that he was looking for in a mate: faithfulness. It turned out this was a hot-button issue for him because he had been cheated on in the past. In contrast, his wife, Jade Roper, said affection was her No. 1 requirement. (In case it wasn’t clear, Tanner wasn’t giving her enough.)
Amber and Jim Melt Down Over Her Makeup
They were far better than Amber and Jim Marchese, however, who got into a huge fight because Jim thought Amber had too much to drink. This only escalated when she began complaining about wanting to touch up her makeup. (At least, that’s what it seemed like she was complaining about — it wasn’t really clear, but it had something to do with makeup.)
When they got up in front of the group, Amber clearly didn’t understand the exercise, and Jim berated her. “You’re talking to her like she’s a 10-year-old,” Dr. V snapped to Jim, who told Amber to “open her mouth” if she didn’t get what was going on.
Jim later complained to Keke Wyatt that his wife had a “temper tantrum over her makeup,” and finished his tirade by calling Dr. V a bitch for putting tape over his mouth. (Interestingly, it was actually Judge Toler who had done that, not Dr. V, but Jim didn’t seem to make a distinction between the two ladies.)
Meanwhile, Amber confessed that she’d previously had an affair with a girl, and Jim “got pissed.” She added that she hadn’t considered it a big deal and couldn’t understand why her husband did. (No comment.)
Jim Calls Amber the “Most Naive Chick Ever”
Later that evening, half of the campers attended a cocktail party, where their ideal mates — the real-life versions of the cardboard cutouts from earlier — were waiting to charm them while their partners watched, helplessly, on TVs in another room in the house. Naturally, the ones who were stuck behind the screens weren’t too excited about this exercise (and, shockingly, hardly any of the ones who were in the party realized that they were being watched).
It didn’t take long for Jim to go crazy watching Amber chat with her guy as she guzzled wine. “I just told her to back off the alcohol,” he complained. Meanwhile, Amber complained to her “date” that she’d been in the same outfit since 9 a.m. that morning. (Apparently, she changes outfits more often than that.) Asked by her mystery man if she’d like more to drink, Amber mumbled, “I’ll take a little more, little more, little more.” Jim counted that she’d had four glasses at that point, and was livid.
Later, when it was revealed to Amber that Jim had been watching remotely the whole time, she started freaking out because she knew she was going to be in trouble. “You are the most naive chick ever!” he screamed at her when they were finally reunited. Amber insisted that while she was happy chatting with this other guy, she would “never in a million years” step out on him, insisting she didn’t care about any man but Jim. That only did so much to console him, however.
Tanner Turns Red With Envy
Tanner didn’t fare well watching Jade flirt with her date either. “It does piss me off that Jade is having a conversation with this guy and being very fun and very social,” he said as he watched her over the screen. Jade smiled and told her date, “My husband works like 60 hours a week. He works a lot of hours, so I don’t get to see him very much.” The more fun it looked like Jade was having, the angrier Tanner became.
When they were reunited, they snuggled close on a chair, and Jade threw her legs over Tanner’s lap — but that didn’t mean things were fine between them. Jade continued to assert that Tanner “needed to make peace” with the girl who had cheated on him in his last relationship so that they could move forward. Tanner didn’t buy that one bit.
“She says that my trust issues are a burden to our relationship, which I thought was complete bulls–t because I never check her phone — I let her do what she wants, so I just didn’t know where she was coming from,” he lamented to the camera. To the experts, however, old footage showed Tanner confessing that a few days before their wedding, Jade’s phone lit up, and he saw that it was a text from her ex — and he hadn’t liked that very much.
Later, Judge Toler told Tanner and Jade they needed to work on this issue, or it would be the death of them. “I found you today fussing and arguing about an infidelity or a question,” Toler began. “First thing you need to do is be fully honest about everything you’ve done so he doesn’t have to guess or worry.” Did this mean there was something Jade wasn’t telling Tanner?
Tell Us: What do you think about Jade and Tanner’s trust issues?
Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars airs on WE tv Fridays at 9 p.m. ET.
