Married At First Sight: Ashley Doherty And David Norton Decide To Divorce

David Norton and Ashley Doherty, the Married at First Sight pairing that seemed doomed from the start, are headed for divorce.

David & Ashley Divorce

During the season finale of Married at First Sight, Ashley decided that instead of seeing if the marriage could be salvaged away from the glare of the reality TV lens, it was time for her and David to divorce. “I don’t have the same feelings,” she told the cameras after making her announcement. “I wish I did, but I don’t.”

David, for his part, had wanted to give their marriage another shot. Though David wasn’t necessarily surprised by Ashley’s decision to divorce, he doesn’t understand why someone would agree to such an arrangement in the first place if they weren’t committed to doing whatever they could to see if it would work.

“I find it very difficult to believe that if you signed up to be arranged for marriage, and wanted marriage as your No. 1 priority, then you cannot make a decision like this within six weeks — you just can’t,” David told the New York Post. “The [reality-TV] documentation is such a weird dynamic in the marriage that you owe it to yourself and to the other person to try at least for a little bit without the cameras. Even if it’s just a day, that’s why I made the decision to stay together. I wanted to keep going.”

David believes that the main reason why Ashley decided to call time on their marriage was her lack of attraction to him. There was also the text message he sent to a mutual friend that Ashley took as a sign he was unfaithful and untrustworthy.

“Ashley was not attracted to me, and to her that was a really big deal. I tried to be patient and show her that there is more to a partner than looks, but for some reason, she couldn’t get past it,” David said, adding of the text, “Looking back on it, it’s something I shouldn’t have done. But to be totally honest? No, I don’t think that was the only reason.”

Despite disagreeing with Ashley about the decision to divorce, David is amicable with his ex, who he thinks is a genuinely good person. He hopes that she finds someone she wants to be her husband, while he hopes to find someone who wants to be his wife.

“I am fully confident that the future Mrs. Norton is still out there.”