Married at First Sight fans are one step closer to getting answers about one public divorce.
More than five months after Ryan Oubre and Clara Berghaus announced their breakup, both parties are ready to share their side of what went wrong.
On Dec. 29, Ryan broke his silence on the divorce with a lengthy Instagram post. After taking several months to reflect on a "very challenging moment" in his life, the Atlanta resident shed some light on why the relationship didn't work out.
"You can't truly be open to marry another race and not want to marry their culture (or at least at the minimum understand it)," he said. "The Black experience and Black culture are not monolithic, there's no one size fits all shoe. It's ever-evolving and changing with time." Ryan is Black, and Clara is white.
Ryan continued, "What I can say is: walking into a family gathering and not speaking to anyone and scrolling through your phone will never fly and declining food (outside of a food allergy or avoidance) because you don't like the way it looks won't help either….Choosing not to attempt to understand and educate yourself is a red flag."
According to Ryan, he participated in months of post-show marriage counseling with Clara. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to make things work.
"Please do not read this as an accusation of racism. It undoubtedly and most certainly is not," he said. "What it is though: it's an example of not understanding Black America."
Ryan continued, "You need to at least attempt to understand the culture you married into. We avoided having these conversations on camera as I knew this was a complex topic and did not want it to seem as I was weaponizing the camera against her. I will own that—I intentionally derailed conversations or avoided them because I knew where it would go. We had enough of them off camera to know how it would go on camera."
E! News has reached out to Clara's rep for comment.
On Dec. 30, Clara took to Instagram to reveal that she would be sharing her side of the story in a special Married at First Sight season 14 kickoff special airing later that night on Lifetime.
"Every story has two sides. This is mine. Tonight at 8pm on @lifetimetv," she wrote. "I've spent the last six months of therapy, reflecting over my @mafslifetime experience and I've learned more than I could ever imagine. I never thought I would speak publicly about my divorce but I've realized that, while I don't owe anyone any explanations, I also don't owe anyone my silence."
Clara continued, "I went through hell and back the last 18 months and at this point I have to say, I'm so so proud of myself and how far I've come. And as nerve-wracking as this experience is, I know that telling my story will be integral to my healing process and let me tell you, I'm so ready to put all of this behind me."
Back in January, viewers watched Ryan and Clara meet for the first time at the altar and get married at first sight. Throughout the season, the newlyweds struggled with communication and intimacy.
While they agreed to stay married on Decision Day—the show's finale—they eventually announced their breakup two months after the episode aired.
"When agreeing to a forever, having these deep rooted conversations are critical," Ryan wrote in his latest Instagram post. "Talking about what makes you, you, is important. Things like sex and the physical are also important but none of these things will sustain a relationship long term. Hearing more frustration over the lack of sex in the first two weeks than spiritual and mental compatibility were alarming."
Ultimately, both parties appear to agree on one thing: They're ready to move on.
"Tonight marks the final end to this chapter of my life and has already provided me with so much closure," Clara wrote. "Thank you to everyone who was there to pick up the pieces-you know who you are and I love you all so dearly."
Ryan added, "I made a promise to Clara's parents to be respectful of their daughter regardless of outcome and I intend to keep doing so."
Married at First Sight (produced by Kinetic Content) kicks off a brand-new season Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. on Lifetime. Meet the couples below.
Noi, 33, is known in her group of friends as being the one who loves easily and freely. Unfortunately, that's gotten her into some trouble in the past.
Steve, 38, is very hopeful that the experts will be able to find him a match who will make him as happy as his grandparents, who have been married for 60 years.
Katina, 29, has spent the past two years on a self-love journey. Now she's ready to grow old with someone.
Olajuwon, 29, is an admitted former "playboy." Now, he wants a partner with whom he can share his life.
Jasmina, 29, dove into her career helping local youth as an early-childhood-education teacher. After witnessing many failed relationships in her family, she has done the work and is ready for a forever love.
Michael, 28, has tried all the dating apps but with no substantial results. A heart-to-heart conversation with his sister led to him signing up for Married at First Sight.
Lindsey, 34, has always looked up to her grandparents' relationship, which includes a marriage lasting more than 70 years. Now she's ready for her own partner in life.
Mark, 37, has wanted to be married his entire life and been on multiple dating apps. Unfortunately, meeting women who aren't ready to be a wife is frustrating for him.
Alyssa, 30, devotes her time to rescuing animals all over the world, leaving little room for dating.
Chris, 35, has had back-to-back long-term relationships since he was in high school. In his past relationships, he and his girlfriends have realized that they're incompatible as soon as the honeymoon phase ends.