Her side of the story. One day after Married at First Sight’s Ryan Oubre publicly addressed his divorce from Clara Berghaus for the first time, the flight attendant has responded to his allegations.
“I’m not going to lie, my anxiety is through the roof right now in anticipation of my story being so public tonight. Speaking out was not something I ever thought I would do but I’m so incredibly grateful for this opportunity,” Berghaus, 28, wrote via a Thursday, December 30, Instagram post, noting that she’ll tell her side of the story during tonight’s Married at First Sight Special. “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. I have spent so much time not speaking up for myself because I’m so wildly conflict adverse, but the only way to heal and grow is to start doing things that make me uncomfortable. And, in all honesty I feel like not sharing would be doing a disservice to anyone going through something similar.”
She added that she “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.”
Berghaus continued: “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. Tonight marks the final end to this chapter of my life and has already provided me with so much closure. Thank you to everyone who was there to pick up the pieces-you know who you are and I love you all so dearly. I so so love getting to share my life with you all, and while I’m nervous as hell, I can’t wait for everyone to know my truth.”
The Atlanta resident’s message came one day after the project manager, 30, broke his silence on their breakup.
“I’ve had several months to reflect on a very challenging moment in my life,” Oubre wrote via a lengthy Instagram statement on Wednesday, December 29. “Being a part of the show has taught me more about myself than I could have ever imagined. I’ve weighed the options of addressing the circumstances or choosing to continue to remain silent.”
Oubre added in his post: “What I can no longer sit idly by for is untruly statements to be continuously made about my family and friends. With that being said: getting married to a stranger is indescribable — words won’t every describe it well. On one hand you full trust the process and those involved and in the other, you think through what if this doesn’t work out. I’ve always lived my life knowing you can always go back to where you were if it doesn’t work out.”
In his nine-slide Instagram statement, Oubre made claims about someone’s openness to marry another race and trying to understand their culture, alleging, “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.”
The exes, who were first matched on season 12 of MAFS, initially chose to stay together by the end of the season — which aired in May — and even planned to renew their wedding vows on New Year’s Eve. However, by July, the duo announced their split.
“After taking some time away from cameras, we have reached that point in our marriage where we know it’s better to go our separate ways,” Oubre wrote via Instagram Story at the time. “It’s not an easy decision to make it, nor we do we take these next steps lightly. Grateful to all who stood by us and continue to stand by us as we make this very difficult decision. It goes without saying, we remain friends and hope for nothing but the best for each other.”
Several months later, Berghaus confirmed that she had filed to restore her maiden name and signed divorce papers via TikTok videos. In her September 8 social media video, the Lifetime personality captioned her post “27 days til papers signed,” while lip-synching to a “Celebrate the Good Times” song. She counted down the days before the video showed a “1 hour til papers signed” caption as she walked to her car, pen in hand.