‘Shocking’ start for new wedding contest

JUDY Ann Santos hosts the reality show that will only get tougher in the succeeding weeks.

When we watched the first telecast of the reality TV “wedding challenge,” “I Do,” last Aug. 30, we wondered when the tilt would really get its rigorous tests going—well, it turned out that we wouldn’t have to wait long at all.

The following day, on its follow-up Sunday telecast, the show threw its nine pairs of contestants for a loop, bowling them over with its very first big challenge: It asked all of them to separately decide to get married, right then and there! No more pamamanhikan, bridal shower, wedding rehearsal, etc., just decide!

The production even had wedding dresses ready for the “snap” occasion and decision—so, what was it to be? The big-deal question really stumped the contestants because it was so unexpected!

More to the point, it tested each contestant’s resolve apart from his or her partner.

The question and its abrupt timing may have shocked many of the contestants but it gave viewers a comparative view of each player’s serious commitment to the goal of being wed and married. Ano ba talaga, mga kuya at ate?

Most instructively, a majority of the women were, after a lot of discussions, ready to take the big plunge right then and there—but only two of the men were as “spontaneously” committed!

They had many “logical” reasons for their decision not to get hitched pronto but the contrast between them and their more eager brides-to-be was made most pertinently clear.

Loss of ‘freedom’

Guys will be guys, of course, so the bachelors’ fear of “officially” losing their “freedom” could have kicked in, chilling them to their bachelor bones!

NINE couples are put to the ulitmate test in this race to the altar.

The next big “drama” came when the women in their “instant” nuptial garb saw that most of their male partners weren’t “dressed for the occasion.” Some broke into tears, while pointedly saying that they “understood” their beaus, and loved them as much as ever.

Still, there was no denying the fact that some of the ladies were embarrassed to have been more eager and determined to get wed than their supposedly gallant and adoring partners!

Disturbing portent

It was a difficult moment all around and a disturbing portent of even more revelatory tests and decisions to come!

As for the two guys who had to face up to the fact that their prospective life partners were not yet ready to join them at the altar, they had a big “a-ha!” moment, too—but we daresay that it was a decidedly different psychological coloration!

Some viewers may have found that “get married now, ready or not” challenge too shockingly daunting and even rather cruel, but others saw that it served a good purpose, because it brought the entire tilt down to the absolute basics: Is the affianced person’s commitment total, or not? And if it isn’t, what does this say about his or her prospects for a happy and trustworthy married life?

The answer to that question, either pro or con, should gradually become more apparent as the wedding tilt tightens the screws even more in succeeding weeks, forcing its contestants to discover or reveal how much they really love each other not just up to the altar—but forever—and a day!