She married a stranger on reality TV and had a panic attack — 12 years later, she’s finally sharing an update

“Am I just making a mockery of marriage?" thought Jamie Otis (@jamienotis) as she walked in to find a complete stranger standing at the end of the aisle, waiting for her to say yes. “Jamie Otis, do you take Doug Hehner as your lawfully wedded husband for now and forevermore?” Otis was asked by the pastor. Despite the glow of bridal blush on her cheeks and warm tears rolling down over them, her face froze into a fit of nervousness. “I do,” she said and almost immediately crashed down on the floor in a panic attack, having the ugliest cry of her life.

In a video Otis shared on March 23, she reveals what the 'future' looks like for her — 12 years later.

When Otis entered the first season of a dating show named Married At First Sight (MAFS), she was desperately seeking a family, expecting her Prince Charming to be standing before her when the doors opened. Little did she know that she would encounter a stranger, for whom she felt no attraction, feeling, or chemistry. She thought she had made the biggest mistake of her life, which was on national television. 

No one could be sure whether the relationship would work out. However, fast forward to today; the couple have overcome their worst fears and is now celebrating a successful married life. @charitykamla calls it a “TV miracle,” and rightfully so. This whole debacle, Otis says, taught her that the “nice guy” always deserves a chance.

MAFS, the television show, invites singles and takes them through a unique dating concept where they are supposed to marry strangers, without even seeing their faces or knowing their names. The show pairs six singles together with the help of four experts — a psychiatrist, sexologist, sociologist, and spiritual guru — forming three new couples, according to PEOPLE.

The catch is that the matched couples don’t meet until the end, until the moment they’re exchanging vows at the altar. After six weeks of cohabiting, the couple decides whether to continue with the marriage or separate.

Soon after Otis said yes to Doug, she started doubting herself for putting too much trust in the experts who had paired them. “Why would I believe this could actually work?" she thought. However, today she endorses the idea that the experts there are rooting for the couples to have successful marriages and each pairing is formed after careful thought. Renewed for seasons 20 and 21, MAFS is as culturally relevant today as it was when the concept first aired on July 8, 2014.

This, however, isn’t a fairy tale, Otis told PEOPLE. It takes time and work. “It’s taking a flawed soul who doesn’t know how to be in a healthy relationship and transforming them into someone who learns how to be a wife/husband,” she explained. Otis and Hehner are one of the two couples who are still together after the show’s first season. And even though their journey till the present wasn’t devoid of challenges and tests, all that seems worth it, especially when one looks at the four babies that came from that moment of saying “yes.”

In the video, Otis urges women to give the “nice guy" who may not be your ‘type’ a chance. In the end, it may turn out to be worse or better. In the case of @fionapatz, for instance, the “nice guy” strategy didn’t turn out to be too nice. When asked by an Entertainment Tonight reporter, even Otis confessed that she wouldn’t prefer her own daughter to get married to a stranger. 

It’s all about having a leap of faith and trusting that life will somehow work out its magic. In @kelseyalexandra88’s case, for example, giving a chance to the “nice guy” proved successful. So as viewers root for the happy couple, Otis’ post is a sign that a not-so-happening marriage can turn out to be successful. This is your cue to never lose faith and never give up on love. If it doesn’t turn out to be right in the end, then it isn’t really the end.

You can follow Jamie Otis on Instagram (@jamienotis) for more updates on her life and marriage

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