It was a long – and dramatic – walk down the aisle for Jess and Seyat, but the young couple finally tied the knot in an emotional episode of Bride & Prejudice: Forbidden Weddings on Tuesday night.
The pair faced the wrath of Seyat’s mother Fatima, who has labelled Jess a “whore” among other things. Fatima did everything in her power to stop the wedding, including offering Jess $10,000 in cash to walk away from her son.
The night before the wedding, she even told her son: “I think you’re making a mistake. That’s how I feel. I’ve been crying the whole time I’ve been here.”
But, it turns out, Jess and Seyat’s love was meant to be.
A less-than-thrilled Fatima and her husband, Sam, with Seyat on his wedding day.
“I think my heart just stopped,” Seyat said of his mother’s arrival at the church. “She looked like she was at my funeral or something.”
During the ceremony, Jess and Seyat – and the guests – were scared Fatima might do something to disrupt or ruin the wedding.
Though she was considering speaking up, Fatima chose instead to simply judge from her seat with a sour facial expression. As she watched her son recite his wedding vows, a disgusted Fatima muttered to her husband “this is sickening.”
She later told the cameras, “It was very hard sitting there. I just held it in. I tried to be very strong, it’s his choice. I can’t stop him, what can I do. That’s what he wanted, well he can have it.
“I do feel like I’ve lost Seyat,” she continued. “This is all Jess’ fault. That’s why I’m angry and upset. I just felt like slapping her one. I do feel like crying. It was really sad.”
Fatima was not happy on her son’s wedding day.
Though Fatima was “angry,” Jess and Seyat appeared overjoyed to have finally wed.
During the exchange of their vows, the pair both expressed their immense love and gratitude for each other.
“I want you to know I will always be by your side,” Seyat said in his vows. “I promise to be with you forever and treat you with the love and respect you deserve… even when you’re grumpy in the mornings.
“The sun smiles on us today, and how could it not?” he continued. “Our love is stronger than forever and our hearts beat together as one. My soul and yours combine so perfectly together and I will never let go of that.”
I now pronounce you man, wife, and angry mother-in-law!
“Standing here in front of you today honestly seems so surreal,” Jess told Seyat in her vows. “But being here with you now I wouldn’t change a thing. There is no where else i’d rather be and no one else i’d rather be doing this with.
“Being with you, everything in the world fades away. I know we are strong enough to overcome any obstacles that come our way and our love overpowers any troubles we may have,” she said through tears. “Because we know that love is tough and it is hard work but when I have someone as beautiful as the person standing in front of me, the tough times and the hard work is all worth it.”
After the ceremony, Jess told the cameras she wasn’t sure if she would ever be accepted by Fatima.
“I don’t know if there will ever be acceptance,” Jess said. “I feel like it will be a constant battle but I’m definitely not ready to give up. I’m not going to give up any time soon.”
Bride & Prejudice continues Monday, 7:30pm, on Channel Seven.
