The Couples Who Go to Trial Marriage (and the Shocking Departures) in ‘The Ultimatum: Marry Or Move on’ Season 3

The third season of the Netflix reality show has been incredibly dramatic already.

‘The Ultimatum: Marry or Move on’ Season 3 cast / Netflix

Netflix’s addicting reality show The Ultimatum: Marry or Move on has returned for a third season on Wednesday, Dec. 4, releasing the first batch of five episodes. The series, which premiered in 2022 and is hosted by married couple Nick and Vanessa Lachey, aims to help couples looking for answers. While one person in the relationship is ready to get married, the other is not so certain. This leads to the person looking to commit issuing an ultimatum—it’s either a marriage or a breakup. But before they make their decision, the six couples join a social experiment to test how true their love is.

The six couples split for the experiment and begin dating their fellow contestants to see if there is someone else out there who might be a better fit. The results? Chaotic and dramatic, that’s for sure. But in previous seasons, The Ultimatum provided much-needed clarity on where contestants really stood in their relationship. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case for the third season, though we know the first batch of episodes have already begun to test the contestants on what they think they know about their significant other.

Warning: Spoilers for The Ultimatum Marry or Move on Season 3 are below.

In the first five episodes, the contestants meet, get to know each other and decide whether or not there’s someone they want to go on a “trial marriage” with, living together for several weeks. And while every cast member this season does embark on this next step, not all of them stay for long. Here’s how it all shakes up in the first batch of the Season 3 episodes.

The Ultimatum: Marry or Move on Season 3 new couples

Here’s who ends up going to the trial marriages together:

Caleb and Aria

Caleb (who was given an ultimatum from Mariah) and Aria (who was given an ultimatum from Scotty) have a connection early on when mingling and they decide to give the trial marriage a shot. That said, sparks don’t exactly fly. While Aria thinks there might be something there, Caleb insists they only have a platonic relationship and even tells Scotty this. This pair is really sweet, but they do give off friend vibes more than romantic ones.

J.R. and Sandy

Now, a new couple who definitely has chemistry is J.R. (who was given an ultimatum from Zaina) and Sandy (who was given an ultimatum from Nick). The pair hit it off very quickly and have no trouble expressing their interest in one another—both physical and emotional. During their trial marriage, they even kiss, something that will be brought up in the next batch of episodes. Sandy introduces J.R. to her friends and her mom, who all seem super into him.

But even though J.R. and Sandy are loving their honeymoon phase, there’s a lot of drama. This is because Nick becomes angry over their growing romance and even comes to their door one night to yell at them. He later apologizes to J.R., but he’s already made a pretty big scene, and he won’t be able to just sweep it under the rug. Nick, whose trial wife Vanessa unexpectedly leaves in the middle of the night, now wants to get back together with Sandy.

Scotty and Zaina

While Scotty (who issued an ultimatum to Aria) and Zaina (who issued an ultimatum to J.R.) hit it off very well initially, their relationship begins to go south towards the end of the first batch of episodes. The pair understand one another, having both issued ultimatums, and Zaina finds it attractive that Scotty knows exactly what he wants. Scotty, on the other hand, tells Zaina that she’s the “definition” of “wifey” material, and this completely flatters her. But Scotty might have a short fuse that bothers Zaina. We see a scene of him getting mad at her for eating without him, something that catches Zaina—and viewers—off guard.

Chanel and Dave 

Chanel (who was given an ultimatum by Micah) and Dave (who was given an ultimatum by Vanessa) seem like they could have chemistry at first, but their budding romance never really develops. Instead, Dave, Vanessa, Micah and Chanel all meet off-camera one night during the trial marriages and decide to call it quits. We don’t get to see them again during the first batch of episodes—though I’m sure they’ll be returning for the season reunion later this month.

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Micah and Mariah

So where does that leave Micah (who issued an ultimatum to Chanel) and Mariah (who issued an ultimatum to Caleb), two additional contestants who go to the trial marriage together? Similarly to Chanel and Dave, they seem to have some chemistry but that doesn’t actually go anywhere. When Micah leaves unexpectedly, Mariah and Nick connect and decide to give a trial marriage together a shot. But they use this opportunity to explore themselves individually and don’t develop into anything beyond platonic.

On the contrary, Mariah seems annoyed by Nick’s behavior, especially when it comes to Sandy, and even tells Sandy in private that she doesn’t think Nick would be a good husband.

Nick and Vanessa

This couple’s fate might be the most shocking. Both artists, Nick (who issued an ultimatum to Sandy) and Vanessa (who issued an ultimatum to Dave) hit it off very quickly. They have a lot in common and feel comfortable being weird around one another. This is refreshing for both parties, particularly Nick who says his quirky personality is a turn-off to Sandy. It seems like Nick and Vanessa could actually be end-game, but that all changes when Vanessa leaves the experiment in the middle of the night.

As mentioned, that leaves Nick alone—until he teams up with Mariah for their trial marriage. But we can’t expect that to go anywhere. Nick wants to get back together with Sandy, but has Sandy already moved on?

The next batch of episodes of The Ultimatum: Marry or Move on Season 3 drop on Netflix next Wednesday, Dec. 11. The season finale and reunion will be released the week after on Dec. 18.