Seeking Sister Wife: Is Garrick Just Pretending To Love Dannielle? (He Keeps Hurting Her)

Summary We've seen Garrick Merrifield's love for Dannielle fade on Season 5 of Seeking Sister Wife, as he pushes for a new wife.

Garrick's self-absorbed behavior and religious justifications paint a troubling picture of his relationship with Dannielle.

Dannielle's discomfort with Garrick's pursuit of polygamy is evident, as he disregards her concerns in favor of his own desires.

Seeking Sister Wife stars Garrick Merrifield and Dannielle Merrifield recently announced that they had welcomed a new baby, but there are signs that Garrick has fallen out of love with his long-suffering wife. Audiences were first introduced to the Merrifields during Seeking Sister Wife season 3, when the parents of two teen sons decided to transition their 13-year marriage from monogamy to polygamy. They returned for season 4, during which they courted Roberta Pache, a Brazilian woman who spoke no English.

The relationship with Roberta didn't work out, so Garrick and Dannielle returned for Seeking Sister Wife season 5, which is currently airing on TLC. This season, the middle-aged Garrick and Dannielle dated 25-year-old Nathalia, another Brazilian woman who spoke little English. Dannielle and Garrick were in a bad place when they discovered that Dannielle was pregnant. They were fighting a lot and Garrick had traveled to Brazil to marry Nathalia without Dannielle being present. Read on for signs that Garrick is no longer in love with his first wife.

Related 20 Best Reality TV Shows Right Now Reality TV is more popular than ever. With so many to choose from, here are some of the best reality TV shows to stream or watch right now.

Garrick Merrifield Keeps Pushing For Plural Marriage

And That Bothers Dannielle Merrifield

Close

During Seeking Sister Wife seasons 3 and 4, Dannielle was much more supportive of Garrick's desire to add a second wife to their family. Though the Merrifields were not Mormons, the devoutly Christian Dannielle was ideologically committed to being in a plural marriage. Though she struggled with jealousy, Dannielle dutifully supported Garrick on his path to polygamy. She even granted Garrick a divorce so that he could legally marry Roberta for immigration purposes.

Roberta never ended up immigrating to the United States.

She dumped the Merrifields via text during the Seeking Sister Wife season 4 finale, after accepting thousands of dollars in aid from the couple.

Understandably stinging from the experience with Roberta, Dannielle has been much less supportive of Garrick's search for a second wife during Seeking Sister Wife season 5. Dannielle made it clear that she wasn't comfortable with the pace of their relationship with Nathalia. She has even expressed her concerns to others, like her brother, Sam, and her sister-in-law, Samantha. Despite Dannielle's concerns, Garrick persisted.

If Garrick loved his wife, he would have respected her concerns.

Garrick Merrifield Seems Very Self-Absorbed

He's Too Selfish

Close

During the fourth episode of Seeking Sister Wife season 5, Nathalia asked Dannielle if she had doubts about moving forward with the marriage. When Dannielle admitted to having some fears, Garrick was visibly irritated with Dannielle for being honest with Nathalia. He implied that his wife was trying to sabotage the dynamic with his girlfriend.

In a one-on-one interview with producers, Garrick says, "I really feel like God promised our family, uh, more than just Dannielle."

He went on to add, "I mean, I had a vision years ago that I had five wives and they were good." If Garrick loved Dannielle, he wouldn't be determined to do whatever he wanted, regardless of her feelings.

"But if God tells you to do something, you do it."

When Dannielle brought up her concerns with Garrick, he responded with, "But if God tells you to do something, you do it." With Dannielle looking dubious beside him, Garrick then told the story about how God came to him in the garage and told him to become a polygamist. Throughout Seeking Sister Wife season 5, Garrick has used religion to silence and gaslight his wife, which is not an act of a man in love.

Garrick Merrifield's Religious Views Seem A Bit Sketchy

Hiding Behind His Religion

Your browser does not support the video tag.

During the Seeking Sister Wife season 5 premiere, Garrick explained how his unique reading of the bible led him to choose a life of polygamy. During an interview, Garrick explained, "A lot of the scriptures, the terms where it says he fills you with the holy ghost, it's actually a sexual term. It actually means, like, sperm going into, like, intimacy that way." Seated beside him, Dannielle seemed to struggle not to laugh out loud at her husband's bizarre analysis.

In another example of Garrick using religion to gaslight his wife, Garrick continued, "And even scientifically, we've found that, you know, when a man and a woman become one, and his sperm goes into a woman and his DNA becomes part of her [...] But yet the woman can't transfer her DNA back to the man. So it, like, showed the proof of how Christ was with his church. Like he transfers to us, we don't transfer to him." Seeking Sister Wife alum Garrick's grasp of science is as twisted as his reading of the bible.

Throughout his time on Seeking Sister Wife, Garrick has used religion as a shield for the fact that he no longer loves his wife.

The Merrifield's Romantic Prospects:

Season 3 Roberta Season 4 Roberta, Lea Season 5 Nathalia

Seeking Sister Wife airs Mondays at 10 p.m. EDT on TLC.