WATCH: East Idaho native married 11 times featured on reality TV show

IDAHO FALLS – The search for Mr. Right is a journey that can come with a lot of emotional ups and downs and for some, it takes a little longer.

Idaho Falls native Monette Dias has been married 11 times, something that earned her a spot on a reality TV series. TLC’s “Addicted to Marriage” follows four women who have collectively walked down the aisle 20 times.

Dias currently lives in Kentucky and was unavailable for comment, but her sister, Marcie Peterson of Idaho Falls, who’s been married for 38 years, appeared on the show with her.

Peterson tells EastIdahoNews.com Dias was preparing for her 12th marriage when the show started filming. Peterson had mixed emotions about sharing the spotlight with her.

“It was a lot of fun but then it was hard, too, being there at her house, seeing their relationship and how she was treated. I’ve never seen her try (so hard) in a relationship,” Peterson says.

The final episode of the season aired last week but Dias and her fiance split up before that.

Regarding how her sister ended up being featured in a reality show, Peterson says it all began when the two of them were guests on “Dr. Phil” about 10 years ago.

At that time, Peterson says Dias had been through a series of marriages that quickly ended. The producers of “Dr. Phil” got wind of it and invited Dias on the show to talk about it.

Peterson and some of Dias’s friends were part of the studio audience and were later interviewed.

TLC began production on “Addicted to Marriage” in Utah last year and during the filming, Peterson and Dias spoke extensively about Dias’s past relationships and the struggle to find the right guy.

“In one clip, they asked me to name her husbands. I felt so bad. I couldn’t even start to name them all,” Peterson says.

At one point, the sisters had a conversation on the show about Dias’s then-boyfriend, John. Dias spoke candidly about her struggle with intimacy in the relationship. She cited a lack of romance as a major concern.

“Money and stress got in the way. We have no intimacy,” Dias said.

Peterson says her dad was killed in a work-related accident when Monette was 15 or 20. She believes Monette never got over that. Their parents had what Peterson describes as a “perfect marriage” and she says Monette has always held them up as the standard for a good relationship.

In another segment of the show, Peterson started to cry as she expressed her love for her sister and her ultimate desire for Monette to be happy.

“I want her to have what I have,” Peterson says, tearing up. “I love her and it hurts me that she doesn’t have that,” Peterson said.

Peterson says her sister may be a part of the next season. Watch clips from the first season in the video player above.