Tahlia Pritchard
The most compelling and somewhat terrifying thing about a show such as Married at First Sight is that your favourites are rarely ever safe. One moment, you’re cheering for a couple at their wedding and the next, you’re watching open-mouthed as the bride screams at her husband for having “devil eyes”, while also disclosing he still sleeps with a teddy bear.
If Juliette Fava’s backflip on intruder groom Joel Moses left you scratching your head, the two came face-to-face after the dinner party from hell, to explain things to MAFS: After the Dinner Party hosts Laura Byrne, Brittany Hockley and Jules Lund. So, did things get resolved? Here’s what you missed.
A Star Is Born: The Sequel, featuring Juliette and Joel
It all started with drumming over dildos. Yes, you read that right. Juliette got the ick for Joel, after seeing a video of him drumming with dildos, and decided she needed some space from his alleged performative nature and “devil eyes”.
As they argued before she left their apartment, Joel said, “You don’t see the star in me, you don’t see the light.”
Fast-forward to the dinner party, and Juliette recounts this incident to the wider group, saying Joel screamed at her, “Well, I’m the STAR of the show.”
Speaking with Laura, Britt and Jules on the lounge, Joel denied he’s putting on a performance. “I’m not trying to be anybody else,” he said. “I’m putting myself out there, I’m not going to hide. It doesn’t mean I’m a ball of gas in the sky.”
Enter Juliette, slightly remorseful for accusing her husband of saying something he never actually said, while also, at some stage, labelling him a “c—”. Britt and Laura take no prisoners in this show, as you’d know if you watched them grill “traditional” groom Tyson last week.
Labelling Juliette’s behaviour as vicious, humiliating and degrading, Britt and Laura have one major question, and it’s the question many fans are thinking: Why?
“Day by day I was suffering internally because Joel’s character was a lot for me to handle,” Juliette explained.
“Every day I was feeling less like myself, more caged … there’s not even one thing to pinpoint it,”
“I’ll turn the whole group against him”
Easily the best part of the After the Dinner Party is the unseen footage that adds context to some chaotic moments. This time, we see Juliette and Joel squabbling, then Juliette demanding an apology and space, and Joel walking off to leave her alone.
As a producer rushes in to see if she’s OK, Juliette lets it all out. “He’s trying to pin me into being the villain,” she raged. “I’m done, I’m going to villainise him. I’ll turn the whole group against him.”
Watching it back, Juliette said she wasn’t coping with the pressures of the social experiment. “I went explosive, and you copped it,” she told Joel. An interesting apology, but sure.
As a palate cleanser, Joel’s teddy bear gets dumped
I don’t think Teddy wants to be involved in any of this.
Stephanie on what it’s like to become the surprising face of feminism
Stephanie Marshall also showed up to chat with Laura and Britt after their feisty interview with her “traditional” husband Tyson the week earlier.
“It’ll come as no surprise to anybody, but it’s pretty clear we all had some issues with Tyson,” said Britt. “I could barely get through our very short conversation let alone live with him, marry him, go on a honeymoon. Stephanie either has the patience of a saint or they’re connecting on some level we haven’t seen.”
While Stephanie and Tyson were matched on their similar, conservative views (they both like Trump and despise “woke” culture), the two have clashed, with Tyson labelling Stephanie’s energy as “too masculine”.
“There’s only so many times you can hear it before you start believing it for yourself,” Stephanie said.
With Stephanie not afraid to pull Tyson up for his conservative views around gender roles and gay relationships, the “anti-woke” Brisbane realtor has – ironically – emerged with the one label she never wanted: feminist.
“I’m not anti-feminist,” she said. “I’m just not into the extremities of things.”
Britt and Laura call Gia out for flaking … again
One of the ongoing MAFS storylines this season is the animosity between Bec Zacharia and Gia Fleur, with the two following an “extreme-enemies-to-friends-to-enemies” arc. Britt and Laura revealed Gia accepted their offer to appear on After the Dinner Party again, before cancelling for a third time.
Roll the unseen footage!
In the new footage, we see an annoyed Gia at the hens’ party call Alissa Fay a “f—ing fool”, before labelling Alissa and Bec as “weird bitches”. So, what brought on this bitter spray? No one really knows.
But what Laura does point out is that Gia has been “ground zero” when it comes to stirring up trouble. “The big thing with Gia is the repeat behaviour,” she said. “It’s every single week and [there are] so many moments that could have gone unnoticed.”
As Laura rightfully points out, Gia has had her perfectly manicured fingers in a piece of every pie – from Bec and Danny Hewitt’s relationship drama, to Brook Crompton’s tirade against Alissa and Stella Mickunaite, and even Juliette’s attack on Joel. Who’s there in the background constantly egging it on? Miss Gia, of course.
It might be time to step up to the After the Dinner Party couch, Gia. Fourth time lucky next week?
After the Dinner Party streams at 9pm on Wednesdays on Stan, which is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.
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