Just when you think MAFS couldn't get any messier, Daily Mail's Ali Daher reveals that Wednesday's episode will push the experiment into uncharted territory.
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From legal threats to an unexpected feud, sources say producers were torn between agony and ecstasy during this tumultuous stage of the experiment.
Brook tried to stop dinner party #2
The upcoming dinner party resulted in one bride going into damage control.
Within days of filming the explosive gathering, model Brook Crompton - who this week announced she was pregnant and engaged to a man she was dating before the show - began working behind the scenes to contain the fallout.
She tried to argue that she was too intoxicated to be in front of the cameras and that production had failed in its duty of care by allowing the shoot to continue.
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Within days of filming Wednesday's dinner party, model Brook Crompton (pictured with on-screen husband Chris Nield) began working behind the scenes to contain the fallout
According to well-placed insiders, Brook formally raised concerns about how much alcohol she had consumed prior to the dinner party.
She then escalated her complaint by suggesting that she should never have been filmed at all.
From a legal perspective, that's a pretty serious claim.
Production stood firm, however, insisting they had done nothing wrong. (To be clear: the Mail is not accusing the producers of wrongdoing, only reporting that Brook raised concerns.)
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Those close to the Brook say she is deeply anxious about how the footage might be used - particularly moments that painted her as a 'mean girl'.
'She felt exposed,' says a spy. 'She thought some of it might have crossed a line. It was really toxic.'
However, my sources within EndemolShine Australia, the production company that makes MAFS for Channel Nine, maintain that Brook showed 'no visible signs of impairment' and that all the participants' alcohol consumption was monitored.
Whether any footage will be pulled following Brook's complaint remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: she had specific moments in mind that she wanted buried.
Dinner party #2 - filmed on August 19 last year - is now widely regarded by cast and crew as 'ground zero' of the season - the event that detonated the entire experiment
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Nine backflips after cast revolt
After weeks of tension behind the scenes, Nine has changed tack on its social media lockdown.
The network has resumed posting to several participants' Instagram pages following a wave of complaints from frustrated cast members.
Earlier this season, several contestants were effectively frozen out of the show's usual digital rollout. No promos, no photo galleries, no coordinated reaction to the episodes as they aired on TV.
For the cast members left in the cold, it felt unfair.
'A lot of them were banking on this,' says an insider. 'They signed up knowing Instagram growth was an unspoken part of the deal.'
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Multiple participants allegedly voiced concerns directly to production, with some warning they would 'go rogue' if their accounts continued to stagnate while explosive storylines played out on screen.
'They felt exposed but unsupported,' the source adds. 'If you're going to air their worst moments, at least give them the platform boost.'
According to insiders, the hesitation from Nine wasn't accidental.
After weeks of tension behind the scenes, Nine has changed tack on its social media policy. The network has resumed posting to several participants' Instagram pages following a wave of complaints from frustrated cast members. (Pictured: Scott McCristal and Julia Vogl)
'There's real fear about contestants building massive followings too quickly,' a source tells me. 'If someone blows up mid-season, they become harder to control'
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'There's real fear about contestants building massive followings too quickly,' one tells me. 'If someone blows up mid-season, they become harder to control.'
The concern is that a cast member with a six-figure following doesn't need to toe the company line. They can leak. They can speak out.
And this year's group has already shown they're not afraid to test boundaries.
'Production is worried about people going off the leash, basically,' I am told.
'They want the drama on screen so people have to turn on their TVs and sit through the ads - or, better yet, buy a Stan subscription and watch the official after-show.
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'What they don't want is all the s**t spilling onto TikTok where fans get it for free.'
However, after mounting pressure, the network appears to have relented - at least partially - resuming posts to select participants' main accounts.
Not everyone is thrilled, though.
'There's still uneven treatment,' one bride says. 'Some people are being promoted while others are getting nothing.'
If you thought tensions between Brook and rival bride Stella Mickunaite were producer-driven, think again
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Brook v Stella: This time it's personal
If you thought tensions between Brook and rival bride Stella Mickunaite were producer-driven, think again.
Multiple cast members tell me their feud escalated dramatically during a girls' day out that was filmed well before the second dinner party.
'It wasn't just bickering,' one source says. 'They genuinely cannot stand each other.'
Insiders claim accusations of backstabbing and disloyalty are thrown around, and by the time Dinner Party #2 arrives, neither woman is interested in playing nice.
That clash is set to detonate on screen. Watch this space.
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Speaking of going rogue...
Gia Fleur appears to be operating with unusually loose reins, congratulating rogue bride Brook on her spoiler-fest interview with Woman's Day
Gia Fleur appears to be operating with unusually loose reins.
In a move that raised eyebrows among the cast, Gia recently took to her personal Instagram to publicly congratulate Brook on landing a magazine cover deal.
Her post was interpreted by some insiders as strategic: Bec telling producers she's not interested in playing ball and may well break the press rules too, just as Brook did.
Gia's move makes clear the cast isn't simply fighting at the dinner parties. They are at war with the producers and fighting for narrative control.
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That, and Instagram followers.
Gia finds a new enemy
If you thought Gia's feud with Bec Zacharia to kick off the season was intense, wait until you see what happens when she turns her fire on Alissa Fay.
Multiple sources tell me Gia reached her breaking point by Dinner Party #2 and she was no longer interested in keeping the peace.
Behind the scenes, she'd grown sick of what she saw as Alissa's 'fake energy' and strategic sweetness.
'She thinks it's all for show,' one insider says. 'She was ready to expose it.'
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At the upcoming dinner party, I'm told Gia doesn't just question Alissa's relationship -she tries to dismantle it... in front of the entire group.
'She calls her out for playing the perfect wife. She says the enthusiasm is forced, that the connection isn't real,' adds my spy.
'It's not a one-line comment,' the insider adds. 'She keeps going and going and going. It was uncomfortable to watch.'
For the producers, of course, it was manna from heaven.
If you thought Gia's feud with Bec to kick off the season was intense, wait until you see what happens when she turns her fire on Alissa. (Gia is pictured with husband Scott McCristal)
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Multiple sources tell me Gia reached her breaking point by Dinner Party #2 and she was no longer interested in keeping the peace. (Alissa is pictured with husband David Momoh)
Why Grayson and Julia have vanished
If you've been wondering where Grayson McIvor and Julia Vogl have disappeared to, you're not imagining it.
The couple - once positioned as steady and drama-free - have been edged out of recent episodes, replaced by louder feuds.
But according to former post-producer Alexandra Funnell, it's not personal. It's structural.
'Grayson and Julia are likely getting minimal airtime because, in television terms, their story simply isn't strong enough,' she explains.
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'Every reality episode operates on story hierarchies. You have your A-lines, B-lines and C-lines, and their relationship sits much lower than that.'
In other words: if you're not exploding, you're expendable.
If you've been wondering where Grayson McIvor and Julia Vogl have disappeared to, you're not imagining it. The couple have been edged out of recent episodes, replaced by louder feuds
'Scenes featuring them would have been filmed and edited,' Funnell adds. 'But when episodes are cut for time, weaker narratives are the first to go.
'They haven't fallen hard for each other, but they're also not in conflict. That leaves them in a kind of neutral zone.
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'From a production perspective, that's not compelling TV, so their story naturally slips out of the episode in favour of couples driving stronger emotion, tension or transformation.'
Translation? Sorry, guys. You're too boring.
Steve insists there's 'more to the story'
Sources close to Steve say he's increasingly frustrated by how his marriage to Rebecca is being portrayed on screen
And then there's Steve Powell.
Sources close to the groom say he's increasingly frustrated by how his marriage to Rebecca Zukowski is being portrayed on screen.
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'He feels like half their emotional conversations never made it to air,' one insider says.
According to those close to him, Steve believes viewers are seeing a clipped, colder version of events - not the full context of what was happening off-camera.
'He's not saying he was perfect,' the source clarifies. 'He just thinks it's incomplete.'
Privately, he's telling friends that key attempts to reconnect were filmed but never aired.
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