Domenica Calarco and Ella Ding have issued an apology after hosting ‘villain’ groom Jack Dunkley on their Sit With Us podcast.
In a recent episode from their podcast titled A Time To Reflect, Learn and Grow, the former Married At First Sight co-stars discussed having the season 11 star on their show and the online backlash that followed.
The pair found themselves in the firing line last week after they spoke to Jack about the controversial moment he told co-star Jonathan McCullough to ‘muzzle’ his wife Lauren Dunn at the dinner table.
The episode triggered a wave of online backlash, with It’s A Lot podcaster Abbie accusing the pair of ‘platforming a misogynist’, ‘victim blaming’ and failing to confront Jack about his statements.
In their 35-minute apology episode, Ella began by denying claims made by former fans who turned on the co-hosts.
Domenica Calarco (top) and Ella Ding (bottom) have issued an apology after hosting ‘villain’ groom Jack Dunkley on their Sit With Us podcast
‘I personally think if you are a Sit With Us listener and you’ve been a loyal listener for two years, if you genuinely think that we support misogyny, I think it’s very silly,’ she began.
‘We’re not doubling down here,’ Dom added. ‘Yes, we may have stumbled. But we strongly push back on the horrendous comments that we are anti-feminist.
Elsewhere in the episode, Dom continued: ‘This is something that I really want to say in the right way and I’ve written down the notes. I’ve written so many words and notes over the last four days. I’m trying to put all this down.
‘But I now understand that by having Jack on the podcast, people are upset because it potentially had shown that we weren’t supportive of women because we platformed him and that was never what we wanted to be putting across at all.
‘But for upsetting people, for making people feel uncomfortable and for triggering them in that situation by having Jack on, I apologise. We never wanted to offend or hurt people by having him on the podcast. That was never our intention.’
The pair found themselves in the firing line last week after they spoke to Jack (pictured) about the controversial moment he told co-star Jonathan McCullough to ‘muzzle’ his wife Lauren Dunn at the dinner table
The episode triggered a wave of online backlash, with It’s A Lot podcaster Abbie accusing the pair of ‘platforming a misogynist’, ‘victim blaming’ and failing to confront Jack about his statements. Pictured (L-R) Dom and Ella
Dom echoed Ella’s statement at the beginning of the podcast, calling out the negative social media comments that followed the release of their episode with Jack.
‘Thousands of hateful comments have claimed that we aren’t real feminists. And in the same breath they’ve admitted they’ve never engaged in our content’, she continued.
Dom later admitted she still has a lot to learn when it comes to interviewing guests on the podcast, stating, ‘I don’t have a journalism degree.’
However, several fans weren’t buying the apology and continued to slam the girls for their actions.
‘I don’t think you get it. It isn’t about you having him on the podcast. It’s the way you made light of his actions and words during the “interview”,’ one said.
‘Oh noooo you still don’t get it. It’s not about having him on, it’s that you offered him excuses for his behaviour and victim blamed Lauren. Wanna go for a take 2 girls?’ added another.
Domenica has since broken her silence in a series of TikTok videos, in which she revealed to fans she’s been feeling extreme anxiety
Ahead of their apology, Dom opened up about her mental health following the wave of backlash and revealed she’d taken time out to visit a mental health retreat.
‘Over the last month, I have been struggling with some deep issues that have left me emotionally, physically and psychologically drained,’ she began in an Instagram post shared on Sunday morning.
‘Everyday, I am trying to be the strong, independent and bubbly person that you all know me to be, but the reality is that I am not okay and the recent social media discourse has forced me to realise that I am at the end of my tether.’
It comes after Abbie (pictured) unleashed on Domenica and Ella during last week’s episode of It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield
She continued: ‘As someone who has dealt with mental illness for 15 years, I have come to the realisation that I need to put my health, both physically and mentally, as the number one priority and have decided to enter a mental health retreat.’
It all comes after Abbie unleashed on Domenica and Ella during last week’s episode of It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield.
‘I don’t think those girls even know why the muzzle comment was wrong. I think that’s the biggest issue,’ she claimed.
‘I didn’t think at this point that they were malicious. I thought they just didn’t understand feminism or patriarchy fully…they had an entry level understanding of feminism,’ she added.
Abbie continued: ‘I thought that was what it was, and they were actually trying their hardest, by having this loser on.
‘And then they thought that what they did was enough, but I was like; ‘It actually isn’t enough and it’s really damaging to post this.”
The former Bachelor contestant also stated that her fellow reality dating show were ill-equipped to have conversations about misogyny and feminism.
‘I think the first step would be, because you aren’t equipped to have these conversations, would be to not have him on at all,’ the FBoy Island host said.
‘And say, ‘I’m not going to platform misogynist if I can’t call him out.’ Another thing you could do is if you are going to platform him, stand your ground and question him on why he thinks this is okay and also understand why the muzzle comment was wrong.’
‘I don’t think those girls even know why the muzzle comment was wrong. I think that’s the biggest issue,’ Abbie claimed
