Married At First Sight’s Jono McCullough and Ellie Dix have opened up about their tumultuous experience on the Channel Nine show in their most unfiltered interview to date.
In a bombshell tell-all with Daily Mail Australia, the Health business owner, 39, went rogue and admitted he had a secret pact with his TV bride Lauren Dunn in an attempt to boost their public profiles.
‘After applying for the show, going through months of applications and packing up your life, you don’t really want to go home in the first week,’ Jono confessed.
However the couple’s alliance quickly soured, and Jono disclosed Lauren’s nasty behind-the-scenes commentary about him.
‘But then there was no looking after each other from Lauren’s side. She was immediately behind my back saying, “I’m boring a robot”,’ he explained.
Married At First Sight’s Jono McCullough and Ellie Dix have opened up about their tumultuous experience on the Channel Nine show in their most unfiltered interview to date
‘It’s like living with a serial killer, and I had no idea she was saying this, but it was a good storyline and it seems like they (producers) decided to run with it.’
Jono claims the production team seized on Lauren’s character assessment of him, ran with the narrative and edited footage to make him appear that way.
‘They just found footage of me staring blankly when I should have been talking, and yeah, it was pretty, pretty tough to watch, actually,’ he claimed.
Jono further recounted a heated moment from the show, where Lauren’s actions were publicly criticised by another participant.
‘Jayden (Eynaud) was like, “that’s it, Lauren, shut up. You treated Jono like crap. You had a boyfriend”,’ he said.
In a bombshell tell-all with Daily Mail Australia, the Health business owner, 39, went rogue and admitted he had a secret pact with his TV bride Lauren Dunn (pictured) in an attempt to boost their public profiles
Meanwhile Ellie also detailed the emotional toll her ‘villain’ portrayal in the final episodes took on her
Despite these revelations, Jono expressed a sense of empathy towards Lauren, particularly in light of the backlash she faced.
‘But she was originally upset by the table turning against her, and that was led by Jayden,’ he reflected. ‘And watching it back last night, I even found myself feeling sorry for Lauren.’
Meanwhile Ellie also detailed the emotional toll her ‘villain’ portrayal in the final episodes took on her.
The new couple angered their co-stars and viewers alike when they announced their relationship during the show’s reunion episode on Sunday night after denying they had feelings for one another.
The pair also traded secret texts after Ellie decided to end her relationship with her groom Ben Walters and leave the experiment.
‘It was really rough. Feeling so exhausted just from watching Monday’s episode,’ Ellie told Daily Mail Australia.
The couple felt like producers deliberately decided to portray their new relationship in negative light and once again edited the footage to make it seem that way.
‘We were hoping they were going to show it as a beautiful thing that came out of this experiment, and they just chose to show us looking pretty evil, like laughing at Sara and Tim and Lauren and this is not how it happened,’ Jono said.
They claim misrepresentation extended to their physical affection, which Jono believes was blown out of proportion.
The pair angered their co-stars and viewers alike when they announced their relationship during the show’s reunion episode on Sunday night after denying they had feelings for one another
‘I think they showed every bit of PDA we had over 6 hours and some of it multiple times cramped into one minute,’ he claimed.
‘I could see why people would say we’re mean people after watching that, but it’s not how it happened,’ Ellie added.
‘I’ve actually never been called a “mean girl” in my life. And anyone that I meet would be like, ‘I can’t believe that’s Ellie.’ It’s just so not me.’
he couple felt like producers deliberately decided to portray their new relationship in negative light and once again edited the footage to make it seem that way
Jono also touched upon controversy surrounding Lauren, and allegations of her having a secret boyfriend during filming.
Jono clarified the situation, suggesting that while it wasn’t a boyfriend per se, Lauren was indeed exploring romantic possibilities outside their TV marriage.
‘I don’t think it was a boyfriend. But it was a person she was interested in, right? Yeah. It was a person she wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with, and that wasn’t with me,’ he claimed.
They claim misrepresentation extended to their physical affection, which Jono believes was blown out of proportion
Jono also touched upon controversy surrounding Lauren, and allegations of her having a secret boyfriend during filming. Jono clarified the situation, suggesting that while it wasn’t a boyfriend per se, Lauren was indeed exploring romantic possibilities outside their TV marriage
