Luke Fourniotis Opens Up on PTSD and Mel

Married At First Sight's Luke Fourniotis has opened up about the 'traumatic' aftermath of his time in the experiment.

In an interview with Daily Mail following his exit, the 30-year-old farmer revealed he believes he experienced 'a bit of PTSD' after being paired with bride Mel Akbay.

Luke claimed he felt 'alone and isolated' from the very beginning, alleging Mel 'checked out from the moment she saw' him and never truly let him in, even on a friendship level.

While Luke insisted he never wanted Mel to be 'told off' or humiliated, he admitted the experience left him 'beaten down', struggling to trust people around him, and needing to lean on his sister and a close friend just to get through filming.

'It was tough to watch,' Luke said of reliving the season as it aired.

'I feel like I actually had like a bit of PTSD… I'd been in this experiment with Mel and just wasn't really treated nicely kind of thing.'

Luke said the first couple of weeks were particularly painful.

'I saw how I was being treated. It just re-sparked all these memories in my mind,' he explained.

He added that while the show can look dramatic on television, the emotional weight of being dropped back into those moments is something you cannot prepare for.

Casting message and months of build-up

Luke also revealed he did not apply for the show in the traditional way, claiming he was scouted.

'Technically signed up… I didn't actually like, try out for it though,' he said.

'I got messaged by like a casting agent… she just sent me a message saying, "Oh, you look like you'd be good for the show."'

From there, he said the audition process was long and intense, taking 'about a month and a half' and stretching across multiple stages.

Luke claimed it included background checks and medical testing.

'There might've been like eight different stages… you had to do criminal tests, you had to do blood work… I think you had to do like STI tests from memory,' he said.

Luke said the questioning was so thorough that he genuinely believed he would be matched with someone who 'ticked a lot of those boxes' because the producers and experts appeared to want to know everything about his values, morals, personality and what he wanted in a partner.

He said his family background also became a key focus, particularly the loss of his father.

'My dad's not around anymore…' Luke explained.

Despite his initial optimism, Luke admitted he hesitated when producers told him they had found his match.

'My initial reaction was actually like, "I don't think I wanna do this because it's so intense and I know what the show can be like… there's a lot of editing,"' he said.

In the end, he agreed, encouraged by family and friends telling him to take a chance.

'I was just like, yeah, why not?'

Thrown into the deep end

Luke lifted the lid on how little he claims contestants are told about the experiment. 

'To be honest, they kind of just throw you in there. They don't really tell you much about what to expect,' he said.

He recalled being warned that dinner parties can run until 4:00am, followed by very early wake-ups.

'You'll have a dinner party… and then the next day you'll wake up after like three, four hours sleep,' he said.

'They knock on the door… and wake you up at 7:00am or 8am.'

Despite the rumours that cast members are 'told what to say', Luke rejected that idea, insisting the show relies on raw emotion.

'I wasn't ever really told what to say… and I wasn't told how to act,' he said.

'Good TV is raw, honest emotion. If everything's staged… viewers at home would see through that.'

Wedding chaos - rings, gum and a 'cheek kiss'

Luke's experience got off to a rocky start on his wedding day when he forgot the rings and had to go back for them, delaying his arrival at the aisle.

'It was chaotic… you're supposed to be so excited for your wedding… and me having to go back to get the rings made everything 10 times more stressful,' he said.

He claimed the pressure intensified when a producer yelled at him as he rushed to the ceremony.

'He just yelled at me, "Luke, what are you doing? Your wife's waiting for you. Hurry the f up,"' he recalled.

Inside, he said he was 'burning' with anxiety and embarrassment.

'I probably came across relatively composed, but inside I was like, 'Oh, my God, this is so awkward."'

Luke also hit back at rumours he forgot the rings on purpose.

'That is completely not true,' he said.

He also owned the gum moment that had viewers cringing, explaining he'd been in the limo for hours, stressed and dehydrated.

'I'm probably sitting in this limo for like two and a half hours… my mouth's probably going a bit dry from just sweating and stressing,' he said.

'The gum thing was completely my fault. I'll take ownership of that.'

Luke said he was attracted to Mel when he first met her and believed he was going into the experiment with optimism.

'When I first met her, I was attracted to her. I thought she was well put together,' he said.

But he defended a decision that became another flashpoint: kissing her on the cheek rather than the lips.

Luke insisted it was not a snub, but a choice made out of respect because he was late and could sense her energy was off.

'I'd already f'd up a bit… so I just kind of went for the cheek kiss out of respect,' he said.

'I could see her energy… she was just very off. I'm not gonna go and kiss her on the lips when I can read that energy.'

He rejected claims he 'friend-zoned' her immediately.

'That's unfortunate, but that's also not true at all,' he said.

Alone on the honeymoon

Luke claimed the honeymoon was where the dynamic truly set in, describing it as uncomfortable, isolating and emotionally draining.

'It was kind of awkward… it was super awkward,' he said.

'I felt so alone and isolated on the honeymoon.'

He insisted he tried repeatedly to build a connection, even if it was only friendship, but felt shut out.

'I don't care that she wasn't attracted to me. If she wasn't attracted to me, that's fine. Let's at least be friends,' he said.

'I genuinely tried every little thing in the book… I'd always start the day and ask her heaps of questions… and I'd always get cold, short answers.'

Luke said what made it harder was watching Mel appear warm and engaged with other people, while giving him 'nothing'.

'I'd see her energy towards other people compared to myself, and it'd be a stark difference,' he said.

'I'm not an awkward person. I could talk to a brick wall… and that's another really hard part of it.'

He claimed their first truthful conversation happened on the plane to the honeymoon, when Mel told him she did not care about him being late.

'She said, 'Don't worry about it. I honestly don't care. It's fine,' he recalled.

But Luke said the disconnect never improved.

'I feel like she checked out from the moment she saw me,' he said.

Dinner party humiliation and an unseen split

Luke said walking into the first dinner party and watching Mel 'light up' with others was one of the lowest points.

'It's such a tough thing to go through,' he said.

'You walk into the pre-drinks… and I can see other people effortlessly getting along with her… getting more from her than I had all week.'

He described feeling so uncomfortable he struggled to join in.

'I remember sitting at that dinner party and feeling just so uncomfortable… I couldn't get involved.'

The next day, Luke said the reality of the situation hit even harder when they moved into the apartments and it became clear the issues were no longer private.

Luke also revealed a significant detail viewers did not see, claiming the couple spent time living separately.

'I think there was about a week or a week and a half where I was in my own place,' he said.

Luke said later episodes suggested they were friendly and 'getting along', but he insisted that was not his lived reality.

'We still weren't even friends… still felt so alone and isolated throughout the whole experiment,' he said.

He said he first raised concerns about wanting to leave on the day they moved into the apartments, the day after the first dinner party and commitment ceremony.

Photo ranking and 'no green flags'

Luke also addressed the photo ranking task, claiming he was not surprised Mel did not place him first, but said it still stung.

'I feel like you wanna make them feel secure in the relationship,' he said, adding that he believed most partners would automatically put their spouse first.

He then described being blindsided by what Mel allegedly said during the red flags, green flags task, including declaring he had 'no green flags' and accusing him of making her life 'a living hell'.

'No green flags was a bit of a punch,' he said.

'When I saw that, I actually had to turn my phone off for a couple of days and just disassociate… I was just like, this is so cooked.'

Luke said the fallout impacted how other brides treated him in the hallway.

'Prior to that, it'd be like smiles… and then after that, they were kind of greasing me off,' he claimed.

'This isn't safe for me to be here anymore.'

Instagram rumours and 'protective sisters'

Luke also addressed the Instagram comments drama, insisting he never instructed anyone to attack Mel.

He claimed he only spoke to one sister during filming, and she passed on his emotional state to the rest of the family, sparking protective behaviour from his other sisters.

'My other sisters… got annoyed at how Mel was treating me. And then they made those comments,' he said.

Luke said he woke up, saw what had been written, and immediately told them to delete everything.

'I told them, 'Delete these comments straight away. That's not cool.' They deleted them,' he said.

He claimed Mel confronted him anyway, and he felt he was not allowed to explain.

'I just put my head in my hands… I'm just like, I genuinely haven't even done this,' he said.

He also complained about rumours that he encouraged negative media coverage.

'There was a rumour going around that you had called me up to put bad articles about her… which isn't true,' he said.

Support system, mean girls and THAT night out at Icebergs

Luke said he struggled to trust people inside the experiment, but leaned on a sister and a close friend outside.

Inside, he said he found support among the grooms, naming Grayson McIvor, Danny Hewitt, Filip Gregov and Steven Danyluk as people who checked in.

He claimed Bec was one of the few brides to support him, but suggested others were hesitant because of a strong 'girls' girl' mentality.

Luke also touched on the so-called 'mean girls' behaviour, admitting it could be intimidating to step in when several people 'group up' and come at one person.

'I feel like we all should have stood up for the girls that were being attacked,' he said.

Luke then addressed the cast night out at Icebergs, revealing it was initially meant to be a smaller catch-up designed to help his relationship with Mel.

'I was closer to Bec and I'd organised… Bec and Danny and Mel and I, so we could all kind of get a drink together rather than just Mel and I,' he said.

He claimed the group grew once others realised people were heading to Icebergs, and insisted he does not regret the night.

'Nah, I don't regret it… it was good fun,' he said.

Luke also weighed in on the season's controversial Danny and Gia dispute about whether Danny told Gia she was 'more his type', saying he was torn after speaking to both.

His solution was half-joke, half-serious.

'I think we need to get a lie detector test,' he laughed.

Where things stand with Mel now

Asked whether he and Mel could ever be friends, Luke was blunt.

'We couldn't even be friends in there,' he said, adding they last spoke at the reunion.

But he insisted he is not tracking online hate directed at her and hopes it is not excessive.

'I don't think anyone deserves too much hate,' he said.

Still, he suggested the backlash could be an opportunity for reflection.

'It could be a good time for her to just realise how she is or how she can be… and how it can affect people,' he said.

Despite calling it a 'sour experience', Luke said he does not regret going on the show, claiming he learned about himself and made friendships that have lasted beyond filming.

'I don't regret being on the show… even though it was a pretty sour experience, I still learned a lot about myself,' he said.

He also revealed how grief changed him, explaining his father's death pushed him to become more emotionally open.

'I've learned to talk about my feelings because prior to dad passing away, couldn't talk about a thing,' he said.

And while he is unsure whether he would do reality TV again, he did not shut the door completely.

'Potentially… I wouldn't rule it out,' he said.