Married At First Sight groom Ryan Donnelly has broken his silence after copping backlash for his reaction to wife Jacqueline Burfoot exposing his bizarre sex rule.
The 36-year-old strength and conditioning coach came under fire after he threw a tantrum when Jacqui, 29, told the brides that he refuses to have sex before a gym session to ‘preserve his testosterone’—despite previously sharing intimate details about their bedroom life with the grooms.
Now, in a chat with Daily Mail Australia, Ryan has hit back at his portrayal on the show, slamming Jacqui’s decision to reveal private details, calling it ‘pure hate bait.’
Despite the drama it caused, Ryan admitted he was baffled by how much airtime the conversation received.
‘Honestly, watching it back, I thought it was boring. Breaking news: Stop everything- husband prefers sex after working out. Good lord. What a revelation,’ he said sarcastically.
But while he brushed off the scandal as ridiculous, Ryan didn’t hold back in criticising Jacqui for bringing up their private conversations on national television.
Married At First Sight groom Ryan Donnelly has broken his silence after copping backlash for his reaction to wife Jacqueline Burfoot exposing his bizarre sex rule
The strength and conditioning coach came under fire after he threw a tantrum when Jacqui, 29, told the brides that he refuses to have sex before a gym session to ‘preserve his testosterone’
‘We’re in one of the most stunning, memorable places in Australia, and Jacqui wants to bring that garbage up? The other girls’ sex lives must have been vanilla as f**k if that became the main topic,’ he scoffed.
Ryan also suggested that Jacqui deliberately framed the story to make him look bad.
‘What do we really think her motivation was? It wasn’t curiosity or a genuine desire for insight. It was pure hate bait. To make me appear selfish and neglectful.’
Despite defending himself, Ryan did acknowledge the hypocrisy of his previous comments about Jacqui’s bedroom skills during intimacy week.
‘I can easily recognise the hypocrisy of mine in the context of the intimacy comments. Oh, Ryan, you can’t get mad at her because you dropped some juicy details with the boys,’ he admitted.
However, he claims Jacqui had previously asked for their sex life to remain private, making her actions at the retreat all the more frustrating for him.
‘I literally have text messages from Jacqui before the retreat stating, word for word, that she didn’t want our sex life to be a public topic anymore,’ he revealed.
‘And yet, suddenly, she’s blabbering away in front of everyone like it’s the hottest gossip in town.’
Now, in a chat with Daily Mail Australia, Ryan has hit back at his portrayal on the show, slamming Jacqui’s decision to reveal private details, calling it ‘pure hate bait’
Ryan also suggested that Jacqui deliberately framed the story to make him look bad. ‘What do we really think her motivation was? It wasn’t curiosity or a genuine desire for insight. It was pure hate bait. To make me appear selfish and neglectful’
Ryan also called out his co-stars for running with the story and turning him into a joke, saying he felt humiliated.
‘They made it seem like I was controlling Barbara or something. Like, is Ryan only allowing intimacy on his terms? I was just sitting there so frustrated, thinking, really?’
Ryan also accused Jacqui of being inconsistent in her concerns over their sex life being public.
‘At the girls’ night, she turned around and told everyone, ‘Oh, by the way, we had sex in the morning.’ Flip-flopping. Where’s your issue? Do you have an issue or not?’
‘Did she want people to laugh at us? Did she want to create more chaos? It just looked silly, didn’t it?’
Ryan admitted the drama only deepened his trust issues in their relationship.
‘That was one of many instances where my trust was broken.’
Ryan also revealed he was left stunned by a crude remark made during a later conversation with fellow bride Beth Kelly.
Ryan also called out his co-stars for running with the story and turning him into a joke, saying he felt humiliated
‘They made it seem like I was controlling Barbara or something. Like, is Ryan only allowing intimacy on his terms? I was just sitting there so frustrated, thinking, really?’
‘She literally turned to me and said, ‘So Ryan, are you telling us you’d rather pump iron than f**k your wife’s p****?’* he recalled.
‘Can you imagine if one of the husbands sat down in a group setting and said that about a guy’s d**k? There are definitely double standards.’
Despite feeling thrown under the bus, Ryan insists he’s learned his lesson about discussing intimacy on the show.
‘If I say something to you within a two-person marriage privacy conversation, and you go and blurt it out again for ridicule, I’m out. I’m gone.’
But while the fallout from his comments continues to play out on social media, Ryan seems to be taking it in stride.
‘I had a few laughs watching it back with mates, but honestly, the whole thing was just dumb.’
Married At First Sight continues Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.
