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Cyrell rubbishes claims MAFS producers force contestants to stay in the experiment

"Stop using this as an excuse." - by Madi Spira
  • 06 Apr 2020

Many of this year's contestants have accused the Married At First Sight producers of forcing them to remain in the social experiment against their will.

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And while stars like Connie Crayden, Poppy Jennings, Jonethen Musulin and Mishel Karen have banded together to expose the showrunners' deceitful and manipulative ways, former MAFS bride Cyrell Paule believes these allegations are simply untrue. 

"I have read multiple times they've said they were forced to stay but no one puts a gun to your head. They cannot make you do anything you don't want to do," the outspoken star told WHO online exclusively. "Stop using this as an excuse and tell the truth— you wanted more air time so you agreed to stay. It's not that hard and it doesn't take a genius to know that." 

mafscyrell
Supplied

The new mum's comments may come as a shock to some seeing as many 2020 castmembers have been vocal about what occurred when the cameras weren't rolling, with a source telling New Idea Connie constantly fell victim to their questionable tactics. 

"[Two producers] pulled Connie aside for over two hours and they made her rewrite what she had written on her card," one on-set spy said. 

"They stood over her and put pressure on her to write ‘stay’ instead of ‘leave’. Connie came out and she had been crying. It was a very harrowing situation for her and filming was delayed for 2.5 hours that night because of it all."

Her television husband Jonethen also echoed a similar sentiment, admitting he was vocal about wanting to ditch the show, however, Nine bosses weren't willing to tear up his contract easily. 

conniejono

"I told producers that I was leaving and that there was nothing they could do about it," the FIFO worker told the outlet. "They had already lost so many contestants so that’s when they said to me, 'What can we do to make you stay?'"

As a result, they offered him a top-secret deal— stay in the experiment and they’d let him fly home to see his father who had suffered a stroke while filming was underway. 

"I got the terms of my contract rewritten halfway through," he continued. "Connie didn’t care … She was just happy that I was still there.”
Last week, Mishel also opened up about manipulation behind the scenes, claiming she was desperate to split with her TV husband and move on with her life. 

"I was saying I want to go home, I don't think anything is going to happen with this person ever," Mishel said, referring to her relationship with the barbershop owner.

"But I was forced to stay. At one commitment ceremony production was held up for eight hours because I wouldn't write 'stay'. I was saying, 'no, I'm not going to,' so eight hours we were delayed."

mafsmishel
Nine

The single mum also said she "didn't have any human rights" while filming last year. 

"We were sleep-deprived, we had everything we owned taken from us, we were spoken to like pieces of sh*t," she told The Daily Telegraph.

To make matters worse, Mishel said the warehouse they used for filming was "teeming with cockroaches", the cast was "rarely fed" and she wasn't allowed water at the dinner parties. She even recalled being forced to wait for ice in her glass to melt so she could rehydrate. 

Natasha Spencer backed up these jaw-dropping accusations, telling WHO online that they were "treated like animals". 

"It was f***ing putrid. They sit us on these hard plastic chairs in this dirty tent for hours and refuse to give us any reading material unless you ask. One time, I was wearing a white dress and I left with it literally being black," Natasha told us over the phone. "It's not right. I live in a first world country and I'd like to at least sit on a comfortable chair." 

natasha
Nine

Speaking about filming the final dinner party— where she exposed Mikey Pembroke and Stacey Hampton's affair— in a warehouse with no air-conditioning or fans, the outspoken bride said she raged at the show's producers when they decided to light a fire in the room, leaving many cast members feeling dizzy and unwell. 

"It was 40 degrees in an uninsulated warehouse and it was so hot that Chris [Nicholls] got pulled off-set because he had sweated through his whole shirt and needed a dry one," she revealed, adding she's still traumatised by what happened behind the scenes. "It was so f***ing hot I split the seam in my $1,000 dress because the beading and silk were literally wet from sweat."

 "I was screaming at them to get the fans. I was literally eating icy polls and trying to cool my body down in the freezer. It's just absolutely f***ed and it's not right." 

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Madi Spira
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