After Poppy Jennings claimed she was wielded into saying things she didn’t mean on camera, Married At First Sight’s Chris Nicholls has opened up about his tumultuous time on-set, also scolding the show’s producers for their inherently “manipulative” behaviour.
WATCH: Mikey Pembroke blasts producers kicking him out
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the agitated reality TV star said he felt “verbally beaten” and coerced into writing “stay” each week as the staff pushed for the most dramatic and controversial narrative possible.
“You are forced basically into saying what it is they want,” he shockingly explained in a tell-all interview. “If they don’t get that, they will ask another 10 different questions in other ways to get basically what they want and that is what they will roll with.
He also revealed he felt immense pressure to sleep with his TV bride— who used to date former MAFS star, Bronson Norrish— claiming the producers tried to hurry their premature relationship along in a bid to lift ratings.
“They manipulate you into thinking this marriage or this relationship needs to either be consummated straight away or you need to do things they say so they can get the storylines they need.”
Another current contestant— who reportedly asked to remain anonymous— echoed a similar sentiment, declaring a showrunner said she was “boring”, all but forcing her to ruffle a few feathers at one of the dinner parties.
“They told me I was boring and Australia wouldn’t want to watch me,” she revealed. “So they told me to drum up the drama at the dinner parties. They said ‘we’re not telling you to, but it would definitely make you look more interesting at the dinner parties’.”
This isn’t the first time a contestant in the unconventional dating experiment has exposed and blasted producers. In a brutal takedown, bad boy Dean Wells— who was labelled the “villain” after cheating on his ‘wife’—also exposed their dirty tricks, admitting he felt powerless and trapped while filming.
“The producers would encourage you to say or do certain things and… the way things would be edited if you didn’t do what they wanted you to do. You feel trapped,” he once said.
“At the time, none of us were media trained, we didn’t know much about producing a reality show, so you feel cornered and you have no power. You feel like you have to do everything they say or you will get in trouble.
The Dancing With The Stars contestant also revealed in a fiery interview with Hot91’s Dave, Sam & Ash earlier this month that the show is 100 per cent “fake” and scripted.
“I was on the highest rating TV show in Australian history, and it somehow ridiculously seemed to be about me and some fake little affair,” he said. “MAFS is so fake, it’s so silly. I cannot believe people even watch that show. I’ve never watched it before and I never will, it’s so silly. I thought it was common knowledge.”
After the interviewers insisted they’d spoken to dozens of insiders who’d confirmed his affair with Davina Ranking happened naturally, Dean instantly hit back, asking, “You mean the people still under contract to Channel 9?”
“I wasn’t actually ASKED to do those things, but you’re stuck in a room with producers and camera crews, and they basically don’t leave you alone until you do something interesting,” he continued. “Not only that, you’re all in a hotel staying with the other 20 people. You go to the hotel and drink and party and say, ‘I’ll do this tomorrow, you do that tomorrow!’ You just have fun with it. It’s not scripted but we’re having fun with it. Everyone on that show is having fun with it. Watching it now, it’s so obvious.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
