A line has been drawn in the sand, with Married At First Sight Australia stars taking sides in the Olivia Frazer vs Domenica Calarco feud.
WATCH: MAFS’ Olivia and Domenica get into a heated argument
Their tense relationship reached boiling point when Olivia called Domenica a bully for getting involved in other people’s business at the Commitment Ceremony. After that fateful comment, the ladies went at it again across the dinner table on a Couple’s Retreat.
Carolina Santos was questioning Domenica over why she had a problem with her behaviour – being nasty to her husband – when Olivia jumped in to compare the women to animals. As though that was a peaceful and non-confrontational thing to do.
“Jackson and I had a thought, if you two went at it, it would be like a great white shark and a crocodile. So, I think that’s playing out right now and I’m really excited,” she said to a silent and awkward audience of women.
Viewers all saw what happened next, as the ladies began to argue Domenica smashed her glass down on the table and Olivia and Carolina both yelled at the MAFS star over her actions. Upset by the altercation, Dom walked away from the group.
Back at the table, brides including Selina Chhaur, Tamara Djordjevic and Ella Ding tried to deescalate the situation as Olivia slammed Dom for her actions. Back inside with the rest of the grooms, things continued to spiral as versions of the events were argued by different brides.
“She got up, stood over me and smashed her wine glass and then waved the broken wine glass in my face while she stood over me,” she told the grooms, who were shocked by the reportage from Olivia.
Is breaking a glass on a table okay? No. Is there a difference between breaking a glass and glassing someone? Yes. Is the way Olivia told the story factual? Also no. Lots of things can be true at once, people.
Domenica did not stand over Olivia before smashing the glass nor did she wave it in her face. A point her close friend Ella felt compelled to make.
“What the f—k? That story got blown completely out of proportion,” Ella told producers, before speaking up and telling Olivia: “She wasn’t holding it at you. She wasn’t using it as a weapon. She smashed it and then put it down.
“Everyone knows Domenica is fiery… but there was no intent to harm anyone. Olivia is making it out to look like that when it just wasn’t the case.”
In an interview with WHO, Ella reveals Domenica is one of her best friends since leaving the show and admits she had a “feeling” about Olivia from the beginning.
“Domenica, she’s one of my best friends. I’ve gained a true close friend out of this experiment; she always had my back and I always had hers. She’s always got everyone’s back, but people misunderstand where she’s trying to come from,” Ella tells us. “Some people take it the wrong way as her butting in.”
“From the get-go at the hens party, I didn’t get good energy from Olivia. Yeah she’s nice on first impressions, but I had this feeling in me that there was something else to her. I was like oooh, I don’t really know.
“There were definitely shifts that formed and divides that do form between the women especially, and when I look back on it on my first impressions, everything I thought was right. And everything I thought was going to happen, did happen.”
Meanwhile, Olivia was shocked to find out her groom, Jackson Lonie, did not support her behaviour.
When Domenica and Jack came to dinner at the retreat so that she could apologise, her heartfelt speech was well-received by co-stars including Samantha Moitzi, Dion Giannarelli and Kate Laidlaw.
But Carolina and Olivia, who made snide remarks throughout, were clearly not interested in listening. While they don’t need to accept her apology, viewers – and the other brides – seemed confused by the way they continued to pick the point and refused to acknowledge their own place in the feud.
The snide comments – including asking for cyanide, complaining Dom did not hug her and saying it wasn’t a real apology – did rile up Olivia’s groom Jackson, who accused her of being “mean” and said he accepted what Domenica had to say.
“It’s hard because the apology has been done, and the thing that hurt me a lot was sitting here listening to the snide comments. You did do it a few times,” Jackson told her. “I don’t like snide comments… you’re not being picked apart. It just took me aback.”
She was visibly shocked by her grooms comments at the time, but it doesn’t seem like Olivia’s feelings towards the bride have changed since then.
“I really wanted to stay out of the drama, but nobody was calling Domenica out,” Olivia tells our sister site TV WEEK.
“Other people had enough drama in their relationships that they didn’t want to get involved with her, but I couldn’t stomach it anymore.”
She also slams the edit Domenica has received, as fans praise the outspoken star for defending the likes of Holly Greenstein.
“I think it’s absolutely disgusting that she’s getting a hero edit when she’s been revolting to her husband and other cast members,” Olivia says. “In all the major issues, Domenica is the common denominator.”
In an interview with Nine, Domenica revealed how she feels about the incident months later.
“I was constantly being shut down, told to not use my voice, told to not speak up, told that my opinion didn’t matter,” Domenica began.
“When I realised that that was happening to me, that was shattering because that was really breaking down the core of who I am. It brought up past emotions, and it’s no excuse.”
However, Dom says she was frustrated by Olivia’s refusal to listen to the apology in full as she and Carolina kept saying that the explanation made it a “fake” apology.
“No matter how much I’ve apologised, and I’ve tried to explain why I got to that point, it was met with ‘You’re just making excuses’,” Domenica tells the publication.
“Look, I apologised and I was 100 per cent sincere, and I mean, all but two women (Olivia and Carolina) at that table that night accepted my apology.”
With the drama set to continue at the Dinner Party, this feud is far from over.
Married At First Sight Australia airs Monday to Wednesday, 7:30pm, and Sunday, 7pm, on Nine Network and 9Now.
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