It’s been a week since MAFS introduced three new intruder couples and, so far, Sam and Chris seem to be getting along fantastically.
However, for Tyson and Stephanie and Joel and Juliette, things couldn’t be worse. From the revelation that Joel once played drums with dildos (we are still not sure why) to Tyon’s demands for a “submissive” wife, it’s been a rough few days for the experiment’s latest victims participants.
Having said that, Tyson really does seem to be his own worst enemy here.
On Tuesday night, the property investor revealed that he is not only still in touch with an ex-girlfriend, who he claims to be his best friend, but he’s still somewhat in love with her!
Self-worth and relationship coach Cosmina Naum tells WHO that while remaining friendly with an ex isn’t automatically inappropriate, there are other factors to consider.
Let’s break down what happened.
What did Tyson say about his ex-girlfriend?
The shock moment came after Tyson and Stephanie began “making progress” in their relationship through tasks the experts assigned, such as the eye-gazing task.
Tyson decided to take Stephanie out on a lunch date, and things were going well until he dropped the bombshell about his ex.
“Unfortunately, in this generation of dating, it’s hard to connect on the same wavelength,” he began. “I’ve been on a lot of dates, and sometimes I reflect on that.
“I remember in the past, I dated this Brazilian girl, I remember, she’s probably the only one, besides my wife, where I actually had those feelings of love for.”
He continued, “And I’m like, s**t, if I wasn’t so stubborn, where would I be with her now. You know what I mean? It makes you wonder.”
Stephanie was left in shock, asking the producers why he’d bring up an ex-girlfriend now, when things were going well.
She asked him if he still keeps in touch with her, and he said, “I keep in touch with the Brazilian girl. I won’t lie, I do. We still talk quite a lot.”
“She’s like, my best friend as well.”
Expert says Tyson needs to ‘cut ties’ with ex
Says Naum, “Being friends with a former partner isn’t automatically inappropriate. The issue isn’t the label ‘friend.’ It’s emotional availability.”
She adds that when someone acknowledges that they still have feelings for a former partner, the “dynamic fundamentally changes”.
“That’s no longer just friendship,” she tells us. “That’s unresolved attachment.”
“Now [Stephanie] isn’t simply navigating ordinary relationship vulnerability. She’s being asked to sit with active ambiguity. She’s being asked to trust while knowing emotional energy may still be directed elsewhere.”
Naum explains that Tyson, in this instance, needs to be the person to cut ties; it’s not up to Stephanie to make that call, but she can have her own boundaries.
“Healthy relationships require collective agreement on boundaries, not silent endurance,” she says.
“Ultimately, this isn’t about whether he can be friends with a former partner. It’s about whether both people are fully available, and whether the boundaries protect the relationship, not just one person’s comfort.
“That’s where the power and the choice sit.”
Tyson tells Stephanie he still has feelings for his ex
When Stephanie asked if he’d spoken to her while they’d been in the experiment, he said he had.
“I’ve got nothing to hide!” he added.
“The fact that he’s still in contact with her… it all just feels really wrong,” Stephanie told the producers.
“We’re friends, nothing wrong with that,” Tyson told his ‘wife’ when she asked why he’d speak to “an old flame” while in the experiment with her.
“Do you think she still has feelings for you?” she asked.
“Potentially,” he said, with Stephanie saying that that makes the relationship “inappropriate”.
As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, she then asked if Tyson was over her, and he said, “I’ll be honest with you, probably not fully.”
Tyson admits he ‘crossed the line’
Unsurprisingly, Steph said that she felt like what he was saying felt “very wrong”, and it made her seriously question his commitment to the experiment and to her.
The moment confused even the producers, who asked Tyson why he would even bring up his ex
Tyson also struggled to make sense of the thought process.
When the producer asked how he thought Steph might feel hearing that about his ex, it took him a while, but he said that “it’s probably not the right thing to do, to talk to [his ex]”.
“I’ve opened up a can of worms there,” he said, adding, “I can see how it’s a very controversial topic, and I can see how it looks and it doesn’t look good, and I 100 per cent admit that.”
Speaking to Stephanie, he said he felt he’d “crossed the line a little bit” and agreed that “it came across as inappropriate”.
She told him she felt “disrespected” and that it felt like he was “comparing” the two women, which he denied.
Later that day, Tyson apologised and said he wouldn’t be speaking to his ex again out of respect, and Stephanie said she appreciated the apology.
She asked, however, that he try to consider how his words might make someone else feel, and he said he would.
Later in the episode, Stephanie did get the ick when she watched Tyson’s audition video, where he mentioned that he doesn’t like gay men approaching him, because he’s not gay.
Funnily, he loved watching Steph’s audition, where she mentioned her love of US President Donald Trump.
So it feels like it’s one step forward, two steps back for these two every time they’re on our screen!
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