Ouch. Married At First Sight started with two *very* different weddings, and for Bronte and Harrison, it wasn’t quite a smooth occasion.
The couple, who were introduced in the premiere of MAFS Australia Season 10 were clearly going to be one of the more divisive couples of the season…if they survive the first week that is.
Look, we get that every season of any reality show there will be a ‘villain edit.’ And the first episode was certainly not glossing over 32-year-old Harrison’s bold personality.
From his superiority complex to his overuse of aftershave (which was Carolina Herrera Bad Boy EDT if you were wondering), it wasn’t hard to see he would be an interesting character.
But nothing prepared us for just how disastrous his wedding to 28-year-old Bronte would be.
The “other girl”
Not only was it revealed that Harrison was seeing girls up until one day before his wedding, but it wasn’t even his choice to bring it up! Bronte’s good friend Jessica was the one who called him out.
Not only did Jessica bring the receipts to prove that Harrison was seeing a girl on the outside, but she also explained to Bronte that it wasn’t over and that he was very much leading this other girl on to believe that their relationship would continue again after the show.
Shocking, we know.
According to Bronte’s friend, the man who seemed like a perfect match because of his belief in trust, loyalty and faithfulness had joked with his female friend before filming about what a scandal it would be if she ended up pregnant before he joined MAFS. Romantic.
After Bronte confronted him, Harrison explained (in a slightly rambling way) that he had done nothing wrong. That he was a single guy getting around Sydney before he was married. And now he was faithful to his wife. The end.
But then he did add that the girl back home may think differently because he did tell her things “that would soften the blow.”
“I didn’t want to be an a**hole about it,” he explained to Bronte.
The Honeymoon
Whilst the couple put the drama behind them as they celebrated their honeymoon, things went from bad to worse after their chemistry “sizzled out” after sleeping together.
Bronte was adamant that with some open communication, the couple could work things out, yet Harrison didn’t want to talk about it – until the honeymoon box forced them to face their issues.
“Do you feel any sexual chemistry with me?” was the question Bronte asked, to which Harrison replied that it wasn’t there anymore and that he “just needs time to find you sexually attractive again.”
After Bronte got rightfully upset, Harrison explained that he wasn’t sure why she was in “hysterics” (yep he used that word), revealing that the conversation had turned him off dessert.
The first commitment ceremony
By the time the first commitment ceremony of the season rolled around, the couple were not living together – or speaking.
Whilst Harrison tried to brush off the experts, placing the blame on Bronte and her need for “space,” they pushed back, arguing that he was “minimizing the situation.”
“I mean, I feel like the truth got skewed,” argued Harrison. “I was saying that coming into this experiment my attitude was ‘I’m not going to stop living my life before entering an experiment with someone I’ve never met before. I just didn’t feel the need to be faithful to someone I didn’t even know.”
Whilst the judges tried to get Harrison to understand his role in the relationship breakdown, it doesn’t look like smooth sailing for the pair yet. Harrison chose to leave as he felt like they already didn’t have a relationship since they weren’t living together. But Bronte opted to stay as she wasn’t raised to be a “quitter.”
Intimacy Week
Even the fan-favourite intimacy week couldn’t save the couple’s relationship as tensions continued to boil over.
Given the task to organise a date, Harrison takes an aggressive and sarcastic approach, still deciding to go on the date when Bronte declines.
“Whether she likes to or not, Bronte and I are still going on this date,” he explains. Whilst it may sound oddly threatening, Harrison actually means he will take a photo of Bronte on a date around Sydney…mature.
“I kept my end of the bargain…Bronte once again abandoned me,” he said.
So clearly this couple will have a dramatic few weeks and we really doubt they are in it for the long run. But who knows? Weirder things have happened in the MAFS experiment.
Still Together?
We’re not quite sure how it happened, but Bronte and Harrison are somehow managing to make it work. Whilst the couple seem to be back on track in the experiment, we might have a bit of insight into where the couple stands in the real world.
During an interview with Today Extra, Harrison let slip that he and Bronte had been “living together for over a month now.” Whether he was talking about living together during the experiment or living together now that the show has finished filming is hard to tell, but plenty of fans have jumped on the interview as “proof” the couple are still together.
“We are in a good place. There are real feelings there and I introduced Bronte to my son which is a big step,” he explained on the show. “I can see myself being with this girl long-term. There are a lot of questions about whether or not it is genuine…we have been living together for over a month now.”
Retreat Week
Following the explosive fight between Melinda and Bronte, Harison and Bronte’s relationship seemed to be as solid as ever, with the duo putting forward a united front…until they came home that is.
Bronte revealed that when they returned back to Sydney Harrison questioned her intentions, before breaking up with her via text.
“I don’t really understand how you can go from saying you were falling in love with somebody to breaking up over a text message,” Bronte explained.
Harrison refused to back down, revealing that “consistency, trust and commitment” were his dealbreakers in his relationship.
“I wanted reassurance and clarity of what our relationship looked like in the future and Bronte got up and said she wanted to go home – and that broke my trust,” revealed Harrison.
“This is the problem I have in this relationship, you continuously break my trust.”
Whilst Bronte quickly left the dinner party, Harrison wasn’t finished defending his actions – turning his attention to Claire and Jesse’s relationship in an effort to deflect.
Over for good this time?
The couple have once again hit a rough patch in their relationship and this time it looks like they really are over for good.
“I’m not going to walk into the dinner party tonight with Harrison and act like everything’s fine when it’s not,” she explains.
“I just don’t see how you and I can overcome the hurt that has been inflicted on each other,” she explains to Harrison before admitting she feel’s “completely broken.”
“I want to go home – I think it’s obvious…I have nothing left.”
After attending the diner party solo, Harrison begrudgingly admits to the rest of the group that the couple are over.
“Things aren’t great between us,” he explains. “I don’t really want to talk about it, to be honest
“I sat down with Bronte this morning and Bronte essentially said ‘I can’t do this.’ She’s done she can’t put any more into this [experiment] and she wants to go home.”
Whilst it sure does look like this couple have finally called it quits, we’ll have to wait for the commitment ceremony to see if they stay true to their word.
The commitment ceremony
The shock. The horror. Unsurprisingly, the couple chose to stay despite what they said earlier this week.
Harrison (attempted) to take some accountability for their recent issues, but still, put a lot of the blame on Bronte.
“I’m gonna take some responsibility here,” he told the experts. “I feel like I’ve held Bronte accountable for deal breakers or boundaries that I didn’t articulate and put in place.”
After revealing that the two boundaries he felt Bronte had crossed, were saying that she would leave the experiment, and comments she made to the group that defamed his character, he was called out for double standards.
But even as the two accused each other of gaslighting gaming among other things, they made the surprising decision to stay.
“There’s still so much of my life that I want Harrison to see before I make any sort of decision,” explained Bronte.
“So knowing that homestays are literally around the corner… I really want to show him where I’m from. So I chose to stay.”
“I just want more context to who Bronte is as a person,” recalled Harrison.
“Yes, I’m upset. The problem I have is that leaving this relationship is easy for me to do – then I wouldn’t have to work on it.”
Even the experts were baffled, but Bronte summed it up, explaining: “when things are good they’re really good, when things are bad they’re really bad.”
Home Visits
Things still aren’t looking good for the couple as they visit Bronte’s hometown of Perth.
Harrison is less than impressed after receiving a grilling from Bronte’s younger sister.
“You guys aren’t in a good place, I can tell,” she explained. “So you don’t have to bulls**t me.”
“So you are going to get up like a coward and walk away from me and your wife?” questioned Bronte’s sister after Harrison decided to leave.
“You’re not going to sit here and be held accountable for being a narcissistic, gaslighting, d***head.”
The Last Dinner Party
The couple, who hadn’t seen each other since Perth, brought the drama to the last dinner party.
After arriving alone, Harrison, quickly reveals to the group that “Bronte just viciously attacked me!” during their ill-fated home visit dinner.
However, he’s less than impressed when Bronte begins to talk with the girls about her experience.
Once seated for dinner, the pair’s arguments heat up when forced to ask each other expert-led “honesty questions.”
And when Harrison brings up his confrontation with Bronte’s sister, she snaps, telling him, “I would choose my family over you any day.”
Nova’s Dinner Party
At Nova’s MAFS dinner party, hosted by Fitzy, Wippa and Kate Ritchie, it was clear Harrison and Bronte are no longer together (shocking).
Harrison also spilled some major tea during the event. The hosts asked Harrison when was the last time he spoke to Bronte, to which he replied: “I texted her when the endometriosis episode aired.”
However, he confirmed that she didn’t reply. “We have spoken since via my lawyer but that’s about it…” Ouch. He also confirmed to the hosts that he stepped out in public with his new girlfriend this week. Safe to say this couple is done for good!
The Reunion
Harrison was ready for the reunion, he even brought printed-out screenshots to prove Bronte crossed a line.
Confused? In case you forgot, Harrison was quite close with another girl in the lead-up to the experiment. Following his and Bronte’s split, Bronte wanted to double-check Harrison was telling the truth and did in fact end things before their wedding.
So, she sent a message to the girl asking for some clarity.
Harrison slammed the move as “manipulative,” and “a clear violation of my privacy.”
Despite the group not finding anything wrong with Bronte’s actions, and finding the funny side to bringing printed-out “proof,” Harrison was still adamant Bronte was in the wrong.
0“Bront that printout is evidence of you crossing a line,” he declared.
But Bronte was unfussed, “you didn’t make your point hun… just that you’re an absolute loser.” Ouch.
Married At First Sight Australia airs Monday to Wednesday, 7:30pm, and Sunday, 7pm, on Nine Network and 9Now.
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