Retreat Week erupts into a firestorm of heated exchanges and accusations this week on Married at First Sight (MAFS), with bystander to the drama Sam labelling the scenes some of the vilest behaviour he has ever witnessed.
“I was in actual shock,” Sam, 34, tells TV WEEK. “I’d never witnessed such vile aggression between two people. I’m from a family that doesn’t really conflict much. We don’t yell at each other. So I really didn’t deal with that happening around me very well at all.”
The behaviour in question unfolds between Juliette and Bec. It stems from a comment that began as a “joke” from Bec on the first night of the retreat, when she made a crude comment that referred to the development in Rachel and Steven’s intimacy – which, to no one’s shock, caused Rachel embarrassment and distress.
The fallout from the comment quickly spills through the group as Bec doubles down and the women begin taking sides. Sam says it all truly explodes on the final night around the fire – and watching how the men handled conflict compared with the women was fascinating.
“Scott and Danny went off and had a classic, ‘Don’t say that about me, bro. You don’t say that about me, bro,’ — it was fine,” the fitness studio owner recalls. “But the girls – I was sitting next to Juliette on the couch as Juliette and Bec were screaming at each other.
“It’s scary. Juliette called Bec the dumbest c**t or something like that. It’s outrageous – that is absolutely nuts. It shows little intelligence when people resort to name calling.”
And while the participants seemed more divided than ever, Sam and his husband Chris were thankfully stronger than ever.
“Retreat was a really interesting time for me because it was the highlight of Chris and my relationship,” Sam explains. “Although I was having such a positive experience with Chris and we were aligning on so many things, there was so much chaos going on around us.
“It was like we were in the middle of a burning building. It went from Rachel being offended by this comment – the jury’s out on whether she was too offended or not offended enough – but it just went on for so long.”
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