In news that will shock absolutely no one, Married At First Sight couple Ellie Dix, 32, and Ben Walters, 39, have left the experiment.
WATCH: MAFS bride left shaken by her husband’s ‘gross’ confession
During Sunday night’s commitment ceremony, after Ellie expressed her confusion at Ben’s inconsistent behaviour, both bride and groom chose to go their separate ways.
Now that their MAFS marriage is over, Ellie is spilling the beans on her ‘ex-husband’ Ben.
She shares exclusively with New Idea that she was alerted to some concerning “red flags” around her groom just days into the experiment.
“The first was that he still wanted to be a tour guide,” she says. “He wasn’t at all ready to settle down or start a family.” Ellie, 32, adds, “I didn’t want to waste my time – or anyone else’s.”
The cosmetic nurse from the Gold Coast admits she had a total “freak out” when she and Ben were tasked with ranking their personal values during Intimacy Week – but it never aired!
Ellie was devastated when Ben, 39, listed fatherhood as a low priority for him in a relationship.
“That was a huge problem for me,” she says, even though the then-couple seemingly tried to work through the issue on-air.
Ellie explains she felt especially let down because at their wedding, Ben seemed like her perfect match.
“I remember thinking, ‘I am so lucky! I’ve married a normal guy who doesn’t have spray-on pants.’ And he was wearing socks!” she told New Idea.
“I always thought it would be pretty crazy to marry a stranger – and it was.”
But it seems as though Ellie has now moved on from Ben. In fact, the nurse has been spotted with a different MAFS groom, Jonathan McCullough, on multiple occasions – even sharing a kiss. More on that here.
Ben, meanwhile, is also off the market, having been pictured kissing his new German girlfriend, Aileen, in Sydney..
The tour guide confirmed that he is smitten with Aileen, telling the Daily Mail that he met her while trying to mentally recover from the whirlwind of MAFS.
“Just hitting the beach a lot, getting my regular coffee by Nobby’s Beach when I heard an accent in there and I had to approach her,” Ben recalled. “We had a bit of a giggle and we just hit it off from there.”
Aileen is equally as enamoured with the MAFS groom, deeming him committed and funny.
The couple have even already said the L word and moved in together after a trip to Bali.
Ellie and Ben’s breakup is hardly surprising considering their on-screen marriage has been falling to pieces right before our eyes.
While it seemed the pair would be able to move past the groom’s ambiguity about wanting children, Ben’s two hour diatribe about why he and Ellie shouldn’t be together proved the nail in the coffin.
The 39-year-old defended his list of dislikes about Ellie, which included their age gap, her being “too emotional”, their lacklustre conversation, and more.
“There was good conversation, it was just hard to click,” Ben told KIIS 1065’s Kyle & Jackie O Show. “For me, that was my number one value.”
But it seems he bears no ill will towards Ellie and Ben’s flourishing relationship, wishing them “all the best”.
“It seems like a fantastic match,” he added.
The bride also touched on her relationship with Ben via her personal Instagram.
“After an absolute crazy week of ups and downs, unsolicited songs and gifts, I feel like I have made the right decision (finally!) to no longer tolerate Ben’s inconsistent behaviour,” Ellie wrote.
The nurse went through the rigorous MAFS application process after her ex-fiancé cheated on her, resulting in the cancellation of their wedding just a month before the nuptials.
In a previous interview with New Idea, Ellie shared that she has struggled to rebuild trust.
“I did take some time off and focused on myself and hung out with my sisters and best friend and took time for myself,” the reality star told us.
She continued: “I did seek professional help too, because I didn’t want to take this trauma into a new relationship.
“I do want to say I am healed and I am open to trusting again – it was very very hard at the time though, I‘m not going to sugar coat it.”
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