Married At First Sight’s Lauren Dunn, 32, has finally broken her silence on that ‘cheating scandal’ with her on-screen husband Jonathan McCullough, 39, and fellow bride Ellie Dix, 32.
WATCH: Lauren and Jonathan’s MAFS wedding vows.
While at first triggered when she discovered that Jono had been texting Ellie behind her back, Lauren managed to put the initial shock behind her and is now over the moon for the couple.
“I could not be happier for Jono,” she told the Daily Mail. “Me and him were forced to be together, we didn’t choose each other, and we gave it our absolute all.
“I honestly I could not be happier that they found love, because Jono and I weren’t in love,” she told the publication.
Admitting that being intimate at their homestay “put a spanner in the works” for Lauren, as they were in a good spot in their relationship. Ultimately, however, she admitted they wouldn’t have stayed together in “the real world”.
It seems that Jono and Ellie, however, are still going strong – having been spotted recently enjoying a beach date in Sydney.
Before the final MAFS dinner party, after learning that Jono had been in contact with Ellie, Lauren requested to look through his phone. The groom obliged, but Lauren was taken aback by the volume of messages between the pair, and the fact that Jono had been the one to instigate the communication.
The 39-year-old confessed to producers that he wasn’t sure “why Lauren has viewed everything I’ve done so negatively”.
The couples were then tasked with answering questions from an honesty box. When it was Lauren’s turn, she didn’t hold back – calling Jono a “snake”, saying he didn’t live up to her expectations and that he had lost her “trust”.
A defensive Jono then told Lauren that he no longer cared about her opinion.
The ‘couple swap’ first came to light during the final commitment ceremony. As Jono took to the couch with his Lauren, fellow contestant Tori Adams, 27, took the opportunity to share some news with the group.
The ‘wife’ of ‘villain’ Jack Dunkley, 34, revealed that Jono had been texting former contestant Ellie behind Lauren’s back. While Jono insisted it wasn’t flirtatious and that Ellie was the one to reach out to him, a taken aback Lauren shed some tears as she was reminded of past relationships.
“It’s a bit triggering for me,” said an emotional Lauren.
“In the past I’ve been around other women that were messaging my long-term partner,” she said. “I’m just very seriously traumatised from my past relationships, this is how it all kind of started.
“I feel hurt and betrayed… I feel like I’ve been lied to. I feel stupid; this is humiliating.”
While they both decided to ‘Stay’ in the experiment, Lauren was hesitant after learning about Jono’s betrayal.
It was our sister site Woman’s Day who reported that Jono and Ellie became an item after MAFS wrapped. The pair were spotted together at a Christmas Party in December 2023, then again enjoying a date on a beach on the Gold Coast in February.
Filming for this season of MAFS wrapped in October 2023, which means their first public sighting came just two months after filming wrapped on the final vows, and one month following the reunion.
There were definitely on-screen hints of chemistry between Ellie and Jonathan, starting when the groom placed the nurse second in the photo ranking challenge, repeatedly calling her “lovely”. He was also quick to rush to Ellie’s defence when her groom Ben Walters wouldn’t clarify whether or not he wanted to start a family – an important dream of Ellie’s.
“Ellie is a lovely, beautiful, smiling, happy, and very intelligent woman,” Jono told the cameras. “And (Ben) danced around the subject of wanting kids. It does make you question his motives for being here, and it’s a bit ick. I don’t buy Ben at all,” he said in defence of Ellie.
In early February, Ben spoke to Yahoo Lifestyle about Ellie and Jono’s alleged romance, revealing he only found out they were together at the reunion – but always had suspicion of their connection.
“I saw the way they looked at each other from the start, and I suspected something fishy was going on,” he shared with the publication.
Ben added that he feels like Ellie “emotionally cheated” on him… however, he is happy she and Jono found love from MAFS.
“I honestly wish them well as they seem happy together,” he said. “We text sometimes still. Pretty disappointing that they decided to ruin the storyline for MAFS fans.”
Though Ben’s hesitancy about starting a family created some bumps in the MAFS road, Ellie has insisted that the pair “got on like a house on fire” during the experiment.
“My eyes were just on Ben,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle. “I’m just like, so grateful to have such a great match. My eyes were not straying.”
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