Another week of Married at First Sight, another drama fuelled by Michael Goonan.
Since being on the show the company director has shown a flair for stirring trouble, manipulating people and taking control of the narrative with his fellow participants.
And this week he set his sights on Aleks Markovic, accusing her of cheating on ‘husband’ Ivan Sarakula.
WATCH: MAFS cast confront Aleks over new cheating allegations
After Aleks revealed that she didn’t feel Ivan was soul mate material at the dinner table, Michael went after her, ruthlessly and relentlessly questioning her, shouting her down and accusing her of lying.
The rest of the participants sat in silence throughout, not one of them protested at Michael’s aggression or defended Aleks.
A stark contrast to how Hayley was treated during the cheating scandal mere episodes ago and surely something they will all – including the experts – feel incredibly embarrassed about at the reunion.
Speaking of Ivan, he said he’d be true to “bro code”, “He’s hurting and I feel like she’s making him look like an idiot in front of the whole group. But he likes her so much up the fact that he slept with her.
“So when we’re at the dinner party, Bro-code, I like Ivan, I’m gonna stick up for what I think’s right, and what I think’s wrong. I feel like I’ve got to do it.”
But it was when Aleks told Michael at the dinner proper that Ivan had found a ‘best mate’ not a ‘soul mate’ in the experiment that Michael decided to flick on the bully switch inside of himself.
Michael couldn’t comprehend what she was saying, given Aleks and Ivan had ‘been fine’ a week earlier.
“He loved you. He fell in love with you,” said Michael.
“He said he loved me… I think you loved me as a person,” Aleks said, gesturing to Ivan who was right next to her. “I think I was in a love bubble.”
“Please. You may as well tell me Santa Claus is coming. What a load of nonsense. I’ve never heard so much crap in my life,” said Michael, turning up the charm.
“Aleks when I got stuck, right, and we had our problems, I aired everything out. I was entirely honest. You’re not givin’ the same respect back.”
“How? What do you want me to say?” Aleks asked.
Michael then pulled out the kind of tactics that wouldn’t look out of place in a high school playground and accused Aleks of lying about having not had sex with Ivan.
“I wasn’t intimate with Ivan,” she protested.
“Yesterday you told me you were,” insisted Michael. “No, you told me you slept with him. So you’re denying that you slept with him.”
“Yes,” confirmed Aleks, reiterating how talking about intimacy makes her uncomfortable.
Then Josh, who had really showcased his maturity levels by ignoring Cathy all night, decided to chime in, “I’ve heard from both of you guys that you have.”
Not missing a beat, Michael took it up a notch, “So now you’re lying to two people?” he accused.
After a mild protestation from Ivan, Michael moved on from Aleks and sat further down the table in a bid to work the room.
“When I was in the lobby yesterday, she was comin’ back from a date with a bloke. Dude, that would break my heart, like, literally. I said, do you like this guy?
“She said, yeah he’s super hot. He’s my type. To sit there and just lie to us all,” Michael told Mishel and Steve.
Mishel then explained that she had out with Aleks and they had met a guy who really liked the real estate agent.
“She’s been catching up with a guy… do you see why I piped up?” Michael said as if he had prior knowledge.
Michael then did the rounds, telling everyone at the table. “The guys getting made to look like a mug,” he said, repeatedly while explaining that Ivan was ‘too much of a gentleman’ to expose Aleks.
Mishel then decided to ask Aleks what had happened, “Apparently Michael said you’ve been going out with those people that we met.”
“He’s trying to put me down,” she said to Mishel. “Yes, Michael’s lying. I’m a very honest person, I was raised to be an honest person.”
Aleks then went to Michael and confronted him in front of everyone, “So I went on a date? Are you fucking serious?” she asked.
Aleks then addressed the whole table, “Guys, I didn’t go on a date the other night. I met a girl a few weeks ago with Mishel.
“We went to a Serbian event. She took us out to a Serbian restaurant and the owner sat with us, he’s actually about 50 to 60 years old, so sorry guys if that’s disrespectful to the experiment, but I just want you to know I wasn’t on a romantic date. He’s the same age as my dad.
“Going on a date with another man and leaving Ivan, I would never do that.”
Michael then piped up, “That’s not what you told me when you came back into the lobby.”
“You make up so much… You want to create drama for every other couple every other week, Michael,” Aleks retorted.
His comment provoked Aleks to leave, who we saw in tears in the hallway, as back at the table Michael and Josh revealed they’d been asked to say what they did by Ivan.
“Ivan’s the best con artist I’ve ever met” said Lizzie, if only she’d spoken up earlier.
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