Controversial groom Chris Nield has clapped back after 2025 bride Katie Johnston slammed Channel Nine for casting him on the show.
Before the show’s premiere on February 2, Chris already sparked anger with his audition comments, which were revealed in a preview clip for the show.
When he was asked what “turns him off”, he shockingly responded, “Fake tan, needy, and fat people.”
After Katie tearfully shared her frustrations about it on social media, Chris claimed that she reached out to him prior.
“I just find it funny that before she made that video, she reached out to me and tried to persuade me to do a podcast with her about how much I’d changed and grown, and then she still wants to come and target me and do all her sort of attention-seeking thing as well,” he told Pedestrian TV.
“So it’s really contradicting the way some of these people react to what they’re saying on TV and try to bring themselves to light and to media attention.”
Since the show has aired, he’s been matched with model Brook Crompton.
What did Katie say about Chris?
Katie was left furious over his comment and took to Instagram to criticise producers for casting Chris, 31, on the series.
She fought back tears as she shared her worries over the bride who will be matched up with Chris at the altar.
“What people like this do to others, and if it’s knowingly done to others, which it is, whether she’s curvy or not, tall or short, blonde or brunette or redhead, it’s not that that matters,” she said.
“They’ve knowingly put this person in harm’s way, and they don’t know what this can do to somebody.”
“So, you tell me, where’s the duty of care there? This is a letter to the bride of that person; it’s not your fault, and you don’t deserve that. You’ve been put in harm’s way intentionally for views and advertising spend, and you’re not deserving of that.”
Katie’s emotion no doubt stemmed from her experience on the 2025 series of MAFS, where she was matched up with Tim Gromie.
At her on-screen wedding, Tim told producers that he normally goes for “short, petite, blond or brunette” women, saying there was no attraction there with Katie.
Tim then abandoned Katie on her honeymoon, with the heartbroken bride arguing that he was too caught up with the physical.
Their short-lived marriage ended during the first commitment ceremony, and they became the first couple to leave the experiment.
She also spoke to Pedestrian TV on their podcast Villain Edit.
“Bec said he’s done a lot of growing, he’s done a lot of changes,” she said, revealing she’s been in contact with the 2026 bride. “And Chris said too in our text exchange that ‘I’ve moved away from my bad influences’.”
She continued to say she was intrigued to learn more.
“I was like, in essence, ‘If you’re genuinely apologetic, I think in showcasing your growth, it might be able to soften the negativity. I wish my match had done that early on. It would have been able to change his circumstances’,” she continued.
“‘I think we should have a chat.
“Considering it would be with me, the victim of the same thing, I think maybe it would land. I’m not going to go out of my way to add fuel to the fire, I’m more interested in the behavioural science side of things, self-discovery, personal development. I think an apology would also help’. And he never replied to it.”
Katie then revealed that she has since blocked him.
New Idea has contacted Channel Nine for comment.
