Sydney model Joel Moses and Brisbane receptionist Juliette Fava made an unforgettable entrance as intruders on Married at First Sight, and their wedding was just the beginning.
But what started with promise has quickly unravelled, leaving fans wondering: can this relationship be saved?
What happened at the fourth MAFS dinner party?
Juliette and Joel took centre stage at the fourth MAFS dinner party — and they couldn’t have told more different stories.
In a surprise move, Juliette asked to arrive together, insisting they were in a “good spot.”
Joel wasn’t convinced, and the gesture fell flat before they’d even walked through the door.
Once inside, the pair wasted no time going their separate ways, each working the room with a very different version of events. Juliette painted a picture of a couple finally finding their stride, while Joel openly admitted they weren’t even living together.
The tension reached a new level when Stella raised the rumour that Joel had called himself the “star of the show” — a claim he was quick to deny.
When pressed by the group, Joel doubled down, accusing Juliette of deliberately trying to damage his reputation. That only fuelled her frustration.
“He’s getting a bad version of me that no one on this earth has witnessed,” she fired back, insisting he was lying.
But Juliette wasn’t done. She revealed to the table that Joel slept with a childhood teddy bear, a detail that divided the room, before landing her sharpest blow yet.
“I actually like the teddy more than I like Joel,” she quipped. “The teddy isn’t a c*** to me like Joel is.”
Left unable to get a word in, Joel retreated, visibly hurt by the public undressing.
“It hurts a lot the way Juliette talked down to me in front of the whole group,” he said.
“It’s a little painful that she would be so vicious to me when I have been kind to her. I feel betrayed and humiliated.”
Why is Juliette disgusted with Joel?
After a turbulent wedding and then a promising honeymoon, things took a turn for the worse when Juliette was sent a video of Joel playing the drums with a pair of dildos, instead of drumsticks, by her friend.
Even though he labelled it as “harmless humour”, Juliette disagreed, saying it was “classless”, and that sent her over the edge.
She criticised his “performative” and “weird” facial expressions, and said it reminded her of his theatrical wedding vows.
Unable to move past it, Juliette wanted to put as much distance between her and Joel when they were given tasks to increase their physical intimacy.
Refusing to be in the same room as him, Joel stood by her door to read the tasks provided by the experts, which she swiftly shut down.
“Not going to stare into your devil eyes,” she shared when he started reading about eye-gazing. “I don’t feel comfortable looking into your eyes when you’ve pissed me off so much.”
Hugging was also a no-go.
“Just don’t come near me anymore, you’ve pissed me off,” she continued.
Unsure of how much more of her cruelty he could take, things worsened when they were given the photo ranking challenge.
Juliette ranked Joel fourth, explaining that she was not attracted to him, and when prompted, said he wasn’t her usual type and usually dated people closer to her age.
When it came to Joel’s turn, Juliette accused him of being performative and making a big deal out of ranking her third.
“I can’t even fathom being in the same room with him right now,” she vented.
It all came to a head when the model confronted her about her behaviour.
“You don’t value me, you devalue me,” he said, with her responding that his personality made her feel “smothered” and want to withdraw.
Insisting that he was being authentic with her, Juliette lost her cool when he said that she did not see the “star” in him and didn’t understand him.
Despite insisting he was not being performative, she started to pack her bags.
It was a sharp end to their first week in the experiment, when they already skated on thin ice.
When prompted to reveal something she might not know about him, Joel revealed that he quit music college because he lost passion for it.
“Why didn’t you stick it out?” Juliette quizzed. “Did you like, want to feel like you accomplished anything? Or wasn’t that important to you?”
When asked to provide three things she admired about her groom, the receptionist only named one – that he liked going to the gym.
As for what she needs from her groom? More space, which upset him.
Accusing her of putting him down, he said he needed more kindness from her.
“I think you’re quite cruel to me and you put me down a lot, and I don’t think you have a lot of respect for me,” he shared in frustration, which she agreed with.
When prompted to share what she was like in her previous relationship, Juliette said she was hopeful, kind, loving, caring and excited, admitting that she was not like that with him.
To add more insult to injury for the “battered” and “bruised” groom, she said it could be a sign that they weren’t meant to be.
What happened at Juliette and Joel’s MAFS wedding?
Both self-described goofballs with energy levels that could power a small city, Juliette and Joel are looking for the same thing — someone who celebrates them, loudness and all.
“What I want from a husband is someone who’s not afraid of my loudness,” said Juliette, 27. “They love experiencing life, they love restaurants, they love trying new things. I want them to have that same zest for life.”
Joel, 31, seemed to fit the brief — on paper, at least. The extroverted Sydney model is close with his mum, loves to laugh, and arrived at the experiment fresh off a 20-kilo weight loss and a self-described personal reinvention following a tough break-up.
“I’m whole now,” he told expert John Aiken. “It would mean everything to me to meet the love of my life.”
While waiting for his bride, Joel wasted no time making himself at home among the other MAFS couples — perhaps a little too much so. Fellow bride Gia was less than impressed, telling him bluntly that he gave her the ick. Joel, to his credit, took it on the chin.
When Juliette finally made her way down the aisle, sparks flew — at least between the two of them. Gia, watching from the sidelines, confessed she would have walked out had she been matched with him.
The ceremony set the tone for what was to come. As Juliette arrived, Joel’s opening line was less a romantic declaration, more a stream of consciousness: “Shall we get married? I’m hungry!” It raised more than a few eyebrows, though Juliette admitted she found his energy refreshing.
Then came the vows. While Juliette moved guests to tears with a heartfelt declaration, Joel opted for a different approach — a theatrical monologue that had the room equal parts baffled and entertained.
“Who is this perfectly manicured, dapper, suave, sexy, unsophisticated, undomesticated, uncultured, once-fat Uber driver now-turned model who can’t tell the difference between a washing machine and a dryer?” he mused, to the bewilderment of onlookers.
At the reception, the spotlight shifted to Joel’s mother, Sharyn, who delivered what may go down as one of the most memorable mother-of-the-groom speeches in MAFS history. She informed the room that her son was a “gluttonous pig”, still sleeps with his childhood teddy bear, and enjoys lying on her lap while she scratches his back.
Fellow groom Danny was visibly taken aback. “That’s a bit weird,” he said. “I’m close with my mum, but I have a cup of tea and a scone with her.”
Scott, meanwhile, couldn’t resist taking a dig when Joel mentioned his modelling career. “For what? Kmart or Big W?” he quipped.
By the end of the night, Juliette was frustrated, venting about Joel’s inability to dial down the theatrics and show a more genuine side of himself. Her family’s raised eyebrows didn’t help matters either.
But with two personalities this big in one marriage, dull is the one thing this pairing will never be. Whether they can turn their chaotic chemistry into something real — well, that’s what the experiment is for.
Start your journey to find love for FREE today, with eHarmony.
