Harrison Boon, from this year’s Married At First Sight, made an impact on viewers from the very first moment he appeared on the show. For starters, he infamously had a girlfriend “on the outside”, which devastated his bride Bronte… and things only got worse from there.
His shocking behaviour – which includes telling Bronte he wasn’t sexually attracted to her the morning after they had sex for the first time and meddling in Melinda and Layton’s relationship – has led MAFS fans to label him as “toxic” and the “villain” of this season.
WATCH: Harrison’s Married At First Sight audition tape
Some fans are even convinced that Harrison is an actor being told what to say and do by producers… Well, New Idea spoke to Harrison and can confirm he’s definitely not an actor.
With that being said though, the Married At First Sight contestant did tell New Idea that he enjoys playing the villain.
“How do I feel about being labelled a villain? Well, if you’ve watched any good movie, there’s always someone [who] has to triumph over something in order for them to make a story compelling, right? Usually, all good stories are good triumphing over evil, or someone overcoming an obstacle. That’s sort of what makes any human experience worth retelling,” Harrison said.
“And I think those archetypes play out on any real TV show as well. I think that they [MAFS producers] just would not have a show if they didn’t have a villain because there’d be no one to get in the other people’s faces or there’d be no one to compare against. And if I need to be that person, then so be it. There’s a lot of power as well in being the villain, it’s not all bad.”
“I think it’d be harder being in someone’s position, say like, Josh or Duncan, where they can only go down. They can’t really go any higher, right? They’re already seen as really good guys. So, anything they do on or off-screen could ruin their reputation. Whereas the villain, I mean, all I can really go is up. Or sideways,” he continued.
“Let’s say I get caught, you know, parking in a car spot that I shouldn’t park in or not paying a parking fine… People will say, ‘Oh, that’s Harrison.’ Whereas if Duncan or Josh did that, they’d be like, “Oh my god, that’s out of character for them!’. So, there’s power in it [being a villain].”
WATCH: Married At First Sight’s Evelyn parties with Duncan and Harrison
Harrison did admit that being the villain can be “tough” at times, because people seem to question his intentions whenever he does something good. But ultimately, he does find it freeing being the bad guy.
“It’s tough because then if you do something good, people are like, ‘Oh, you’re just trying to do that for fame or to fix your image’. So, it is tough but there is a lot more freedom in being the villain,” he said.
The 33-year-old also likened himself to a Bond villain and clearly relishes the fact that he resembles (at least in his own mind) an evil genius stroking a cat…
“And it’s funny, you know, the old Bond films and Bond walks into a hidden lair and the evil guy spins around on a swivel chair with a black turtleneck on, petting a cat, right? That guy was so funny!”
“He was always so charismatic and evil and it was almost, like, you would measure a Bond film by how good the villain was. And I think, seasons of MAFS are no different. They get measured on how good the villains are,” Harrison concluded.
Married At First Sight airs on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays on 9 and 9Now.
