Dean Wells and Davina Rankin’s cheating scandal on Married At First Sight was such a television success that many viewers suspected the two were paid to create the riveting dramatic sequence that had Australia hooked.
A record number of Aussie viewers tuned in to watch as Dean and Davina created a love affair between themselves, leaving their respective partners Tracey Jewel and Ryan Gallagher none the wiser.
Then, the scandal was made even more exciting when self-confessed ‘alpha-male’ Dean changed his mind about Davina at the last minute and exposed the affair in front of everybody at an explosive commitment ceremony.
Now, Married At First Sight executive producer Tara McWilliams has finally responded to the claims, telling The New Daily: ‘I heard a rumour we paid them to have an affair, if only my job was that easy.’
McWilliams claimed that Dean and Davina approached producers about their feelings for each other, and they simply ‘followed.’
‘They came to us and told us there was an attraction, we purely followed it,’ she said.
More than 2.6 million viewers tuned into the show on Sunday night — the highest ratings in the show’s five seasons.
McWilliams discussed why the show was suddenly so popular, explaining that ‘with the affair, there’s nothing earth shattering happening but the interesting thing is you never get to see how an affair plays out, you’re never privy to it.’