Since being filmed in 2019, Married At First Sight Australia Season 6 caused a whole load of fans to go crazy down under and again over here in the UK this winter. We’ve all been on the edge of our seats as the plot has thickened night after night on E4. But what actually happened between Sam and Ines? Their stories differ from what we all saw unravel.
From Ines’ point of view
Ines was paired with Bronson on the show, and as we spoke about here, that didn’t work so well. The couple clashed, and many fans found themselves disliking Ines from the start of the show. This was then made worse by her subsequent affair with co-star Sam.
However, according to Ines, Bronson knew about this “affair” and had in fact asked Ines to be in an open marriage with him. The editors just chose not to include this footage. Instead, the show played into the narrative that Bronson and Elizabeth (Sam’s partner) were completely unaware until the commitment ceremony where Ines said falling for Sam felt “natural”, and she was excited to see life outside of the experiment with him.
Ines has gone on to say that she was asked if she found Sam attractive, placed in the bar with him, and then went to his bedroom – all after Bronson’s request for non-exclusivity. Yet because of the choices made by producers, she has received an onslaught of hate from fans across both Australia and the UK and even said that when she watched the final cut, she was distraught.
Sam left Ines on the show when he bowed out of the competition. To make matters worse, when the show ended, Sam stood Ines up at the reunion show, and Ines was heartbroken. She explained to her fellow stars that having been a refugee, she had fended for herself for her whole life and had finally opened up to someone who had promised her these huge things and real love – only to run away. She has since revealed that Sam blocked her on all social media and has not contacted her since.
Ines has begun to open up about her feelings about the show, explaining that she realises now they were all ‘puppets’ for the producers and that whilst filming, she felt lost, even suicidal. She lost all of her body weight and had to be assisted from scene to scene when she was at her worst.
Since the show, Ines has been on a path to recovery and has taken up journaling and medication to help her heal from the PTSD she has spoken about.
From Sam’s point of view
Sam has said a lot less about their relationship, and his time on the show. However, he has agreed that the producers played into their “affair”. He explained that the entire relationship was “orchestrated” but that he knew that. He has spoken about doing previous commercial work and how he viewed Married at First Sight as just another job – including acting like he loved Ines.
The producers’ point of view
Following Ines’ heft claims and feelings towards the show, Entertainment Daily approached Nine Network and Endemol Shine, the producers of Married at First Sight Australia. The network responded with:
“Nine and Endemol Shine take their obligations in respect to the health and wellbeing of the participants of this program extremely seriously.
“All participants have access to the show psychologist during filming, broadcast and afterwards. Nine also provides an additional service for participants should they like or need further individual and confidential psychological support.
“This service gives participants access to psychologists who have been specifically engaged to support those involved in the program in relation to their experiences. This confidential service is available to all participants for as long as they need it, it does not end.”
