Davina Spilled About Dean, Ryan & Secret ‘MAFS’ Affairs On ‘I’m A Celebrity’

She’s one of the most controversial Australian reality stars in history and merely a few days into her stint on I’m A Celebrity, Davina Rankin has addressed the elephant in the room: what actually went down during her unforgettable appearance on Married at First Sight?

For the unfamiliar, Davina caused massive controversy in 2018 when she and Dean Wells started an affair during the experiment, while they were technically still hitched to their TV spouses, Ryan Gallagher and Tracey Jewel. Davina received the brunt of the criticism, especially for her treatment of Ryan and dismissal of Tracey on the show. “I hope people don’t think that I am just that show,” she said in a confessional on last night’s I’m a Celebrity episode.

During a chat with fellow camper Beau Ryan, Davina shed some light on what actually happened between herself and Dean, claiming their ‘affair’ was blown out of proportion. “People were shocked to hear that me and Dean never slept together but we never even kissed!” she told Beau. “How can I have an affair with someone that I’ve never spent time with?”

She also spoke about how she was made to look like a homewrecker, as Dean elected to stay with Tracey instead of recoupling with Davina. “The plan was to come back into the experiment together but at the last minute, everyone screwed me. He had decided to stay with his Mrs but he outed that we’d been doing this whole thing,” she said.

Davina also spoke about how she puts part of the blame for her negative portrayal on Ryan for playing the victim. “Ryan pretended that he was really upset because ‘we were getting along so well’, but we hated each other,” she said.

“It was so annoying for me … whenever he had his interviews he’d be like ‘I really like her,’ he’d talk about me as if he adored me.” By contrast, Davina admits she was “too open and honest” during her confessionals. “I was just being myself, like I don’t like this guy. But then I was the villain.”

She continued, “I was married to Ryan but me and Ryan did not like each other. He was sleeping on the couch the whole time – we did hook up purely at the beginning to see if there was anything, and then we did and we were like, ‘OK that was fu**ed, so let’s never do that again,’” Rankin said.

Since Davina’s debut on the season, Ryan has taken a swipe at his former bride. “I don’t wish her any bad at all, I wish her the best. It’s a shame it wasn’t filmed in South Africa where cheetahs are native,” he said in an Instagram Story. “Do I mind my ex-wife now? Well, there’s a reason why Channel 10 won’t be on for the next month, I can assure you.”

Davina also claims that Ryan was edited favourably in the show to make her out as the villain. “There was so much stuff that went down at the wedding that made him look bad — but none of it got aired. It was just me and my bitchy bridesmaids.”

In a particularly spicy moment, Davina told Beau that she and Dean weren’t the only ones straying from their marriages on their season. “There were other people in the series who were fooling around with each other, but production would not let that go to air because they already had a narrative,” she said. “There’s no way anyone else is the villain or any other scandal is happening except for this scandal that is playing out.”

This story checks out. Carly Bowyer starred alongside Davina and has since claimed that she caught her groom, Justin Fischer, with another woman while filming was underway, but said that production wouldn’t mention it on the show. “I think they had their villains already and it didn’t make sense to their storyline,” she told Punkee in 2020.

During the I’m A Celebrity chat, Davina spoke candidly about how her portrayal on MAFS affected her mental state. “When it all came out and MAFS was airing, I didn’t leave the house for three months,” she said, before tearily saying, “My parents were so devastated for me. It was just rough.”

“It feels really nice to explain my side of the story, from my point of view and how it affected me,” Davina concluded in her confessional. Amen, sis.

In the years since her season, Davina has become engaged and welcomed a baby girl with fiancé Jaxon Manuel.

Watch Davina’s full chat about her time on MAFS below:

–

I’m A Celebrity returns tonight at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.