Domenica Calarco Spilled Some Major ‘MAFS’ Tea In A Spicy Reddit AMA
We may have moved on to a new gaggle of brides and grooms on Married at First Sight, but Season 9’s Domenica Calarco is still dishing out the deets from her own tumultuous stint on the reality show.
In a recent Reddit AMA, Dom spilled all the tea on what really went down behind the scenes during her chaotic season of MAFS, speaking on everything from her (exhausting) ongoing feud with Olivia Frazer to what really goes down during the infamous dinner parties.
So grab the popcorn and get comfy, friends, because the reality star didn’t hold back when it came to dispensing some delicious nuggets of goss for us to enjoy.
Here are some of the highlights from Domenica Calarco’s AMA on Reddit:
On what her life’s been like post-show:
“Life post-show has been a rollercoaster! It is amazing that people come up to me and want to chat and ask me how I am and how they related to me on the show. Day-to-day life now is full on with travel for the podcast, recording, planning etc.”
On what we didn’t see during Olivia Frazer’s reunion commitment ceremony:
“I heard that the experts really finally held Olivia accountable in the last match-up ceremonies but we never got to see it due to concerns about her mental health,” one Redditor began. “I was wondering if you could tell us more about this scene/scenario? How did they actually hold her accountable if this was true? Did they ever actually call her out?”
Domenica replied, “They certainly did, and even at the final girls’ night there was a lot more that went unseen. But I understand why they had to cut them out because the backlash was bad… I still don’t have closure either, that’s why it hurts when people say to me to get over it.”
When another fan asked Dom how she managed to not “rip Olivia’s face off”, she replied, “I had a guardian angel watching over me, I kept my calm because she wasn’t worth it. Still isn’t. She got what she wanted when I smashed the glass, but then karma got her.”
On what really goes down at the dinner parties:
“[The MAFS dinner parties are] just all for the show. You really need to make sure that you eat before you get to the dinner parties as not only are they super long but you don’t really get that much food.”
She added that the cast is also required to send a number of “outfit options” to producers before commitment ceremonies and dinner parties.
“Each week we need to send at least 3-4 outfit options for the dinner party as well as the commitment ceremony. From that they choose, it comes down to patterns and colour, they can’t have anything on TV that makes the light flare and flicker and then we can’t be wearing the same colours,” Domenica wrote.
On what the cast do when there’s no filming on weekends:
“People with kids go and see them, and depending on where couples are they would spend it together etc. I know Jack and I would spend all that time together… we would go for walks, or catch up on sleep and hang out watching movies and cooking.”
On how producers cast brides and grooms for the show:
When one fan asked whether she believes producers purposely cast “characters” such as villains for entertainment as opposed to those looking for true love, Dom dished, “I have a few theories about this. I do think they are very strategic with who they cast, they need a cross-section of people to make it interesting.”
“But I do think at the end of the day they don’t know what is going to happen when they put all of those people together in the experiment. My season was a testament to that for sure.”
On Olivia claiming she got a bad edit:
“Of course she will blame the edit…. such a dumb excuse: people know how reality TV works. She also keeps saying that she is showing who she really is on her socials… yeah she is. Apparently going on lives calling people ‘c*nts’ constantly drunk-talking shit. At this point it’s actually quite sad.”
On whether the cast receives mental health support:
“YES! From start till now if needed, you have access to all the help you may need. I really want to smash this rumour because I had nothing but support and I know all the other participants did too!”
She added in another comment, “We are cared for big time! We have a psychologist on hand at all times; she is present at the dinner parties and commitment ceremonies, then during the week we can call on her at any time we need. And after the show finishes we are able to be in contact with her for however long we need.”
On what they do when they want to do the deed when the cameras are rolling:
“They aren’t around as much as you’d think.. yes they are there but when we are alone, we are alone. They don’t have keys to get in and they will always let us know before we have to start filming so you have plenty of time.”
On how much they get paid for their weekly budget:
“Weekly budget we get paid is around $1100 which covers whatever expenses we have back home, [like] rent etc. We don’t pay for rent when we live at Sky, but we do pay for food and all our outfits.”