toxic men married at first sight harrison

Men Of ‘MAFS’, Listen Up: It’s Time To Call Each Other Out On Toxic Behaviour

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Australia is known for famous duos. Kath & Kim. Potato scallops and chicken salt. Goon and juice. MAFS and toxic men.

It’s no secret Married at First Sight, as addictive as it is, puts on display some incredibly toxic behaviour as relationships and friendships are put to the test throughout the seasons.

We’ve seen multiple lessons in gaslighting, manipulative behaviour, emotional abuse, cheating sagas, and people lying until they’re red in the face. We’ve seen people like Dean Wells, Sam Ball, Andrew Davis, and Mike Gunner treat their TV wives like dirt and demean them.

Then there’s the bro code: the bro code is hardly a new concept to reality dating shows, with men often referencing it as a way of protecting their mates. Married at First Sight usually also airs a boys’ and girls’ night, and the boys’ nights have historically nearly always been a time where deplorable behaviour by the men has been aired to viewers.

married at first sight toxic men

This season of Married at First Sight has been no different, with certain men grouping together in an effort to protect their antics that they know are wrong. We saw it come to light during the latest dinner party episode, where men were ready to blindly defend or support each other through any ‘drama’ coming from the wives without factoring in the context of the situation.

So far this season, grooms Harrison Boon, Shannon Adams, and Adam Seed have been at the forefront of some questionable behaviour and antics.

Harrison has been nothing short of toxic since he first appeared on our screens, Shannon’s treatment of his wife Caitlin during Intimacy Week was deplorable, and Adam was rumoured to have been hitting on another bride Claire during a night out, something he vehemently denied to the group, experts, and his actual wife Janelle, despite Lyndall calling him out on his comments about wanting to “go home” with Claire.

There have been other grooms (and brides) who haven’t demonstrated favourable behaviour: Jesse Burford’s jealous rage over the Claire and Adam situation was less than pretty to watch, Melissa Sheppard has repeatedly put her husband down over what she deems as a lack of intimacy, and at the most recent dinner party, Cameron Woods seemed to want to blame his partner Lyndall for speaking up about spotting Shannon with a mystery woman, citing she was starting drama, instead of acknowledging the wrongdoing of any of his bros.

It was during last night’s dinner party that fans of MAFS really started to get fed up with the boys turning a blind eye to each other’s toxic behaviour.

It was particularly notable when Caitlin rolled in solo after an awful week with Shannon. To recap, Shannon had kicked off their first commitment ceremony by telling everyone that he thought he was still in love with his ex. Then as Intimacy Week kicked off, Shannon made cruel and degrading remarks about Caitlin and her looks, saying if she had been more attractive to him that he would’ve been able to forget his ex.

shannon married at first sight

When Caitlin confronted him about his comments, he was cold and dismissive, shirking responsibility and when Caitlin said it was her turn to talk, he mocked her, asking if she was his “teacher” before sarcastically commenting “alright, Dad”.

@itspunkee Get Shannon off this show and into therapy. #mafs ♬ original sound – Punkee

When Caitlin arrived at the dinner party and finally had a chance to debrief to the girls about her week, their shock was evident and the men who were milling around noticed that.

However Adam, upon witnessing what was going on, seemed to peg it as some sort of hysterical girl drama and told his fellow bros that Shannon would need their support when he rocked up.

Harrison also seemed aware pre-dinner party than there was going to be a dramatic situation with Shannon and told the cameras he wasn’t going to throw him under the bus.

harrison married at first sight

Later, as more drama boiled over at the dinner party, Harrison tried to cover up the fact he (and potentially Dan) got a girl’s number on a night out. Adam, who had been the messenger in the whole situation, told his wife Janelle it was up to her if she wanted to bring this information to light with either Dan or Sandy, and washed his hands of it.

Fans of Married at First Sight are pretty fed-up with the rhetoric of the boys protecting each other, resulting in the women being collateral damage. People are calling out the men for not speaking out:

Plus there was a moment during the episode where Harrison, in an attempt to save his own lying ass, stood up over Janelle and Tahnee asking them why they wanted to throw him under the bus, and neither of their husbands said a THING.

There have been men who have spoken out in the past. Notably, in the 2018 season after a particularly toxic boys’ night where the men talked about partner-swapping and who had the “hottest” wife, Patrick Miller openly slammed his fellow grooms.

We stan a respectful king!

patrick miller married at first sight

Here’s hoping that the men in this current season of MAFS can take a leaf out of his book and hold their fellow, toxic grooms accountable for their deplorable behaviour instead of just wiping their hands of it and turning a blind eye.

It’s time to ditch the bro code and stop covering up misogyny, womanising, gaslighting, and emotionally abusive behaviour.

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Married at First Sight returns on Sunday night at 7pm on Channel Nine and 9Go.