Married at First Sight Australia 2023‘s Ollie Skelton has backtracked on his prank that saw co-star Bronte Schofield agree to start a fake relationship to gain publicity.
ICYMI: In the first-ever episode of his podcast TOSSER, Ollie hosted his bestie Rupert Bugden, and of course, they got up to all sorts of mischief.
But the main sticking point was when Ollie dared his buddy to call a MAFS bride and ask whether she’d ” want to pretend for a month that [they’re] in a fake relationship”.
In short, Rupert went ahead with it, and the bride seemingly agreed.
It wasn’t long until it was deduced that Bronte Schofield was the bride in question, but some fans found it difficult to find the humour in the prank.
Taking to Reddit, one fan said it “seems mean to set her up like this”.
Another user said that while the two grooms were “likeable on the show”, their prank “just sucks”.
“This is just nasty,” a third expressed.
Ollie Skelton addresses ‘publicity stunt’ prank
Replying to one fan’s concerns, Ollie confessed the prank was “never specifically meant to target an individual”.
“Argh man, we didn’t want to out the person,” he wrote. “It was kinda like a bit that was, ‘Oh do you think we could get away with xyz’.
“It was never specifically meant to target an individual but rather, ‘Could Rupert get away with this’.”
The 26-year-old said that he understands that there is “collateral” that comes from a stint like this, and he thinks the ensuing backlash is “fair”.
He continued: “Rupert and I talked with B prior and gave her the heads up that we would alter the voice and beep out the names but obviously there’s a process of elimination when it comes to it.”
However, it doesn’t seem Bronte isn’t too cut up about the sting.
Under Ollie’s IG post about the prank, she posted a melting face emoji followed up by: “Clickbait Bronte is my identity at this point.” LOL!
“I would like to thank you for playing along,” Ollie replied. “The $50 plus royalties is in the mail.”
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