Married at First Sight Australia 2024‘s same-sex couple has been scrapped after groom Simon Flocco quit the series partway through filming.
ICYMI: Another same-sex couple was set to grace the 11th season of the marriage experiment. However, plans for more diversity have been halted.
According to outlets, the grooms had already filmed their backstories and met their co-stars when Simon pulled out of MAFS.
The Adelaide-based restaurant manager reportedly “ruined” the series’ planned storylines. “kept having doubts” and “[expressed] his discomfort”.
‘Producers, hungry for a groundbreaking narrative, persuaded him to stick around. That’s why he was at the bucks [night],” one insider explained.
“He kept telling them that he didn’t feel comfortable about certain things but was eventually talked into staying.”
Simon told Daily Mail Australia that “MAFS wasn’t what I thought I wanted at this point in my life, that’s all”.
“I just felt bad for whoever they set me up with. I did initially leave, but they managed to coax me back [before leaving again]… Gotta look out for myself.”
It’s understood that Simon and his planned partner will be edited out of the upcoming season.
The runaway groom has since been living it up in Europe, according to Instagram, after ditching MAFS in July.
Married at First Sight Australia producers considered a ‘standby’ groom to replace Simon Flocco
One production insider dished: “It’s complete and utter chaos! Simon leaving was a blindside. Everyone’s been running around like headless chickens trying to salvage the situation.”
Apparently, MAFS producers tried to salvage their same-sex storyline by finding a replacement groom for Simon’s planned partner, Michael.
“After the whole runaway groom incident, the production team was in crisis mode. They even considered bringing in a substitute groom for Michael. He was kept on standby, hopeful and anxious,” an insider said.
However, they eventually let go of the idea, with Michael’s TV love story scrapped along with it.
Welp, there’s always next year…
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