Married at First Sight Australia 2021‘s Beck Zemek has revealed she considered legal action after Bryce Ruthven infamously kissed her without consent.
Bryce and Beck were constantly at odds during the eighth season of the marriage experiment, and it all came to a head during the Couples Retreat when he planted an unwanted kiss on her cheek after dubbing her “the queen” of the show.
During her two-part tell-all on the So Dramatic! podcast in 2021, Beck revealed she was “traumatised” by the incident.
“It was not… the smart-ass kiss that actually traumatised me from this experience. It was him grabbing my arm and actually trying to pull me up,” she said at the time.
Now, as part of the So Dramatic! EXTRA podcast‘s AFTERMAFS series, Beck said there are “so many similarities in this [2024] season” to hers.
“I don’t understand how we once again have a male sexually assaulting someone and literally saving face,” she said, referring to Sara Mesa‘s claims against Jack Dunkley.
“I just don’t understand how we’re back in this situation again.”
Married at First Sight‘s Beck Zemek was warned against getting the police involved in the Bryce Ruthven incident
Beck revealed that she “demanded” that production “get the cops involved” after Bryce kissed her without consent.
“Everyone was obviously against Bryce at this point,” she said.
“Then Tara [McWilliams, executive producer] pulled every single cast member, besides [husband] Jake [Edwards] and I, into a meeting to say that if they believe that Bryce had done wrong, that means that Jake has done wrong as well, because Jake stood up and actually had a fight with Bryce in front of us.”
According to Beck, the producers tried to spin that “Jake was just as bad” as Bryce because he had “shown confrontation in front of women.”
“It was so hard to hear that that’s what the meeting was about,” the mother-of-one added. “For [the cast] to start changing their mind… Because [Tara] said, ‘If you feel unsafe around him, you feel unsafe around Jake’.
“So manipulative.” Sheesh!
Married at First Sight star Beck Zemek was made to feel like she was ‘letting the group down’
Beck recalled that the show was “shut down for an entire day”. She said the cast’s phones were also confiscated to prevent news of the incident from spreading.
“Then [Tara] literally sat me down and made me feel like I was letting the group and Jake down if I was to get the police involved,” she said.
“I’ve got thick skin, and I wish I didn’t… Because I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t need to get the police involved, I don’t need anybody to fight this fight for me, I will fight it myself.’
“And I wish I didn’t do that. Because it’s a bigger issue in the world than just me having a confrontation with a male.”
Beck added that not pursuing legal action against Bryce is her “one regret” from the show.
“I could have done something that may have changed a movement with people that watch this show and [helped them] understand that it isn’t okay and you should seek help.”
Amen to that!
If you or someone you know needs help, please contact BeyondBlue on 1300 224 636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. If you or someone you know has been the victim of a sexual assault, please contact the Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence National Help Line on 1800 Respect (1800 737 732) or head to The Australian Human Rights Commission for a list of state by state resources.
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