Married at First Sight Australia 2024‘s Jonathan McCullough allegedly claimed he and Lauren Dunn had an “arrangement” to stay in a “fake marriage”
After a successful Homestays Week where Lauren and Jonathan rekindled their sexual flame, the TV bride was SHOOK to learn that he’d been texting their co-star Ellie Dix behind her back.
Now, as reported in episode 367 of the So Dramatic! podcast, it’s been suggested that Lauren shouldn’t have been p*ssed about the texts because she was in a “fake marriage” with Jonathan.
Do you have a tip about MAFS 2024? Email tips@sodramaticmedia.com
“At the final dinner party, Jono attacked Lauren, saying, “’I don’t even know why you’re angry. We were in an arrangement, and our marriage was fake anyway,” one participant recalled. OOFT!
“Then, at the Reunion, someone asked Jono, ‘Did you guys have had an agreement this whole time?’ To which Jono replied, ‘Yes.’”
However, sources close to Lauren have denied this was the case.
“They didn’t have an agreement,” they said. “When Jono said this, Lauren was like, ‘WTF? We’re not in an arrangement at all.”
Lauren Dunn wanted to leave Married at First Sight after Jack Dunkley’s ‘muzzle’ comment
According to the insider, Lauren told Jonathan in week three that she “didn’t have feelings for him and wanted to leave”.
What’s more, Jonathan reportedly “begged” Lauren to stay so he could “redeem himself” after he failed to defend her when Jack Dunkley told him to “put a muzzle” on his wife.
They told host Megan Pustetto, “Jono was the one who suggested they both stay in the experiment.”
“Jono told Lauren he only went on the show because his business partner told him it would be a good opportunity to promote their business.
“He had never watched the show before but still applied. Everyone else was mostly scouted.”
They added that despite getting the “ick” from her husband after the muzzle debacle, “Lauren agreed to stay a bit longer because she was actually enjoying her time in the experiment“.
However, “it wasn’t an arrangement at all”.
“Staying in the experiment did work wonders for them because they reignited things during the Couples Retreat and the Homestay,” the source continued.
“They were intimate during the experiment, and Lauren was really trying to give Jono a chance.”
Why did Jonathan claim he and Lauren had an ‘arrangement’ during Married at First Sight?
According to another participant, Jonathan claimed he and Lauren had an “arrangement” because it would make him appear “less guilty” for chatting to Ellie.
“The only pact Lauren and Jono had ever made was to have each other’s backs no matter what happened, to be honest and open with each other, nice to each other, tell each other everything and not let the producers pit them against each other,” they recalled.
“So whenever the producers tried to ask them something nasty about each other, they didn’t buy into it.”
While the couple were “a team for the first few weeks”, this changed when Jonathan didn’t back Lauren when she called Jack out for making an inappropriate couple swap comment about Tori Adams.
“When the Ellie thing came out, Jono started throwing accusations at Lauren to deflect from himself and justify his affair,” the MAFS star said.
“Jono was actively trying to ruin Lauren’s reputation and paint her as the bad guy so he wouldn’t look bad for cheating on her.”
This has reportedly continued since filming ended, with Jonathan “spreading lies about Lauren to turn people against her”.
“He’s been running a full smear campaign against her to try to take the heat off himself.”
This includes claiming Lauren had a secret “Bali boyfriend” throughout filming. However, Lauren has already denied these allegations, stating it was a “fling” prior to entering the experiment.
Married at First Sight producers shut down allegations of a ‘fake marriage’ during filming
Now, you may be wondering why we didn’t see Jonathan say he and Lauren had a “fake marriage” during March 25’s final dinner party.
According to one Married at First Sight participant, producers didn’t want the allegation to reflect poorly on the show.
“After Jono said that at the dinner party, the experts actually came out and told him to stop talking about secret arrangements, agreements and deals,” they said.
“They were yelling and going off and even swearing, saying, ‘Stop saying that. It makes our show look like shit.’ That’s why they haven’t aired it.”
The source concluded: “The producers actually told the cast after that the whole arrangement thing won’t see the light of day because it’s not a good look for the show.”
And yet, somehow, all of Jack’s bullsh*t managed to make the final cut… Go figure!
Want even more goss? Listen to the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
Know something that we don’t? Spill the tea here!
Get the tea first! Follow So Dramatic! on Instagram and tune in on Mondays to get your reality tea fix with the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto.
