RECAP We only have hopes for one MAFS couple now after tonight’s commitment ceremony
BY: Tahlia Pritchard
The fallout from the dinner party from hell has not even been close to being resolved as we kick off another week of MAFS, with most of the wives talking to their tired-looking husbands about all the drama from the feuds of Lauren vs Jamie and Awhina, and Jamie vs Carina and Rhi.
Jamie’s still ranting about Carina not being a friend of hers. “That conversation was painful, talking to her was painful, sitting in that chair facing her was painful,” Jamie rants. “Hearing the words come out of her mouth, painful.”
Almost as painful as us all having to relive this absolutely stupid fight again. Dave’s tired! I’m tired! We’re all tired.
Let’s fast-forward to couch time, which sounds relaxing but isn’t when it comes to MAFS.
With a gun to their head, Clint and Lauren are forced to face the experts one more time
Don’t get me wrong, I do not condone Lauren and Clint’s reactions and mean words and swearing to everybody, but seeing how immaturely the group treats them is becoming a tough watch. Dave even stands up to sarcastically clap and greet them as they walk in, and the whole vibe is giving off toxic high school energy.
Was Lauren and Clint’s behaviour okay? No! Is watching the group try to still sarcastically bully them for not adhering to pack mentality giving me a huge case of the ick? Yes!
“What’s wrong with us?” Adrian asks Lauren. God, Adrian, where to start with you personally. How long do you have?
When Clint explained to the experts that he and Lauren had a party for two last night (no, definitely not in that way), Adrian piped up again. “Where was our invite?” to which Lauren quickly retorted, “I’m sure you don’t get invited to a lot of parties Adrian.”
And look, was she nice to anyone? Maybe not. Was this response to shut Adrian up once and for all iconic? Yes, sorry, I’ll at least admit that.
The experts call Lauren out on her behaviour, saying that her words imply that she thinks she’s better than everyone else (which she doesn’t exactly disagree with), while everyone else tries to tell Clint that he has feelings for Lauren even after he says they’re just friends. Ryan encourages Clint to speak from the heart, while Adrian encourages Clint to open up and tell Lauren that he likes her. What insane universe are we now living in where Ryan and Adrian are attempting to show emotional maturity?
It’s no surprise that Lauren and Clint opt to leave, and that they do – they walk straight out, even after the experts try to call them back in to sit and listen to everyone else’s relationship counselling moments, to which they refuse. NGL, it’s kinda hilarious.
A quick rundown of where a lot of our couples stand
Awhina and Adrian are in lovey-dovey lala land, with Awhina happy because Adrian has started to make plans with her for “following weekends” which makes her feel validated. “He could just even say, ‘I want to go with you to the tip on the weekend’, but I’m hearing ‘I want to spend time with you,'” Awhina explains.
God, the bar is low.
Teejay and Beth are still definitely there just existing, though Beth is starting to doubt Teejay’s attraction to her.
And despite the most confusing couch moment of all time, where Veronica and Eliot express they’re not relaxed or happy around each other, they both opt to stay. “I’m glad that you’ve done this, it’s completely confused me, but I love it,” John says.
That makes one of us!
Ryan and Jacqui have another confusing couch session
Ryan calls Jacqui “slightly above my intellectual level” which is a huge compliment coming from a man who thinks it’s normal to conserve his testosterone for the gym.
The testosterone comment, of course, comes up as Jacqui explains to the experts that Ryan needs to save his teste for the gym and dinner parties.
Alessandra immaculately calls Ryan out, asking why he didn’t just pleasure Jacqui in the morning if he was needing to save his testosterone. Naturally, the comment absolutely stumps him, because you just know this man probably doesn’t believe in foreplay.
“I would never prioritise gym over my partners needs,” Ryan says while Alessandra tells him that he is, in fact, doing exactly that.
Now the weird part begins: Ryan starts staring hard at Jacqui while he’s being called out and when Jacqui says she feels like there hasn’t been compromise, he keeps his intense eye contact on her, stating, “There has been compromise.”
As Ryan starts to defend himself, he tells Jacqui to “listen” to him and that she needs to “think more carefully before making statements”, with John telling Ryan that it’s super uncomfortable the way he’s talking to Jacqui by shutting her down and acting like a school principal. Eventually, it brings Jacqui to tears, saying she feels like it’s “hopeless” and she’s met with so much resistance constantly.
Look, you can think what you want about Jacqui and her intentions, but if this is how Ryan speaks to her on camera and in front of a room full of people, I’d hate to hear what he’s like behind closed doors.
Thank God for Rhi and Jeff
Despite a tough week, love isn’t dead just yet. Jeff and Rhi are experiencingg deeper feelings for each other, and even though Jeff made it sound completely unromantic by saying he’s “on the right path” and “optimistic” about falling in love, describing it like it’s a career progression, his blushing lil face says otherwise. Rhi also confirmed she could see herself falling in love with Jeff.
No pressure guys, but you’re our only shot now.
Carina explains her side of the Jamie feud
Carina sticks by her wording that the “situation” was Mean Girls 2.0, and not that she was directly calling Jamie a mean girl. Naturally, Jamie starts to pop off again, before saying, “I can’t actually be a part of this”.
Carina gets a chance to voice that she’s not good with confrontation and she just wants everyone to be friends. Apparently, the dinner party left her feeling uncomfortable, “less worthy” and that she’s not intelligent enough.
The experts congratulate Carina for going against the grain and standing up for what she believes in, and both she and Paul opt to stay.
Dave dissociates while Jamie apologises to Carina
Jamie’s had a 180 since her angry morning rant, telling the experts that she knows she’s in trouble after how she conducted herself at the dinner party.
Jamie describes herself as a “mother bear” with her cubs, saying she’s naturally taken the role of protecting people around her, with Alessandra cutting her off. “Mama bears don’t do this to their cubs,” Alessandra says. “The self-description of being a Mama bear as an excuse is not flying.”
Alessandra reminds everyone that Lauren actually won and came out on top, and Jamie says she does feel embarrassed about letting herself and Dave down because of her unprocessed hurt.
She then turned to Carina and gave her a direct apology, saying what she did and said was completely unacceptable. A person on MAFS taking full and proper accountability? I never thought I’d see the day!
Jamie talks about the joy in her relationship with Dave and calls it the “best experiment”, telling the experts that she told him that she loved him. Dave, however, is somewhere completely different, staring off into space while confirming he has not said it back to Jamie yet.
“This experiment we’ve really done it properly, you can do this properly and not fall in love,” Dave says as an answer (an answer that has been clearly cut or edited at some stage, because it’s a bizarre thing to say with no context). Jamie keeps talking about being patient and understanding, all while the camera zooms in on Dave’s fidgeting hands and blank gaze while the music gets more tense.
What does this crazy and dark foreshadowing mean for one of our favourite couples? MAFS, you big old tease.
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