Married at First Sight stars Brad Skelly and Shona Manderson have broken their silence after being caught up in an explosive ‘bullying’ row on the show.
Viewers were left feeling uncomfortable after seeing Shona being told to ‘shut up’ in a tense episode of the latest series of Married at First Sight.
During the most recent dinner party, shown in last night’s (3 October) episode, her partner Brad had snapped at her in front of other couples at the table.
He became annoyed when she got upset that others felt their relationship wasn’t genuine, telling her he felt she needed ‘external validation’.
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"You need to let it go," he said.
But when Shona tried to cut in, he snapped: "Shut up! Shut up!"
Expert Mel Schilling, watching from another room, couldn’t hide her shock.
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“Ooooh, wow,” she said.
Many viewers tuning in at home were equally stunned, with some claiming that Brad’s behaviour was ‘bullying’.
One wrote on X: "Brad showing his true colours as a manipulative bully tonight.”
Someone else said: “Controlling, bossy, bully - the real Brad is coming out. Shona tell him bye.”
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A third commented: "Brad is gaslighting the absolute s**t out of Shona this is painful."
After the episode aired, the couple both took to social media to address the backlash, with Brad claiming the clip shown didn’t reflect the full picture.
"That edit was difficult to watch,” he said, adding: "Always remember you are only seeing snippets for drama. Try not to have an emotional resilience to a person you have never sat down and had a conversation with physically."
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Shona, also admitted the episode was 'hard to watch', but didn’t mention the editing - instead focusing on the support she’d received from fans.
She said: "Thank you so much. Tonight was hard to watch. I'll get back to this in the morning. Love to you all."
Earlier this week, during the infamous Confessions Week task known as Ask Me Anything, Brad also said he'd identified 'red flags' with Shona.
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When she asked what three things he would 'change' about her, Brad replied: "Probably to be more aware. When we were coming through the airport [for their honeymoon], we were about to get on a flight and you were losing your passport in your bag and stuff like that and I'm like 'Where is your head at?'"
He also said he wanted her to 'be more considerate', adding: "Maybe ask me things. 'What do you want to watch' or 'what do you want to do'. You just make a plan and expect me to want to go along with it.
"And then the cleanliness, maybe. Being a little bit tidier. You're shoes, if they're just kicked off on the floor, maybe putting them away."
Tyla has reached out to Brad Skelly for comment.
Topics: TV And Film, Married At First Sight
Jess Hardiman