Between all the unhinged drama and villainous name-calling at the Married At First Sight reunion dinner party, you may not have noticed that someone from the cast was missing from the shenanigans. Home and Away actor — and psychic medium — Madeleine Jevic was nowhere in sight, even though her ex-MAFS husband Ash Galati was there — and there’s a specific reason as to why.
Rumour has it producers purposefully did not invite Madeleine back to the MAFS reunion because they were worried her “unpredictability” would “derail” the whole evening.
Apparently, they were concerned about her “state of mind”. Which, to me, means something concerning was going on behind the scenes earlier in the season.
We all know under normal (and I use the term “normal” extremely loosely) circumstances, reality TV producers would be gleefully rubbing their hands together at the mere thought of torturing a volatile woman with dinner party bullshit.
“Most people in production thought that Madeleine struggled with the pressures of the experiment during filming, so it felt easier not to bring her back – especially for a dinner party that was inevitably going to be an intense one from the start,” an inside source told Yahoo Lifestyle.
A second source said that “virtually no cast members have had any contact with Madeleine” since her abrupt exit from the show, and it’s “as if she was never” on the show at all.
In case you haven’t been following along, Madeleine and Ash joined MAFS as intruders in Episode 14, which means their wedding ceremony happened mid-season. However, they were only on the show for a brief time before Madeleine decided she wanted to leave while Ash opted to stay.
Typically, if one half of the couple wants to stay, they both have to. But it seems producers broke this rule for the couple, which is kind of a big deal.
Inside sources claimed that producers “felt it was easier to let them go quickly and quietly” and that they were worried about Madeleine.
“Madeleine’s erratic behaviour had raised quite a few eyebrows during her first week on the show, with no one quite sure if she was acting or it was real,” the insider told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“After Ash wrote to stay – she point blank said to producers she refused to carry on with the experiment and was going home.
“It’s not uncommon for participants to threaten to quit like this and no one can be held against their will, with producers then tasked with talking them around to continue with the experiment.
“Endemol Shine Australia will never compromise their duty of care for the sake of content or storylines,” the insider added.
Well, I’m sure some former MAFS contestants would probably dispute that, but I’m glad Madeleine’s mental health was taken seriously and she was allowed to leave. More of this please!
