Grab a seat and some snacks because more intel about Married At First Sight (MAFS) groom Josh White leaving the experiment outside of the show’s official rules has been revealed. Apparently, it involves more than just him being spiritually decimated by his on-screen wife, Melissa Sheppard — it concerns his very real ex-wife on the outside.
It turns out that Disney Daddy Josh was still legally married to his ex while he was filming the show. A source told the So Dramatic! podcast that because of this ongoing legal battle with his ex — which includes the custody of their two kids — a different contract was written up for Josh.
The source said the divorce was “messy” and his specific contract allowed him to “go home at any time” to be with his kids.
It explains why expert John Aiken gave Josh the OK to leave MAFS outside of the show’s format, which usually only allows couples to exit the experiment if they’ve both written “leave” at a commitment ceremony.
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“That’s also why he was granted permission to leave, despite it being against the rules,” the source said.
This allowance meant that he and Melissa apparently only spent four weekends together over the course of the filming.
“When they got back from their honeymoon, she didn’t see him for six days because he went back home to his family,” the source told So Dramatic!
“Her and Josh didn’t even text each other during that time.”
The source also claimed that Melissa was only allowed to see her son once while filming was happening, which they called a “massive double standard” — though we don’t know the ins and outs of either of their custody responsibilities.
Well, at least that gives us a bit more of an explanation as to why Josh was allowed to yeet out of the MAFS experiment, no questions asked.
Both Josh and Melissa have given their own thoughts about what went down in spicy radio interviews, after putting an end to their doomed relationship.
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