Married At First Sight Australia star Dave Hand has hit out the ‘juggernaut’ show and broken his silence on ex-wife Jamie Marinos’ rumoured romance with fellow participant Eliot Donovan.
The hunk, 36, exclusively told MailOnline that his emotional outbursts on the series were due to his heartbreak over father Howard’s cancer battle, but claimed much of the explanation was ‘cut out’ and as a result he was left looking like a terrible husband and ‘horrible person’.
Fan favourite’s Dave and Jamie appeared to have found a true love connection early on in the series before he shockingly ended the relationship with 28-year-old beauty, despite her admitting she loved him.
He explained that while his father’s illness, which is now thankfully responding well to treatment, was mentioned, his condition began to deteriorate during filming, a fact that did not make it to air.
Dave said: ‘[My Dad] took a turn and I was really struggling with that but they completely cut that out of the edit so it looks like I did a total backflip on Jamie, but I was communicating my feelings about my dad,’
He went on to say that he cried while explaining the situation on the couch with the experts and told them he was ‘struggling’ with the experiment due to him being so preoccupied with his father’s illness.
‘Watching that back on screen and seeing how they edited it was really difficult for me, because everyone in the experiment knew how much I was struggling, my friends and family knew, but it didn’t come across that was at all, it was just like “he’s a terrible person”‘.
Dave admitted he had ‘no idea’ why the footage was cut but blamed it on the tough realities of showbiz and said all he could do now was ‘move on’.
‘I know how I handled myself in there was the best I could have in that capacity, if i had to go back there it was a really scary place to be, because I knew I was struggling and I turned up to be the partner Jamie needed, but In the edit I it looks like I did a huge backflip’.
MailOnline have contacted Channel Nine for comment.
Elsewhere in the interview Dave broke his silence on ex Jamie and Elliot’s rumoured new romance, saying pointedly that he ‘didn’t care’ and that his former flame had got ‘caught up’ in the show’s hype.
Jamie and Eliot, 35, who was initially partnered with Veronica Cloherty, sent tongues wagging earlier this month after they shared a bed before Daily Mail Australia’s exclusive reunion party.
After Jamie claimed Dave ‘ghosted’ her, despite promising to keep in touch after filming, he said: ‘We caught up we were friends, we went out for dinner once,’
‘We were communicating for sure, but I think when it’s on TV and the way the edit is playing out the way it is, I think Jamie got caught up in the emotions and got taken back to that place, which is totally fine’.
Earlier this month Jamie told Yahoo Lifestyle: ‘Dave was really big on, “I don’t want to lose you and I don’t want to lose this friendship.” I truly believe that he really wanted me in his life, but he did kind of ghost me a bit after the reunion,’
‘I was contacting him. I was like, “You’re the one that was really keen on having me in your life.” When I called him out on it, we kind of got to a better place, but he had made no effort to see me.
‘We did see each other for dinner once, but the friendship just dissipated.’
Eliot went on to share six TikToks filmed at the Ovolo Hotel in Woolloomooloo, confirming they spent the evening together.
Fellow MAFS brides Awhina Rutene and Beth Kelly also appeared in several of the cheeky videos.
But the clip which really wound up the rumour mill was a stitch with Jamie’s ex Dave, who posted an innocent video of himself drinking a bottle of coconut water.
‘Jamie loves coconut water,’ one MAFS fan commented on Dave’s TikTok, inspiring a comedic response video from Jamie and Eliot.
Seemingly confirming the pair spent the night together, Jamie and Eliot filmed themselves cosied up in the hotel bed together wearing matching bathrobes and sunglasses.
They each raised a bottle of coconut water in a cheers motion and captioned the video: ‘Drinking coconut water alone is good… Drinking it together is even better.’
‘Can confirm she does love @cocobella,’ Eliot captioned the post.