Married At First Sight groom Adrian Araouzou has finally broken his silence about his alleged ‘cheating scandal’ with fellow bride Sierah Swepstone.
Wednesday’s dinner party appeared to show the pair playing ‘footsie’ together under the table as their respective partners Billy Belcher and Awhina Rutene sat beside them.
Sierah was also seen puckering up her lips and making kissing gestures towards Adrian, who smiled and enjoyed the attention from the bride.
Fans have been left outraged over the flirty exchange, which is set to rock the group at Sunday night’s commitment ceremony.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Adrian, 37, shut down claims he ‘cheated’ on his bride Awhina Rutene, insisting there was never anything between them.
‘Look, if bumping feet under a crowded dinner table is cheating, then half the cast must be guilty. It’s ridiculous,’ he said.
‘If that is cheating, then I also cheated with Jeff [Gobbles], Rhi [Disljenkovic], and everyone else at the dinner party because we were all sitting close together.’
However, the MAFS star did confirm he went out with Sierah—but stressed it was part of a group outing that also included grooms Tony and Billy.
He admitted he should have invited Awhina, but claimed they were fighting at the time
‘I completely understand why she was upset. In hindsight, I should have invited her as well,’ he explained.
Adrian suggested Awhina was constantly putting up ‘roadblocks’ in their relationship which made it difficult for them to move forward.
‘I was open to trying, but every time I said that, she’d throw in another reason why we wouldn’t work,’ he said.
He acknowledged that Awhina had more to think about as a mother, but argued that he was being unfairly criticised for being realistic about the challenges of becoming a stepfather.
‘People have called me a red flag, but I’ve dissected this more than anyone. It would be immature to say, “I’m ready to be a stepdad” after knowing someone for two weeks,’ he said.
As drama continues to unfold in the MAFS experiment, Adrian believes that viewers will eventually see past the manufactured chaos and his co-stars’ true colours come out to light.
‘Some people are real, and some people aren’t. By the end everything is going to be exposed.’
‘Billy has been acting like a snake this whole time, and now the truth is finally coming out,’ Adrian said.
‘He disrespected Sierah at every turn and the way he treated her was disgusting. I’m not going to sit back and let that slide.’
Adrian didn’t hold back, further slamming Billy for manipulating situations to make himself look like the victim.
‘We all saw the warning signs. He played this game from the start, acting like the good guy, but behind closed doors, he was completely different. The reunion is going to be explosive when all of this is aired out properly.’
He also suggested that Billy’s treatment of Sierah was one of the worst dynamics in the experiment.
‘Sierah deserved way better. The way he gaslit her and made her second-guess herself was just toxic,’ he added.