It appears the drama on Married At First Sight is even more manufactured than fans realise.
According to an insider, Jamie Marinos may not be as innocent as she seems, with claims she deliberately stirred the pot during the explosive girls retreat.
A well-placed source has alleged Jamie played a key role in igniting tensions with Lauren Hall, Carina Mirabile, and Rhi Disljenkovic, despite how the scene was portrayed on TV.
‘Jamie basically orchestrated that whole scene at the retreat,’ the insider told Daily Mail Australia.
‘She had a private conversation with Adrian [Araouzou], then took that information and fed it to the other girls, knowing it would stir the pot.
‘But they conveniently cut out all the questions that were being fired at Lauren – she was completely ambushed.’
The source claimed the unedited version of the night played out very differently, with Lauren being attacked.
‘Jamie made it seem like Carina and Rhi didn’t care, but in reality, they just didn’t agree with how things went down.
‘Lauren was basically cornered and forced to justify her entire relationship in front of the group.
‘She felt unsafe, and she had every right to protect her boundaries.’
Another shocking revelation suggests Jamie’s aggressive behaviour at the dinner party was also downplayed in the final edit.
The insider claimed Jamie lost her temper at Veronica Cloherty in a brutal exchange that was partially censored by producers.
‘The way Jamie acted was completely unacceptable,’ they said.
‘She told Veronica to “shut the f*** up” and they aired that part, but what they didn’t air was Jamie telling Veronica “suck my d*” while aggressively pointing across the table.’
The insider claims production deliberately left out the most damning footage in a bid to protect Jamie’s image.
‘They cut everything that would make Jamie look worse, even though she was the most aggressive one in the room.’
With tensions reaching boiling point both on and off screen, viewers will no doubt be questioning just how much of the drama is real – and how much is cleverly manufactured behind the scenes.
Jamie breaks her silence about retreat and dinner party drama
It comes after Jamie recently revealed the surprising reason why she rejected Rhi’s apology after their explosive retreat drama.
The marketing manager told Daily Mail Australia, she initially refused to accept Rhi’s apology because she wanted her to own up to her behaviour on camera.
‘Rhi did try to apologise to me once off camera, but I never heard from Carina,’ she said.
‘In the three days after the retreat, Rhi and Carina never called me or messaged me. At the retreat they could’ve just walked to my room if they really wanted to.’
She explained how disappointing it was that no one checked in on her despite knowing how upset she was.
‘Even though I wasn’t receptive at the time to receive an apology, when I finally left the room and tried to put myself back out there, Rhi tried to approach me later to apologise,’ Jamie revealed
‘But at that point, I had been in my room distraught all morning. You have my number – you could have called me.’
Jamie admitted she wasn’t interested in private apologies.
‘I’m like, I’m not ready to receive this apology in private again. I’d rather have this conversation at the dinner party. I wanted people to stop being my friends off camera and have this group discussion – with Lauren present as well.
‘I wanted someone to say, ‘We’re sorry. We shouldn’t have let a grown man swear at you. We shouldn’t have let someone call you names. You had good intentions’.’
Jamie also admitted the episode revisiting the drama at the retreat was difficult for her to watch.
‘It just destroyed me by the end of the episode. I was back in tears like I was at the retreat again.’
Despite the criticism she has faced, Jamie said she stands by how she handled the situation.
‘Absolutely back myself one thousand percent. The only thing is, I wish I could have articulated my points better, but because I was so triggered,’ she said.
‘I’ve experienced, unfortunately, a lot of really toxic dynamics. It was very triggering for me when I think I was getting penalised for being loud.’
She continued: ‘It means people are allowed to call you names, and grown men are allowed to swear at you, and that’s okay for people to sit silently and enable that behaviour.
‘That’s what was really triggering. I was like, ‘Do I deserve this? Is that what’s going on?’ Because I am loud. But I have a very big heart and am incredibly sensitive. I care about my friends so much, and so that was really painful to watch again.’
Jamie also slammed Carina’s role in the situation.
‘I care about my friends who watch really bad behaviour and choose not to say anything. I care about people who call themselves peacemakers and Switzerland—aka Carina.
‘And her version of being a peacemaker is just siding with one person and enabling really poor behaviour against another person. That’s not a peacemaker or Switzerland. That was really disappointing to watch again too.’
When asked why it was so important for her friends to support her, Jamie said loyalty was a big value of hers.
‘I’ve always supported my friends. I didn’t ask them to stand up, yell, or cause a scene. But when they see a grown man swear at me, that’s a really good time to say, ‘Hey, maybe don’t swear at Jamie’.
‘Or when a girl is calling me names like troll, bogan, loser, buffoon in front of them, acting like a wild animal—that’s a really great time to step in.’
Jamie was particularly grateful for her partner Dave Hand’s support during this difficult time.
‘Dave’s support meant everything to me. I was actually devastated. I was crying all night after that, and Dave just held me. I felt like it was me and him against the world at that point. He was such a great support system for me.’
When asked if any of the girls reached out to her in the days before the dinner party, Jamie explained that Awhina Rutene was one of the only ones to stand by her.
‘Awhina actually scolded the whole group for not sticking up for me. She’s such a genuine friend.
‘I was so distraught I couldn’t even leave my room, and Jacqui (Burfoot), Adrian (Araouzou), and Awhina all visited me. Beth was also really kind to me and apologetic, but she was new, and I didn’t have those expectations on her.’
Jamie also had strong words for Lauren, who failed to show up to the dinner party following the drama.
‘This woman, she’s a piece of work. She had no issues calling us every name under the sun, but then she played the victim.
‘Pick a lane, girl. If you want to be a b**ch, wear that with pride. Own it. Back what you say. If you want to be the victim, then shut your mouth.’
She also dismissed speculation that Lauren felt left out.
‘Lauren had every opportunity to be part of the girls. We embraced her. We made small talk with her. But she just didn’t want a bar of us. She had this elitist mentality and thought she was above everyone.’
Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine and 9Now.