Married At First Sight’s Jeff Gobbels and Rhi Disljenkovic have spoken out about their involvement in the lead-up to one of the season’s most shocking moments – Paul Antoine’s violent outburst.
The drama unfolded onscreen last week just hours after Jeff and Rhi spent the day drinking with Paul and his bride, Carina Mirabile, before the couples headed to the retreat.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Jeff and Rhi condemned Paul’s aggressive act, which saw him punch a hole in a door following a tense argument with Carina.
Jeff was vocal about Paul’s behaviour.
‘At the end of the day, that behaviour is unacceptable. The experts did a great job in calling that out because that’s just not on,’ he said.
While Paul broke down in tears and admitted to his wrongdoing, Jeff remained sceptical about his remorse.
‘He had genuine remorse, for sure. But the key thing is, he needs to learn from it and make sure it never happens again.’
Meanwhile, Rhi expressed sympathy for Carina, acknowledging the difficult position she found herself in after Paul’s actions.
‘Paul’s actions were inexcusable, but I can understand why Carina struggled with the decision to stay or leave,’ she admitted.
‘They had such a strong connection from the start, and that makes it all the more complicated.’
The episode opened with Carina and Paul waking up in separate apartments after spending a fun day out with Rhi and Jeff.
‘I felt anxious waking up this morning, a little bit on edge and sad,’ Carina admitted.
She then explained the foursome had been enjoying a ‘lovey dovey’ day out in the sun.
But tensions rose during the Uber trip back home when Carina revealed she had once slept with a rapper.
Daily Mail Australia revealed on Wednesday Carina slept with American rapper Quevo before the experiment.
Paul had an issue with Carina’s confession and she attempted an apology when they returned to the apartment.
‘I was cuddling him and he was like, “I need space,”‘ Carina said to camera.
‘He obviously didn’t like that. I turned around and went to bed and that’s when he got really angry and punched a wall.’
Putting forward his version of events, Paul admitted he lost his cool during the confrontation, subtly blaming Carina for his actions.
‘I just completely lost my nerves. She couldn’t give me my space and I just absolutely lost it… ended up punching a hole in the wall,’ he said.
Paul was quick to apologise to his bride the next morning, sobbing uncontrollably as the pair embraced.
The pair then sat down to hash out the previous night’s fracas and Paul once again placed some of the blame for his actions on Carina for not giving him space.
Carina refuted Paul’s version of events.
‘I didn’t do that. You are so dramatic and it’s p***ing me off,’ she said and Paul doubled down with: ‘So, I punched a wall out of thin air for nothing?’
Despite this, Carina admitted she was ‘not giving up’ on her groom and wanted to give him the chance to ‘make it up’ to her.
Paul’s outburst was slammed by everyone at the table and experts John Aiken, Mel Schilling and Alessandra Rampolla, who agreed his actions were ‘unacceptable’.