Married At First Sight Australia star Eliot Donovan has faced backlash for “shaming” his former partner Lauren Hall with a “disgusting” comment.
The 12th season of the hit reality series is well underway on E4, with a fresh batch of singletons embarking on their marital journeys – which haven’t been easy.
During Thursday (March 27) night’s dinner party, the group were left speechless when former stars Eliot and Lauren entered the cocktail hour with their new spouses, Veronica and Clint.
MAFS fans will recall that 35-year-old business owner Eliot and 37-year-old business owner Lauren were previously matched by the experts at the start of the series.
Before meeting his future wife, Eliot quickly began listing his “non-negotiables” in a partner. He said that he would not stay in a marriage with a “trashy, obnoxious woman”, and confirmed that he wouldn’t go through with the wedding if he didn’t like his bride’s appearance.
Despite Eliot’s extensive list of demands, he seemed pleased with Lauren at the altar, with the pair quickly hitting it off. However, things took a turn for the worse on the honeymoon.
After several tense conversations at dinner, Eliot came to the conclusion that Lauren wasn’t right for him, and therefore decided to leave the experiment after just two days.
This week, the experts decided to give both Eliot and Lauren a second chance at love. Eliot was paired up with 32-year-old personal trainer Veronica, while Lauren got married to 43-year-old professional golfer Clint.
The weddings went well, but things soon turned sour when the ex-spouses were reunited at the dinner party.
At the table, the conversation centred around Lauren and Eliot’s unexpected return to the experiment, and whether Eliot felt any guilt over his treatment of Lauren.
“I’ve done her a favour,” Eliot said, insisting that he made it clear from beginning that he’d leave the experiment if he didn’t connect to his partner.
When Lauren began to call out her ex-husband on his behaviour, Eliot deflected.
“Stop denying everything that you said,” Lauren calmly said, before Eliot claimed that they had both agreed they weren’t a match.
“You had about five margaritas, so you may not remember,” he then said, leaving the entire group speechless, including his new wife Veronica.
“He’s obviously shown me a side of him I wasn’t expecting,” a shocked Veronica told producers, branding the comment “disgusting”.
“How dare you shame her?” she later told Eliot at the table. “You did just now, about the drinks. I watched you do it.”
Speaking to camera, Veronica then said that the comment was “a cheap shot”, adding: “It doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t like it.”
MAFS viewers were also left unimpressed by Eliot’s remarks, with many taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share their frustration.
“Eliot absolutely should not have been allowed back, he’s so rude,” one person wrote, with another adding: “Oh my god, I can’t believe he just said that.”
A third viewer said: “Eliot should not have been let back on the show with another wedding. Thought the matches were supposed to be right first time. Just shows the matching process is an absolute joke.”