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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Tasha Hall

Married at First Sight Australia: Josh hailed for standing up for himself against 'bully' bride Melissa

Married at First Sight returned on Monday following a heated dinner party, which was sure to bring some drama to the couch in the second commitment ceremony of the season.

But no one was quite prepared for the fireworks which were set to go off, as the panel of experts adopted a 'twist' never seen before on the Channel 4 dating show, which allowed two participants to call it quits on their marriage.

Each week the couples take to the couch to decide if they want to 'stay' or 'leave' the experiment.

Usually, if one partner writes to stay and the other to leave, it is non-negotiable the couple continue on in the experiment for another week.

However, in a first for the series following outrage among fans at allowing "emotionally abusive" contestants on the show, expert John Aiken announced he would allow two couples to exit the show despite their partners vowing to stay.

We reported yesterday [Monday] that both Caitlin and Josh decided to leave after being pushed to the brink by their partners throughout their short stint on the show.

Caitlin and Josh were both reduced to tears by their partners in Monday's show. (Channel 4)

And fans were left in tears at them both, with Josh even having to walk off-set during his session on the couch alongside his partner Melissa when he was humiliated and broke down in front of his peers.

Melissa, 41, had been the oldest bride on the series this year, with many speculating she could be this year's 'mumma bear' of the group, but that facade soon died down when viewers saw her nasty streak.

The hairdresser often made below-the-belt remarks about single dad Josh and his 'manhood' as she ridiculed him for not having sex often enough, or good enough for her liking.

She has previously suggested she expected 'Thor' to be at the end of the aisle when she tied the knot with a stranger as he could "throw her around the room," as she admitted Josh "wasn't the man she was expecting."

Despite attempting to make things work, their conversations always landed back on the topic of intimacy and it was the final nail in the coffin for the couple during intimacy week last week, when they had yet another blow-up about the topic.

Melissa claimed she felt "suppressed" during intimacy week, despite it being the one she was looking most forward to.

The experts had enough of the awful behaviour from some of this year's contestants (Channel 4)

"I feel like I am definitely the more dominant alpha in this relationship and it's just showing," she said.

Josh interjected and was praised by both viewers and his peers on the show for sticking up for himself.

"You keep painting me as some 40 year old virgin inside myself which I am not in any shape or form. We were intimate just these past few days, I cannot sit here and take this.

"I want to speak my truth which I feel is at the heart of the issue. There is a significant issue here about control, she has attempted to restrict my access to the TV and my mobile phone and also the times I can read my books and where and when I can go out.

"She [Melissa] has used degrading and dehumanising language to me questioning my manhood, so when we talk about getting to the core of the issue that is it right there.

"If I was a woman saying these things the responses would be very different to it," as the panel and co-stars looked on in shock and agreement.

"I just feel he [Josh] is not a 'big' man, I don't feel protected by Josh or love or support, or anything from him and it's just not what I am used to I need a 'manly man','" responded Melissa.

"One of the most frustrating things is when people say this, what is a 'man' - it's someone who can really talk about their emotions and get deep and be vulnerable, that's a man," said Duncan as he supported his pal.

"Any indication of a man I got that from Josh more than anyone else," added Layton as he also spoke up among the group.

Melissa continued to throw 'low blows' at her husband Josh on the couch despite him becoming visibly upset by her comments. (Channel 4)

Melissa decided to keep digging herself an even bigger ditch as she said that during intimacy week the sex was "just a transaction" as she claimed it "wasn't how I imagined to have an amazing sex life with someone, it was just physical, awkward and quite awful".

Both the panel of experts and co-stars looked on open-mouthed in complete shock as she continued to slander her husband and disclose their private details in such a derogatory way despite noticing he was visibly upset by what she was saying.

"Mel , what possessed you to tell us that right now? What would you hope from saying that? It felt like a low blow particularly the timing of it you can see by looking at him he is not able to cope with that sort of comment," interjected expert John.

"Those words have an awful lot of power because you are diminishing him as a person," added Mel.

Josh crumbled on the couch on camera as he admitted it was "overwhelming" after coming out of a toxic long-term relationship before.

"This doesn't help, and wondering whether you're enough. I feel like I am pretty broken," Josh said through a crack in his voice and broken tears.

He walked off the set and got consoled by his mates and fellow grooms, who slammed Melissa for her 'archaic' way of talking about the definition of a man.

Melissa claimed she had "no idea" what her husband was going through and how he felt, as he composed himself and sat back on the couch to have his say.

"I am leaving, I can't stay here anymore, I want to go home and see my kids," Josh said whilst continuing to pull himself together as he broke down again. Melissa had written leave, but crossed it out to write stay.

"Josh we can see clearly that you are pretty broken right now and considering what we have seen tonight and heard I am going to do something I have never done before," said John Aiken as he gave Josh the choice to leave which he snapped up.

"I have never seen a relationship like this before in the experiment and we have been around long enough to know there is no coming back for you in this experiment and we are not going to subject you any longer to this."

Married At First Sight Australia airs Monday - Thursday on E4 at 7:30pm.

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