Olivia Frazer has criticised Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2025 after Paul Antoine punched a wall as a reaction to an argument with wife Carina Mirable. Channel 9 has since confirmed that Paul stays on the show, a controversial decision that has upset intimate partner violence experts and viewers.
In Olivia’s MAFS season, an argument with fellow bride Domenica Calarco resulted in Dom smashing a glass at the dinner table, something that the public largely celebrated. Olivia has since become one of the most notorious MAFS ‘villains’ of all time, and has spoken out in the past about how she received a ‘bad edit’ that drove this narrative.
In an interview with Chattr, Olivia says that on her season of MAFS, there was supposed to be a zero-tolerance policy regarding violence.
“[Producer] Tara McWilliams said, ‘Violence is not on, not happening. So much as a clenched fist and you’re out the door’,” Olivia recalls.
“I’m sure there was something in the contracts about it, it was made very clear that any whiff of violence is complete cause for immediate dismissal.”
Olivia calls Paul’s punch on MAFS “completely inexcusable”
While some fans argue that MAFS is a TV show so producers had to let the storyline play out, using intimate partner violence for promos and ratings has left others with a sour taste in their mouths.
Besides, we’ve seen other participants on reality TV be removed due to violent or inappropriate behaviour in the past. On Season 2 of Love Island UK, Malia Arkian was removed from the villa after getting physical towards Kady McDermott.
“Any sort of violence, any sort of potential for escalating behaviour is completely inexcusable,” Olivia declares. “We’ve seen a precedent in disturbing behaviour happening on a film set [before]. If we look at Season 2 of Below Deck Down Under, they showed producers breaking a fourth wall and removing a participant from set [after] disturbing behaviour.”
ICYMI, producers and crew members of Below Deck Down Under Season 2 were praised after stepping in after Luke Jones entered Margot Sisson‘s bed while she was intoxicated and hadn’t consented. Producers stepped in and removed Luke from her room, and he was fired shortly after.
When hearing the argument that keeping Paul on MAFS normalises and excuses his behaviour, Olivia says it “makes [her] feel sick”.
“People take MAFS as gospel in Australia, and for them to give somebody aggressive a redemption story is sickening to hear. They should be empowering women to leave, and to be setting an example,” she says.
Olivia calls out the double standard on the show
The violent act has understandably brought back trauma for Olivia, and she can’t help but wonder why people turned on her when she was also a victim.
“It’s really good to see the Australian public condemning violence on MAFS, but it’s also quite vile to watch when violence that was enacted towards me was celebrated,” she says.
“I think they wanted to edit it to make it look like I baited it and therefore deserved something violent to happen towards me.
“They had a storyline that they wanted to push, and violence was not to be seen as a mark against Domenica.”
Over time, the idea that there needs to be a “perfect victim” has slowly been quashed. While Olivia says she didn’t bait Domenica, even if she had, she didn’t deserve violence.
“I believe that there are people that still hate me so passionately that they will excuse violence towards me no matter what. So I hope that the idea of a ‘perfect victim’ is more [widely] thrown out,” she adds. “But unfortunately, there’s enough loud mouths that stick tot he old school ‘you deserve that’ narrative.”
MAFS’ Olivia speaks out on Instagram
On Instagram, she said while she wasn’t watching MAFS, she has found it “inescapable online” and was so “triggered” she had to share her opinion.
“This is actually so triggering because this is what happened to me on camera. Yet it was edited to insinuate that I somehow deserved to be intimidated by a wine glass smashed,” Olivia said.
“I was publicly mocked, shamed, and bullied for physical abuse that someone inflicted on me. And my abuser gets to have a broken wine glass tattooed on her arm like a badge of honour.”
She went on to criticise the production company behind MAFS, claiming it’s not the “first instance of violence” on set.
“Production is yet again failing participants in terms of protection, I’m sure. I just hope that whatever aired tonight starts a conversation about what abuse really is and does [not] reverse victim blame as it did to me.”
Channel Nine and Endemol Shine Australia release statement about MAFS
Chattr reached out to Channel Nine to ask about what support MAFS participants have on the show and received a statement confirming Carina and Paul stay in the experiment.
“Nine and Endemol Shine Australia has treated this matter extremely seriously. Our first priority at all times has been the wellbeing and safety of the participants and after extensive consultation with Carina, she wanted to remain in the experiment with Paul. We continue to provide support for Carina and Paul,” a spokesperson said.
“Nine and Endemol Shine take their obligations in respect to the health and wellbeing of the participants of this program extremely seriously. All participants have access to the show psychologist and welfare resources during filming, during broadcast and once the program has ended.
“Nine also have an additional service for participants should they like or need further individual and confidential psychological support. This service gives participants access to clinicians to support those involved in the program in relation to their experiences. This service is available to all participants for as long as they need it, it does not end.”
At least it looks like Channel Nine is taking this seriously, and hopefully it doesn’t get turned into ratings fodder.
Married At First Sight 2025 airs Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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