One of the most controversial moments in this year’s season of Married At First Sight (MAFS) was Paul Antoine’s shocking admission that he punched a door after an argument with on-screen wife Carina Mirable.
The argument and subsequent fallout of Paul’s actions was the first sign of cracks in the duo’s once-strong relationship, with Paul’s actions throughout the rest of the season coming under the microscope. The last straw for the couple was when Paul chose to go on a date with his ‘Is The Grass Greener?’ match Hannah, with Carina dumping him at Final Vows.
Paul addresses his MAFS controversies in first tell-all interview
In his first interview since MAFS ended, Paul spoke to the Daily Mail about his controversial antics and edit, addressing the door punch for the first time saying he was “mentally drained”. The moment came after Carina confessed off-camera to sleeping with a rapper, which Paul said he already knew but was shocked she brought it up in front of two of their other cast mates, Jeff Gobbels and Rhi Disljenkovic.
“I was mentally drained. We were filming 12 to 14 hours a day, and I was running on five hours of sleep. I just snapped,” he said.
“It felt like she was bragging. It confused me. In her confession letter, she was ashamed of her past, and now it seemed like she was owning it proudly in front of everyone.”
Paul said he continued to stew on it and felt like Carina’s apologies were “deflective” but that he “instantly felt shame” after he lost control and punched the door.
“They [production] brought me into a private room the next day. I couldn’t stop crying. I told them, ‘If you need to kick me off, I understand.’ But they gave me another chance. I was so grateful — I wanted to make things right and show that wasn’t who I am.’
Online, fans aren’t quite buying the groom’s reasoning, saying his “excuses” aren’t cutting it.
“As a mother of two who has been through years of sleep deprivation, I can say I’ve never punched a wall due to lack of sleep. What a pathetic excuse to mask your clear anger issues,” one person commented on Instagram. “This guy is everything that is dangerous about men – no emotional intelligence and blaming everything and not owning their behaviour or being able to control emotions,” another said.
Paul addresses Temptation Week date saying he felt pressured by production
The final nail in Paul and Carina’s coffin was when he met up with his backup bride Hannah, while Carina refused to meet her backup match.
Paul labelled the move stupid, saying he felt “pressured” by production.
“Producers were like, ‘Come on, hurry up — what’s your decision?’ I didn’t think it through. I just went along with it like it was another task. I remember thinking, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ But I felt stuck. My producer said it was too late.”
Paul’s backup match Hannah told Chattr despite the pressure Paul was under, he still chose to show up and stay, saying his excuses were “weak”.
“He could’ve walked out, like I eventually did,” she said. “Feeling pressured is a weak excuse for anything. He’d been in the experiment for about 12 weeks by then, so he knew how production works.
“I don’t blame him for having regrets. He left a beautiful partner at home to go on a date where he was being confronted. My walls were way up.”
MAFS’ Paul calls out edit: ‘They didn’t want people to like me’
Ahh, it’s a tale as old as time: a controversial contestant calls out the editing by producers. Paul also questioned in his interview if production was out to get him, saying that his portrayal was unfair.
“The only thing people know about me is that I’m French and horny. That’s the meme that went around — and honestly, it’s kind of true based on what they aired,” he said.
“They didn’t show me opening up about my grandpa. They didn’t show the beautiful conversations with my groomsmen. They didn’t show my confession letter where I spoke about my heartbreaks and my hopes. It felt like they didn’t want people to like me.”
Paul addresses where he now stands with Carina
Carina recently spoke with Chattr, saying the two were still amicable.
“I much rather our platonic relationship and friendship over having any animosity between one another and bad blood. It just doesn’t work [for me] and it doesn’t align with my morals,” she said.
Paul also addressed their newfound friendship, saying they were on good terms.
“We’re amicable. She came over to my place in Sydney after the show. I made us lunch, we sat by the pool, and we laughed about it all. She’s stunning. And she has a good heart. I have nothing but affection and admiration for her.”
Stream Married At First Sight 2025 on 9Now.
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