Paul Antoine’s violent outburst on Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2025 has divided viewers, and a relationship expert has told Chattr he should have been removed from the show.
ICYMI, Paul was furious when he heard that his wife Carina Mirable slept with famous rapper Quavo, saying she had disrespected him. Concerningly, he used language that appeared to blame Carina for pushing him to become violent, saying he felt “trapped” when she requested he stay in the apartment to sort through their differences.
Since then, Channel 9 has confirmed that Paul stays in the experiment after consulting with Carina, a decision that has not been received well.
Gottman-trained Couples Therapist Michelle Janssen, who has worked in intimate partner violence, believes Paul staying on MAFS is “powerfully communicating” that his behaviour is acceptable.
“It was an opportunity for MAFS to go, ‘We won’t tolerate this.’ And also, he needs help to look at why he thinks [punching a wall was] okay. He needs to look at why the apology was not an apology, and that could have been such a powerful thing to communicate to viewers — particularly for women watching who do experience some incidents in their home,” she tells Chattr.
“We need to have a zero tolerance policy for violence… I really wish this would have been an opportunity to discuss what makes a healthy relationship, rather than making this a sound bite.”
What concerned Michelle the most was the fact that Paul’s apology included a caveat, where he avoided accountability by putting some blame on Carina’s actions.
“It was essentially, ‘I’m sorry, but she’, so it was that language that bothered me,” she explains. “We’re looking at power and control… and no one can make you get violent. He has many choices in how he chooses to respond.
“It’s okay that he was upset about it. It’s not okay how he went about it. So when he is ‘taking accountability’, he’s actually minimising, pushing blame, denying responsibility, and it confuses the issue.”
Expert calls out a ‘really dangerous idea’ which could play out on MAFS
An inside source told Chattr that as part of Paul and Carina’s couch session, Carina conveys the idea that jealousy is love. However, it’s unclear if this will make it into Sunday’s episode.
“The most concerning part of their couch session was that Carina said their argument was a sign that their marriage is real and that they’re in love. Everyone was really shocked, and Alessandra [Rampolla] had to step in to say, ‘No honey, this is not love. Violence isn’t love’,” the source claimed.
Michelle says women aged 16 to 24 are in the highest risk category for intimate partner violence. That’s partly due to this “really dangerous idea” that “jealousy is passion”.
“It’s this idea that, ‘Oh they’re jealous, so they must really care about me’, when actually it’s communicating, ‘I view you as an object or a possession that I’m entitled to have power over’,” she explains.
“Some incidents in the home where it’s not necessarily that they’re being physically hit, but there is that punch to the wall, and it’s as though the person or their partner is controlling the emotional temperature of the home,” Michelle adds. “It’s still creating a dynamic of fear and aggression as being okay.”
While it looks like the MAFS experts will take Paul to task on Sunday night, the biggest statement producers could have made would have been to remove him from the show instantly — to show Australia that this type of behaviour is unacceptable in any circumstance. Let’s hope they learn from the backlash and make changes for future seasons.
Married At First Sight 2025 airs Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for more entertainment news.
