One of the most controversial moments in Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2025 so far has to have been Ryan Donnelly making an X-rated comment about his wife, Jacqui Burfoot. The incident occurred during a discussion following the Intimacy Week Fantasy task, and it left all of his fellow castmates stunned – with MAFS‘ Dave Thomas particularly incensed.
While Dave stayed quiet like the rest of the MAFS grooms during the shocking moment, which saw Ryan making fun of Jacqui’s “crazy eyes“, before telling the other men that she was good at a particular sex act, we then saw the groom share his regret with wife Jamie Marinos, telling her he wished he had said something when the incident occurred.
What has Dave said?
With Ryan issuing an apology to Jacqui and his castmates today, Dave has also expanded on his experience. Speaking to 9Entertainment, he said the moment blindsided him.
“When someone says a comment as disgusting as what Ryan said, it definitely catches you off guard,” he explained, adding that he didn’t want to cause a scene.
“I was like – OK, Alessandra [Rampolla] is here, I just can’t go off at him. I wanted to bite my tongue for the respect of Alessandra. It wasn’t a Dinner Party.”
He was also concerned that speaking up would create an uncomfortable situation for Alessandra. “I didn’t want to get into an argument in front of her, and then she had to handle six or seven men arguing,” he added.
Dave was also worried about the timing being off
Dave also said that he and the other grooms spoke to their wives as a way of sourcing advice. “We handled it in a way where we went back, got some advice from our partners and it definitely wasn’t something that was going to be swept under the rug,” he explained.
“It’s definitely something that needs to be brought up, I just feel like there’s a time and place for that especially when we’re on an experiment on TV.”
That “time and place” is likely going to be at the Dinner Party tonight. How will Jacqui react to not just Ryan’s comments but the radio silence from her castmates?
Married At First Sight 2025 airs Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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