Former Married At First Sight (MAFS) star Mike Gunner’s redemption arc on Love Triangle isn’t quite going to plan, with his match Melinda left less than impressed with the former reality star.
Mike, 50, seemed nervous to be back on screens when he was reintroduced as a single bachelor looking for love on Love Triangle, saying he learned a lot from his MAFS journey where he loved, and lost, Heidi Latcham.
As the premise goes on Love Triangle, Mike was texting two women before choosing Melinda, with the two meeting up on a beach date before they moved in together. Mike was worried he may be recognised from his former reality TV days and seemed relieved but surprised when Melinda had no idea who he was.
Mike came clean on the date, saying he was a “quieter” personality on MAFS, with Melinda leaving the date decided to Google him and find out more. In case you need a refresher, Mike wasn’t exactly beloved with MAFS fans, due to the sexist nature of some of his comments, including when he weighed in on the fight between Cyrell Paule and Martha Kalifatidis.
“I think groups of women under pressure don’t cope as well as groups of men under pressure. We’re seeing these girls have fallen apart, and the men haven’t,” he said on the show. “Any group of women that are put in this same type of situation just doesn’t speak to their biology … there is actually some merit in that.”
There was also an infamous scene on the beach with Heidi where it appears she was opening up to him, only for Mike to tell her “I’m not your therapist.”
So, yeah, he wasn’t exactly a “quiet” character.
What went wrong on Mike’s Love Triangle journey?
Before moving in, Melinda did her homework and confronted Mike about his MAFS days, asking him how he felt about his therapist line and whether he thought he was a misogynist.
“It’s not my finest moment, but I don’t think it matters, I think people have gotten over it now,” Mike responded.
Things only got worse from there, with the couple having a fight off-camera later that night when Mike went for a walk and came home to find a member of the production team sitting on Melinda’s bed.
The next day, as they both explained the story, Melinda called it a “shitshow” saying she’d rather “shit in my hands and clap than get to know him better”. Meanwhile, Mike questioned why the man had to sit on her bed and found the situation suspicious because Melinda’s door was also closed.
When Melinda returns to the house to clear the air the next day, the two still couldn’t see eye to eye on the situation, with Mike telling Melinda mid-argument, “The people that are going to be watching this, they don’t all like me, but you know what? They trust me because I never tell bullshit,” to which Melinda retorted, “So, I really hate to say this but you’re nowhere near as relevant as you think you are. You are a 50-year-old washed-up reality TV star.”
Ouch!
Where to Melinda and Mike stand now?
Well, it’s safe to say there’s no love lost between the two. But will Mike find love with the other side of his triangle, Melissa when she enters the experiment? We’ll find out soon enough.
New episodes of Love Triangle drop every Sunday on Stan.
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