Nine
Ever the optimist, Ella Ding is giving MAFS husband Mitch Eynaud another shot after he left her hanging at the final vow ceremony.
“I’m a very patient person,” Ella, 28, tells Woman’s Day Australia, revealing the pair bonded better off screen once the cameras stopped rolling and she headed to Queensland to spend time with Mitch at his home on the Gold Coast.
“It felt really great being with him in his environment. My friends were like, ‘We get it, you just spent three months in a non-natural environment.’
“Everyone was like, ‘Give it a go.’ Going there was the last chance,” she says.
Ella Ding is giving TV husband Mitch Eynaud another chance.
Ella reveals the visit gave the pair a chance to make good on their “in sickness and in health” vows.
“We ended up getting COVID together, which was great,” jokes the beautician. “He was pretty unwell, so I was just trying to lighten the mood and make him feel better.”
While Ella says it was the most carefree the couple have been, she admits she still has lingering doubts about whether she and Mitch can go the distance, especially after snaps surfaced of Mitch bonding with Ella’s fellow MAFS bride, Tamara Djordjevic.
“I’ve been sent a lot of screenshots of messages and proof of things, but I don’t actually know what’s true,” Ella tells Woman’s Day Australia.
“I wouldn’t put it past him. There are definitely things on camera that happened with Mitch, Tamara and me that didn’t make it to air, that’s for sure.”
However, in her signature independent style, Ella insists she won’t be asking Tamara for her side of the story!
“We haven’t spoken a word,” she confesses. “I didn’t get on with her, for very valid reasons, which – when the time is right – I can say.”
As for rumours she’s had her own head turned by Tamara’s MAFS husband Brent Vitiello, Ella insists, “Brent and I are really good friends. He’s been such a great support.
“I even asked him, ‘Do you trust Mitch?’ It’s funny, apparently the whole of Australia wants Brent and Ella together.”
Next up, Survivor!
While Ella says she hasn’t had a lot of time to think about what life looks like for her after the experiment, the star tells Woman’s Day she’s eager to do more reality TV.
“I would love to do Survivor or I’m A Celebrity,” she reveals.
“They could be a really fun challenge. I feel like they’re out of your comfort zone, growth, scary – all those things I really like.”
Ella is eager to take another stab at reality TV.
Ella dishes on Olivia and Jackson It’s been clear to MAFS viewers that Ella’s had no time for fellow bride Olivia Frazer. But the reality star tells Woman’s Day she’s a big fan of Olivia’s groom, Jackson Lonie, 30.
“I really like Jackson – he’s divine,” says Ella, who stood up for her MAFS bestie Domenica when she feuded with Olivia, 27.
“He would apologise to Dom, even if it meant risking fighting with Liv.”
Ella says it’s “hard to defend” the teaching student’s actions and behaviour, which has included sharing a risque snap of Dom to the group.
Jackson and Olivia chose to continue their relationship at the final vows ceremony.
“Maybe she’s working on it, maybe she’s trying to be a better person and maybe he’s trying to give her that opportunity in the real world, to prove him wrong.”
Olivia says others aren’t giving her the same chance.
“I’ve already lost my job as a direct result of this show,” reveals the reality star, who was rumoured to be working as a school administrator.
“I’m a shell of a person. Thank god for Jackson, because I would not have survived this without him, my mum and my brother. It’s been hell.”
