This story contains spoilers!
We all know that what we see on Married At First Sight Australia is highly edited.
But MAFS groom Josh Philak has gone rogue and attacked Channel Nine’s editing tactics, lashing out in an Instagram video about the way producers edited his argument with wife Cathy Evans during a tense lunch involving the couple and Josh’s mother, Mandy.
Mandy appeared to grill Cathy about how she was treating Josh and even told Cathy “don’t ever ignore my son again”.
Some viewers were so taken aback that Mandy, along with Josh’s brothers, have since received death threats on social media.
In a three-minute Instagram video, Josh broke a confidentiality clause in his contract with Channel Nine to say he’s furious about the way he and his family have been edited.
He explained he was putting himself at risk and breaking his contract by posting the video, but wanted the truth to be out there.
“We’re not meant to be using our social media. We’re meant to be keeping it all hush-hush and quiet. I think sometimes it’s better to speak up and I definitely think this is the right time to do so,” Josh explained, while also adding that Cathy is a “beautiful girl” and he has “nothing against her”.
“It just didn’t work out. It’s unfortunate,” he said of their relationship.
He also offered some words of advice to MAFS fans who might be considering applying for the show next year.
“I just can’t stress enough to people who are thinking about trying out for this show, as they’re doing applications now, just have a good hard think, because when you sign that contract, any footage, any audio can be cut up and spliced however they choose.
“As it says in the fine print, ‘You may or may not be received in a positive light’,” he said, referring to a common clause in reality TV contracts where producers are upfront about the possibility of a negative edit.
“Me being naive, I thought ‘Why not? How could this possibly go wrong?’ It’s just so disappointing to see how they made that come across [and] how much they left out,” he said.
“I was happy with getting a bad edit, but when it gets personal like that and everyone’s receiving death threats, it’s a joke.”
Josh’s fellow MAFS contestants have thrown their support behind their co-star.
Bride Poppy reposted Josh’s video rant on her own Instagram page, branding the show “unreality TV”.
“Don’t believe everything you see on a highly edited TV show!” she captioned the video. “I love Josh and Cathy and nobody deserves death threats for any reason, especially over a TV show.”
Fellow bride Stacey Hampton also threw her support behind Josh, commenting “Love you Josh!!!” on Poppy’s post.
During an interview with Now To Love Australia, Cathy explained her side of the story.
“I don’t feel cheated, but actually the whole situation was a lot more intense and a lot more threatening in my opinion,” Cathy told Now To Love.
“I’ve got friends there to vouch for it and they all said that was threatening because it was their best friend who the family was attacking.”
