MAFS' Joe breaks silence on what happened between him and Julia-Ruth and says cast have 'less rights than prisoners'
After deciding to skip the Married at First Sight reunion, Joe has had his say on what really happened between him and Julia-Ruth - plus he’s not holding back on his opinions on the show.
The former TV groom has alleged in a new podcast interview that “prisoners have got more rights” that the cast of the hit dating show - and has also accused show producers of “stirring the pot”.
To recap, Joe married Maeve in this year’s series, and though it appeared for a moment they may be having a sweet romance things soon turned sour. Maeve fancied her new husband from the moment she laid eyes on him, but Joe wasn’t sure if she was his type once she revealed her likeness for partying and drinking at their wedding reception. Joe had once enjoyed this lifestyle himself, but was keen to leave it behind. She, however, reassured him that she too would give up the party scene in favour of a settled relationship.
The couple then had a fiery argument while on honeymoon when Joe tried to get Maeve to show her vulnerable side, but they soon had a heart-to-heart and made up. Then, their connection seemed to blossom and they told the experts they had fallen in love with each other.
But, it wasn’t meant to be. Joe’s grandad died during filming for the experiment, which caused him to leave for a short time. During the time away, he confessed he and Maeve hadn’t been facing issues between them and he actually wasn’t sure if their relationship would work in the real world or not. He also told Ashley he had love for her but didn’t think he was actually in love with her.
Back in the experiment, Maeve became tired of the uncertainy Joe had left behind and didn’t like having to attend dinner parties and commitment ceremonies alone. Joe briefly returned to the experiment during the couple’s retreat to tell Maeve he didn’t see their romance moving forwards and they told left the show shortly after.
A few weeks later, Maeve returned to the experiment to support her follow brides who had stayed in the process ahead of final vows. This meet-up was also attended by co-star Julia-Ruth, who told her that she and Joe had gone on holiday together days after they boh left the experiment, and they had slept together.
Joe refused to attend the meet-up with the grooms that was happening at the same time, and also the subsequent reunion for all of the show participants after the process came to an end. His decision led to relationship expert Paul C Brunson to brand him a “coward” as he couldn’t be held accountable for his actions.
But, now Joe has had his say. Speaking to podcast host Tom Dickinson on his Tom Talks podcast, Joe spoke about the intensity of the experiment and the difficulty of being disconnected from everyday life and loved ones.
“One day (in the experiment) probably feels like a week and four days might feel like four weeks,” he said. “That bubble is a real thing. Like you literally cause you can't have phones. You literally have less rights than like b****y prisoners. Like you literally can't even have a phone call with your family,” he said.
“You're literally in this apartment. I mean the apartments were nice, but you're literally just in this bubble . . . Everything in your relationship is times 100 because of the speed of it, because of how much time you spend with each other, because of how emotional and like fragile you are at times because everything's on camera.
He continued: “So you rely on each other so much more. So everything you feel and stuff is so much more intensified which is why when you see it like over the years people like grow feelings pretty quickly because it is every day is like a month in a relationship the amount of time and what you go through together, it's crazy.”
Later in the podcast, Joe gave his version of events of what happened with Julia-Ruth when they went on to Lanzarote together. “We had like a lot of fun on holiday. It was great to share our experiences together. So, it wasn't like we ran off together for this huge romantic thing,” he insisted.
“It was more it was nice to have someone there to decompress and talk about everything, but then there was like a little bit of a romance while we were there.”
In the show, Julia-Ruth claimed that Joe had ghosted her when they returned from their break, and he said he felt it “just wouldn’t be right” for them to be together. “Morally for me it wouldn't have been right to pursue anything with her in terms of something serious,” he explained.
“But the important thing is for me is that like we were both single and we finished our marriages.” He added that he “never had any intention” of returning to the show. “For me, I'm washing my hands [of] that and now what I do in my personal life is up to me.”
He then reflected, however, and said that he could appreciate that his actions may have been “insenstive”. “I can see now how maybe insensitive because they (Maeve and Julia-Ruth) know each other and I hold my hands and say maybe it is insensitive.”
The former TV groom then admitted he and Julia-Ruth had planned to keep their brief connection a secret - but claimed producers found out and told Maeve.
Explaining that members of the production crew had done follow-up calls with them both and realised they were both in Lanzarote and “put two and two together”, Joe said: “Production actually actually stirred the pot.”
He went on to say that he “felt sorry” for Julia-Ruth because of all the negativity she was on the receiving end of when what had happened between them was revealed. “She never had the intention of like bringing this and causing this like mayhem and upset. She was going with the intention of just like keeping it to herself.
He added that he also realised that could be viewed negatively. “You could say ‘oh that's pretty s****y thing to do to, keep something like that to herself, but at the end of day we were single and we had a good time and she was just trying to protect their emotions whilst on that show,” referring to his ex-Maeve and also Julia-Ruth’s ex Divarini. He concluded: “So, in a way, I do actually feel sorry for her that that was like put on her.”
* The full series of Married at First Sight UK series 10 is available to watch now on Channel 4 On Demand.