Married At First Sight‘s Ellie Dix and Jono McCullough were reportedly “reprimanded” by Channel Nine and the show’s production company Endemol Shine Australia on Wednesday afternoon after Yahoo Lifestyle published photos of the pair that suggest they’re now in a relationship.
Despite Ellie currently being ‘married’ to Ben Walters on the show and Jono being paired with Lauren Dunn, the images showed the pair getting cosy at Ellie’s work Christmas party in December.
The photos were initially posted by the cosmetic clinic that Ellie works at and were shared in ‘collaboration’ with three other colleagues – meaning the snaps appeared on four different Instagram profiles.
Although the status of Ellie and Jono’s relationship is currently unclear, a source connected to the show tells Yahoo Lifestyle that everybody is now in “damage control” and the pair have been “reprimanded for being so careless and reminded of their contracts”.
The insider adds that both Ellie and Jono have now been “withdrawn from all media opportunities” for the foreseeable future and their co-stars are “furious at them” for spoiling the show for fans.
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Jono and Ellie are yet to comment publicly about their rumoured relationship, however, Ellie spoke about her connection with her groom Ben Walters during an interview with Yahoo Lifestyle last week and revealed if she ever had eyes for anyone else in the experiment.
“No, to be honest, my eyes were just on Ben,” she said. “And I’m just like, so grateful to have such a great match. We got along like a house on fire, so my eyes were not straying.”
Channel Nine ‘furious’ after stars go rogue
This incident certainly isn’t the first time season 11 participants have gone rogue, with an insider telling Yahoo Lifestyle last month that Channel Nine executives were “furious” that one couple had made a public appearance on the Gold Coast before the season premiered.
According to our source at Nine, new plans were being rolled out to “silence” the two cast members after their “bold move”.
“They must know they are breaking their signed agreement with the Nine Network,” the source shared. “No one’s more happy for contestants to actually find love but they are going to need to be more secretive for now and keep their time on the show hidden from the public.
“These 2024 contestants have all completed filming for the eleventh series and while some may have walked away with a loving relationship, others have been left to lick their wounds. Either way, they have signed contracts forbidding them from ruining storylines.”
Meanwhile, season 10 bride Melinda Willis revealed during an appearance on Yahoo Australia’s Behind The Edit podcast last week that this year’s cast is very rebellious.
“We thought our season was bad, but I’ve heard this season [the cast] got to the end and they were just like, ‘I don’t care’,” she shared. “So I don’t know how that’s going to go because if you annoy the producers, then that’s not a good thing.”
Subscribe to Yahoo Australia’s Behind The Edit and listen to the full interview with Melinda Willis here.
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