Married At First Sight experts, John Aiken, Mel Schilling and Alessandra Rampolla were stunned when they found out Jack Dunkley had cruelly called another contestant a ‘whale’.
Jack has been pulled up several times over comments he has made during this season, and it seems as if he’s still not holding back as he called fellow groom Tristan Black a “whale” while he was sunbathing by the pool at the Couple’s Retreat.
The personal trainer from Queensland made the comment to Timothy Smith, Lucinda Bright and Tristan Black, and was also overheard by fellow groom Jono McCollough who were all quick to call him out over the rude remark.
Tristan, who candidly opened up throughout the show over his body confidence issues was clearly hurt by the comment Jack had made. Shortly after the incident, Timothy recalled the events as he told brides Lauren Dunn and Sara Mesa that while he, Lucinda and Tristan were sunbathing, Jack walked past them and said: “I see the whales are here today.”
When the news broke to the rest of the group, Jack was quick to claim his words were “taken out of context” and his wife Tori Adams defended what he said. However, after the trip, Jack apologised to Tristan for the comment and even bought Tristan a gift card for some health supplements and a keyring with the saying “You are enough” engraved on it.
However this didn’t seem to be enough as when confronted by the experts, they shared how “appaled” they were with the comments. Expert John Aiken told Jack: “I don’t condone this behaviour” and even went as far as to say: “I am lost for words” over the comments Jack has made.
It comes not long after Jack had told Jono to “muzzle his woman”. In regards to Lauren when she was confronting him over another comment he had made about allowing his wife to sleep with another groom at the couple’s swap in a few weeks’ time.
Despite standing by her husband yet again, it appears as if Tori is getting fed up with Jack’s actions and comments as she is clearly annoyed with him while at the commitment ceremony with the experts. Jack made a promise to Tori that he was “going to change” and stop making cruel comments.
Even though she was annoyed with Jack, Tori decided to write ‘stay’ on her card when deciding if she wanted to carry on with the experiment and said she couldn’t let him prove himself if she didn’t stay with him.
In an interview with Channel 9, after the show finished, Jack revealed all about the ‘whale’ comment and finally gave his side of the story. He said: “I walked into the pool one day, and I think it was Jade and Lauren, or Jade and Sara, two very attractive, fit girls that are very happy with their bodies. I did a bit of a walk and said ‘The whales are out today’. It was a joke – not a joke I would make to anyone and everyone.”
He was quick to state he didn’t make the comment to Tristan, who he knew struggled with body image, and added: “I’m really tight with Tristan, I love the guy. Not in a million years would I make a joke like that to someone like Tristan, I’m not that stupid. As far as I know, I didn’t think he was at the pool. He got wind of the joke as Timothy brought it up when everyone’s around the fire pit having drinks and it was horrible.”
Do you have a story to share? Email niamh.kirk@reachplc.com
