Married At First Sight NZ's most explosive couple, Jono and Ray, have both spoken out on social media following the show's tense finale.
- Married At First Sight NZ 2019 finale recap: Famous last words
- 'I'm shaking': Married At First Sight NZ stars react to fiery reunion episode
Ray, who has been dubbed a "bully" for his treatment of his Jono and a "stirrer" for meddling in other's relationships, penned a lengthy Instagram rant explaining his behaviour.
"I know everyone is entitled to their opinions when it comes to reality TV. Some may question the intentions of people that appear on these shows. I surely did," he said.
"However, please remember you only see what makes entertainment for these shows to do well."
Ray said he didn't want to get "too much into how the editing process works", but claimed that there were many things left out of the final cut of the show.
"In regards to being labelled as a 'bully', I wanted to express how disappointed I feel at how I have been portrayed in the last two weeks.
"There were a lot of things said and done during these nights that weren't shown. I acknowledge that many of my comments and actions weren't justified in the setting they were made."
Ray "extended his apologies to anyone he may have hurt", but was not specific about who he affected or how.
Meanwhile, Jono, who said Ray "put him through hell”, has addressed the hate Ray is receiving on social media.
Responding to a Newshub article detailing the cast's reaction to the dinner party reunion, Jono said he was able to see the nature of the threats and abuse his former partner was receiving.
"I personally don’t follow Ray, I blocked him a long time ago for my own mental health," he explained.
"I'm assuming that it's the people who follow me and have been sending me heaps of messages of love and support... You've turned around and gone straight to Ray and attacked him agressively and bullied him.
"That's not okay. You can't watch bullying on television, be disgusted with it, and then go and attack someone on mass."
Referring to a message in which a viewer wished for "many more deaths" in Ray's family, Jono said: "That's way worse than anything Ray ever said on the show, which I didn't think was possible".
"Don't be bullies, don't be disgusting," he said.
You can read about all the drama from the two-part finale of Married at First Sight NZ here and here.
Newshub.
