Married At First Sight Australia's intruder bride Evelyn Ellis says controversial social media star Andrew Tate was always "super nice" during their friendship.
Ellis was forced to address their relationship after a photo of the pair on holiday in Thailand in 2016 resurfaced since she entered ThreeNow's reality show.
Ellis and Tate appeared together on UK reality show Big Brother in 2016 before becoming friends. Ellis finished fifth on the show.
In December last year, Tate's Romanian home was raided by authorities following an investigation into human trafficking and rape.
He, his brother Tristan and a former policewoman were detained amid allegations they had been suspected of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
The former kickboxer has risen to fame over the past few years due to his radical views on women, relationships, and masculinity, influencing young men all over the world.
Speaking on Australian radio show Fitzy & Wippa, Ellis said she knew him long before he became the person who is now embroiled in controversy.
"Look, I knew Andrew before he was Andrew," she said.
"So before all this he was just old mate Andrew. But I can only take him for face value - at the time he was super nice. Him and [brother] Tristan always treated me with respect," she explained.
She said his attitudes appeared to change "overnight" from the person she used to know.
"It's so weird, because it was like overnight he just exploded," she claimed.
Ellis said she was already in Asia with friends when she discovered Tate was travelling too and they decided to meet up.
She denied the pair had ever dated.
Overnight, Reuters reported a Romanian court had denied social media personality Andrew Tate's request to be released on bail from police custody pending a criminal investigation into alleged sex trafficking.
Both Tate and his brother Tristan have denied the charges.
Married At First Sight airs Sunday to Wednesday on Three and can be streamed first on ThreeNow.