MAFS #5- Stevo is a massive knobbo, Ixperts are still gaslighting the contestants. We wish for more and get nothing but sad care bears. NO SPOILERS

[Dillite2]

You lot need to stop talking so much. I am 3 pints of gin in, it's hard work with everyone wanting to be in my business 😉

She probably knows what he’s like, but could be worried about how the backlash towards him would affect their kids. So I suspect she’s trying to do damage control purely for their sake.

And a lot of women these men pick expect to be treated a certain way - they think it's normal to be sworn at multiple times for small "errors" and this just is how men act. Also if she came out saying he's abusive and violent social services would be wondering why she hadn't piped up before. Doesn't mean he isn't an abusive bellend.

Has Anita said anything about the men on the show since leaving? She seemed to be the wise mother hen there for a little while.

It’s not unusual to see threads on here where a man has been a total shit to his partner and posters will weigh in with ‘he’s probably stressed’. Men’s awful behaviour gets excused all the time. The low expectations of men (are they actually hitting you? Or was it a hard hit and he didn’t apologise?) out there are sooo depressing.

We knew well in advance last night that Steven would not cop anywhere near the heat that Sarah did just because we’ve seen this show enough. I keep wondering why I watch it if not for a object lesson for my kids in what unhealthy relationships look like.

I’ve heard a couple of Paul’s podcast interviews and he talks openly about the massive issue of domestic violence. I just can’t understand how he then takes part in this sort of scene.

Grace is painful watching because she feels so unsuited to the show. I blame the screeners for putting her through.

I've complained to ofcom.

The misogynistic double standards from the charlatan 'experts' in relation to Sarah is despicable. When Leah flirts with Rebecca (somebody in the competition who she sees regularly and who lives in the same apartment block) this is a-okay with the experts, yet when Sarah flirts with a gay producer (who has zero interest in women) that she saw for two seconds, she's a terrible person who is disrespecting her husband. And what's the difference in this scenario? It's that Leah has a wife and Sarah has a husband. The misogynistic double standards is despicable, not just in terms of Sarah, but in terms of how Leigh's feelings are entirely disregarded in favour of excessive himpathy for the man baby. I feel for Sarah, as Dean gives classic 'nice guy' vibes. He's also exceptionally entitled. He's forever guilt-tripping and saying, "when is my wife going to tell me she finds me attractive", as if he's entitled to attraction from her just because these charlatans thrust them together in the competition, knowing full well he's not her type. One of these days, there's going to be a really serious incident on this show, and it will be these dangerous quacks' fault for gaslighting women into staying with abusive men for the sake of some ratings.

I have also complained about the different treatment of men and women and ethics, gaslighting and producers inciting performative abuse for viewing figures. It's wrong on so many levels and how much do you want to bet that a man at the top of the food chain is raking in profits from this? They should just pull the show at the first hint of abuse that isn't nipped in the bud by the experts, let alone paying the experts to be the abusers. We can't keep feeding the producers cash to make more shows where men do this on TV and get told it's A-OK when we have shows like Adolescence on the other end of the mill.

What we saw last night is that it’s OK to call your partner a fucking idiot, walk about shouting at people calling them cunts, and challenge your partner’s friend for trying to build her self esteem, if you’re stressed by other life events, and that it’s for a man to say he can touch his wife whenever he likes while she sits tearfully next to him and says her whole personality is changing and she’s lost her happiness.

Finding this series quite shocking. They must know they're being unfair, surely?

What he heck, have I just watched, Steve who is downright abusive, let off as he turned on the tears

Sarah hammered again, because she doesn't fancy dean, who would with his fake nice guy act and so immature with his shit raps, I mean he can't be serous with that can he !

And I hate the way Grace is being treated, that Ash, he makes me the most mad, he twists it all so much and the experts had a great opportunity to talk about sexual coercion
Yet missed the point yet again
And he kept interupring grace and putting his spin on the situation

Feel so bad for grace and Sarah

And yet again the men dean Steven and Ash get away with being total shits

Yes no being about to talk about what dean is dong to his body or health

Just caught up. Can’t believe that Nelly didn’t leave.

Poor Sarah. 😬

Grace is adding bits on as she goes.
Just catching up.
Steven is an arrogant bully boy horror.

Why has Nelly said stay?

she better ask for her own room

The ixperts let him off lightly didn’t they

so flirting with a gay producer is obviously a bigger crime than aggressively calling everyone a c**t

Grace is bloody hard work. He can’t do right for doing wrong. I don’t think she’s being manipulated at all. He’s entitled to say how he feels.

I’m finding this year hard to watch. The experts are so damaging!! Wtaf re Steve and all the sympathy he got, he’s a dangerous man.

Grace is fighting a cause on her own, I wouldn't like to be a relationship with her, Ash with Sarah or Ruby would have been great.
At the same time she reminds me of DD who hates her skin to be touched and can become hyper focused on a cause.
She needs to breathe slowly.
Ruby definitely needs her own place.

While I don't (from what we've seen) see Ashley as a predatory type, and he appears to have tried very hard to understand how Grace thinks and what she needs, I also think it would have been a hugely valuable addition to the conversation just for one of the experts to add 'of course, someone can change their mind about sex at any time for any reason'. Just because that element of consent is so poorly understood in general - just see any discussion about rape. Grace may have been part of buying condoms and had a few snogs, but it's perfectly OK too for her to get home and think she's not really up for it. Yes, it must have been frustrating for Ashley - again, no suggestion he wanted to do anything without her enthusiastic consent - but he's got hands - a woman never owes a man sex and I don't think that can be said often enough.

Not to mention people that watch at home then think this behaviour is OK, when it really is not

They missed such an opportunity to talk about consent and sexual coercion

Extremely disappointing

100% They are not very good X-perts. I think that this will be my last mafsuk.

I think they missed it last year too, and the pressure on couples for ‘intimacy’ really doesn’t help. Last year it was men who didn’t want that intimacy, and it felt equally uncomfortable to watch.

I wish the message all round could be that it’s OK not to want to have sex with someone, and saying that kindly and firmly is alright. The whole premise of this programme is supposed to be that you might need to look to a different sort of person if your relationships aren’t working but the format now also demands instant mutual attraction. Feelings can grow but throwing them into playing with sex toys two weeks in is going to be pretty counterproductive.

I think last year the suggestion was that they should instead have ‘healthy relationships’ week but that would make for less salacious TV.

Ruby?

I too was thinking who is ruby, but didn’t want to ask as I’ve been so useless with remembering the names this year unless it’s by nickname, but my brain was going into overdrive as to who ruby is/was 😅

I think the poster meant Nelly.

I'm starting to think they're giving crap advice to boost the ratings 😔