Married At First Sight Australia episode 22 recap: ‘Ice Queen’ Lauren lashes out as Jacqui pushes Ryan to breaking point

Ryan and Jacqui are at odds again over a sex remark. Photo / Nine AU

It’s trouble in paradise this week on Married At First Sight Australia, with a highly anticipated couples retreat in Byron Bay seeing Lauren head for the exit as Jacqui and Ryan deal with yet another bizarre fallout.

“No doubt someone is going to bring some sort of drama into it,” Ryan told producers before the trip.

Ironically, the “someone” was actually his wife, Jacqui, after she told her fellow brides about Ryan’s interesting sex habit, where he admitted he has sex after he’s exercised because he preferred to expend his testosterone at the gym.

“What the f**k just happened,” he told the producers after witnessing the other brides let his “self-imposed blue balls” secret slip publicly during communal drinks.

It’s an interesting reaction from the notoriously self-serving groom, considering that only a few weeks ago he told his fellow grooms that Jacqui “gives awesome ****** [implied to be ‘head’]”.

Claiming Jacqui had “betrayed his trust” and then calling new contestant Beth “classless” when she jokes about the situation, Ryan is again flustered and angry.

“If this happens again, this relationship is over,” he firmly tells Jacqui as their roundabout relationship continues its tumultuous path.

Beth’s husband, Teejay, keeps a level head about the “classless” comment but demands and gets an apology from Ryan after the grooms serve him a grilling about his “double standards”.

While most of the couples are stoked to be on holiday, Lauren can’t think of anything worse.

She isn’t a fan of the other brides, so the prospect of being stuck at a Byron Bay resort together is rather unappealing.

“These people just aren’t my cup of tea. Sixteen extremely loud people is not my vibe,” she says, singling out Jamie and Awhina as “offensive” to her ears.

Lauren can't think of anywhere worse to be. Photo / Nine AU

Surely, she realised she would have to put up with a mix of personalities when she signed up for the experiment, right?

Clearly it must have slipped her mind, because her frosty demeanour is apparent from the get-go.

While husband Clint (who is slowly starting to become the favourite of the group due to his kind nature) vows that his focus is to “support Lauren”, everyone believes the ice queen isn’t giving him a fair go.

Lauren soon admits she wants to leave the experiment and claims Clint does too, but the other grooms aren’t convinced.

Jamie and Adrian hatch a plan to get Lauren and Clint to stay, but “the ice queen cracks” and storms out of the girls' drinks after being confronted for her petulance.

“I think Lauren is a b***h,” Jamie bluntly says. Some of the brides agree but others are more reserved.

It’s looking like battle lines are about to be drawn for a heated debate next week, where, at this stage, anything is possible.

Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024 and has taken on the unofficial role of Mafs correspondent for this season. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.