The end of Intimacy Week means all our brides and grooms are in need of a drink – whether it be a celebratory one or one to numb the pain of the last few days.
And there’s no better place to do that than at this week’s Dinner Party…
Pre-Dinner Party
A lot of our couples have done a 180. Bronte and Harrison plan to walk into the Dinner Party hand in hand as do Claire and Jesse.
And as Claire and Jesse prepare for their first Dinner Party together, Claire reveals there’s been another shushing incident – but it’s not with Jesse.
“The other morning I was walking and I saw Shannon with his daughter and another woman and Shannon turned around to me – and I’m pretty sure Lyndall saw too but I’m not sure – and was like ‘shhh’,” Claire says.
“And we know how I feel about a shush”.
Jesse is glad that for once that it’s someone else’s drama not his own that’s making him nervous heading into the Dinner Party.
But down the hallway at Lyndall and Cam’s apartment, Cam has made it crystal clear he doesn’t want to be pulled into the group’s drama over what Lyndall saw with Claire.
“Quite frankly, I’ve had enough of hearing about it because you can say what you want and you’re your own person,” Cam snaps.
“I didn’t sign up for drama.”
The usually harmonious couple are divided over what to do with this information. Lyndall wants justice to be served while Cam isn’t here to “play Dr. Phil for every man and his dog”.
“I just feel like I’m here for Lyndall, and Lyndall is obviously here for me but I feel like she’s here for the whole group,” Cam vents to cameras.
Lyndall is feeling very conflicted, she’s worried if she says something Cam might want to leave but being honest is just who she is.
“I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, the rock being me the hard place being Cam and I’m somewhere in the middle,” Lyndall says.
Cocktail Hour
After Caitlin and Shannon’s latest row, it’s no surprise that they’re heading to the Dinner Party separately.
“This week Shannon has disrespected me, degraded me, insulted me and I’m going in tonight and I’m showing him that I am strong,” Caitlin says.
She warns that it will be “game over” if Shannon doesn’t apologise to her.
After entering Cocktail Hour on her own, the ladies huddle around Caitlin to hear what’s happened this week.
And when Caitlin catches the girls up, their jaws hit the floor.
Shocked and disgusted by Shannon’s actions, Alyssa and Melinda nudge Lyndall to reveal the secret she’s sitting on. And after a bit of hesitation, she does.
Caitlin is beside herself and the girls quickly go into damage control and assure her the mystery woman could’ve been someone else.
Shannon walks in expecting “a lot of questions about why he’s by himself.”
And Claire assures cameras she’ll “definitely be speaking to Shannon tonight” and “backing Caitlin all the way.
“I’m not one to sit back.”
Dinner Party
Claire wastes no time getting into the nitty gritty.
“Who were you with on the weekend?” she asks Shannon the second they sit down.
But Shannon assures Claire – and the whole table who of course want to eavesdrop – that he was out with his cousins, not his daughter and his ex.
“Can we describe the cousin and describe the ex and just make sure they’re different people,” Melinda adds.
Shannon says both his cousin and his ex are redheads so distinguishing their identities might be difficult. And as for why he shushed Claire and Lyndall? It’s just something he does.
Just like that, (almost) everyone is happy to put the case of Shannon and his mystery woman to rest.
“I’ve found Shannon’s response a little bit hard to swallow,” Claire admits.
“Innocent until proven guilty they say.”
Down the other end of the dinner table, Janelle and Adam find themselves in the same situation that Lyndall and Cam did just a few hours ago.
Janelle is sitting on some information about one of the grooms and while she wants to come clean with it Adam says “that’s on her”.
“So Harrison and Adam were on the phone and I overheard Harrison mention that Dan got a girl’s number,” Janelle tells cameras.
“After seeing the whole group hold Shannon accountable tonight, I just felt really guilty that I couldn’t share this with Sandy.”
Adam gives Harrison the heads up that Janelle feels like she might need to say something about the whole number thing and Harrison immediately panics.
His onset of panic might have something to do with the fact that it was actually him that got a girl’s number, not Dan.
Harrison explains the story to producers: “We were at a bar, some girls came up to Dan and I and one of the girls said, ‘You’re hot can I have your number?’ and I said, ‘I can’t give you my number, give me yours’. Literally got it deleted as soon as she walked off.
“I personally don’t see it as a big deal which is why I didn’t tell Bronte.”
Janelle is still experiencing an ethical crisis so she pulls Adam, Tahnee and Ollie aside for advice.
Harrison follows them presumably to stop the news from getting Bronte.
“Why are you throwing me under the bus?” he asks the girls.
“I didn’t even know you were involved,” Tahnee says.
And then the penny drops for Harrison. He quickly realises that a case of mistaken identity is about to save him.
“By some sort of miracle it seems that Janelle has heard that it was Dan that got a girl’s number and not me,” Harrison breathes a sigh of relief.
“So I just have to let him take the hit on that.”
The experts are horrified by Harrison’s dishonesty. “What a snake!” Mel and Alessandra shriek.
Dan has caught wind that his name is tangled in a game of Chinese whispers so he wants to “hash it all out with Sandy because he doesn’t want any kind of trust issues” between them. So he tells her that false rumours that he got a girl’s number are going around.
The good guy move backfires when Sandy’s guard goes up.
“Do I have something to be worried about?” Sandy asks.
Things get a bit tense between Dan and Sandy at the table and Harrison sits back and does nothing as he watches the fire he lit burst into flames.
Triggered by her existing trust issues, Sandy walks out of the dinner party.
“If he’s going out and getting a girl’s number he’s not here for a marriage, he’s not here for me,” Sandy vents to cameras.
On that note, Harrison does the only decent thing he’s done all episode and comes clean to Bronte about getting a girl’s number. And she actually takes the news really well.
“Yeah girls are going to find you hot, it’s human nature,” Bronte says and maybe she’s had a couple too many wines at this point.
“I don’t care about the phone number, I really couldn’t give a s–t it’s really just water off a duck’s back,” she tells cameras.
After round two of Chinese whispers ensues, Dan realises the story that Harrison has let spread.
“For some reason Harrison told Adam that I got a girls number, I don’t know what his intentions were for saying that,” Dan says.
“It’s not the truth.”
And while Harrison was originally worried about coming clean to Bronte about the whole number fiasco, he now has to come clean to the group. And their response is, well…
“I reckon this tops the chart of the dumbest story I’ve heard in the Harrison saga,” Melinda rolls her eyes.
While Claire questions: “What does that say about his inability to set boundaries?”
“I can’t believe the explanation he’s giving!” Alessandra says in disbelief.
Despite the groups response, Bronte doubles down on her support for Harrison.
“I’m cool with it, I got matched with a good looking guy,” she says.
“It’s done, I don’t want to hear about it again and let’s move on.”
Married At First Sight continues Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
