MAFS Recap 2024 Episode 23: Jack Somehow Keeps Getting Worse

Welcome to Married At First Sight Australia episode 23! Tonight, we're right into it following the shocking revelations last episode that saw Lauren and Sara about to reveal a huge secret to Tori before the episode as cruelly cut short. But fear not! The reveal is HERE and I'ma need you to put on a nice pot of cammomile tea or something because this ep is stressful.

The episode kicks off with Lauren and Sara on the precipice of the big reveal with them saying they want to give Tori all the facts. Then Sara goes IN, telling Tori that Jack has been flirty with her and that he said to Tim that he had the "hottest wife on the show", referring to Sara. She tells her about Jack smacking her butt, as well as kissing her on the neck.

Tori sits there, processing the whole thing in silence. Finally, she speaks, saying that the information pisses her off (same) and that it's yet another thing she needs to battle with. Just as we're getting into the good bits, we fade to black. This show really is edging us, huh?

Then we get the most dramatic montage for what we can expect in the episode, including Eden's huUUuUUuUuuge secret that might just blow up the entire experiment. I'll be the judge of that!!!

We're back in real-time with the BOYSSSSSSS coming back from their BOYSSSSS night. Unsurprisingly, Tori is very annoyed after hearing all the info and immediately pulls Jack aside for a conversation. Tori tells him what the girls said, but because he's Jack, he just brushes it off saying it's "ridiculous". Jack's excuses for his behaviour include: he kissed her neck because he didn't want to ruin her makeup (?), him brushing her bum was an "accident" and of course, that everyone is just out to get him.

Continuing on the bullshit train, Jack says that he didn't say Sara was the hottest wife... he actually said she was the "most striking", which is totally different, actually. I wasn't aware Jack had such an advanced knowledge of semantics! Jack has a little giggle and a smile to himself and says that Sara is a clout chaser and the whole thing is a joke. As they retreat behind closed doors, Jack tells Tori that she's done a "good job" and she immediately starts crying. Dear god, I know Tori says she doesn't need saving, but I want to climb through the screen to save her.

Then, it's the morning and we check in with all the couples, including Timothy and Lucinda (!!!), who shared a beautiful breakthrough in the last episode. Lucinda reveals that she wrote a poem about Tim and reads it out to him. Tim says the poem was "really special" to him and Lucinda and Tim hug it out even more. Gahhhh, I love them.

Meanwhile, Sara lies in bed with Tim and tells him about the whole situation. Tim says he's pissed that his mate would do that, but I'm like, shouldn't you be pissed that any bloke would do that? Anyway, Jack and Tori are also in their room and Tori says that she's hurt by the whole thing and feels "disappointed". But for some reason, Jack interprets her disappointment as her being pissed off at Sara (???). Tori says that she's strong and thick-skinned, and I want to shake her and be like, YOU SHOULDN'T NEED TO BE SO STOIC IN A RELATIONSHIP!!!

Disappointingly, Tori says that she doesn't believe what the girls had to say. It's really sad to see as it felt like she did believe them until she spoke to Jack. She says she trusts him and Jack's just like, hell yeaaaaaah. Look, we don't know exactly what went down, but women being discredited for speaking out about cooked things that happen to them isn't a new event by any means. It's just really sad seeing 1) a woman not being believed, and 2) another woman believing her husband, despite the concrete evidence of his shitty behaviour in the past.

Tim and Lucinda (who is wearing her best Byron Bay gear) go for a walk around her hometown and these two are just SO CUTE. "She's a free spirit and I'm loving it," Tim says, marvelling over the lack of shoes in Byron Bay. Seeing these two galavant around in a natural environment is so cute. I want them to adopt me and for me to be their little daughter. We would go out for family meals and love each other lots. We enjoy this moment, because it is the last ray of sunshine we'll see for the entire episode.

We get a brief intermission of Lauren and Jono swimming and playing mermaids together (probably). As everyone is enjoying themselves poolside, we cut to Tristan, who says he's uncomfortable. Then, we see a conversation between Lauren, Sara and Timothy (I never would have pegged these three as a little gossip trio, but I'm loving it), with Timothy revealing something that has my mouth DROPPED from shock. There's few things that surprise me in this show, but this one really has me rattled.

Tim says that while he was at the pool with Tristan and Lucinda the day before, Jack had apparently walked in and said, "Well, I see that the whales are here today". What. The. FUCK. I'll just let you digest that one for a bit.

Every time I think he can't get worse, he goes ahead and gets worse. Let's also take into account the fact that this guy, someone who will actively body shame people (and people with a history of body image issues, at that), is a personal trainer. A PERSONAL TRAINER. Anyone who isn't thin can attest to the fact that there's always a nervousness when they go to the gym, and blokes like this are the reason why. Sara takes the words right out my mouth saying Jack is "misogynistic and rude", and ain't that the half of it. I'm sad and angry, and I don't think I've been this worked up since the muzzle comment.

We're gifted with a brief reprieve of Lucinda, who's running a wholesome spiritual workshop with the gang, but I'm honestly still so angry at Jack that I can't even enjoy the nice little montage. Even Lucinda encouraging people to lean into their sensuality with hip thrusts can't save me. That's when you know it's bad. Andrea says the world needs more Lucinda and I can't help but agree. I'd love to clone her indefinitely and have all our world leaders just be Lucinda's, thanks.

But because my cortisol levels clearly can't get any higher, the fun time is interrupted by Eden, who says that she feels uncomfy in the big group settings. She says she's been feeling anxious because she's been given information that she doesn't want. Mysteriously, she says the information makes her not want to hang out with everyone. But instead of, y'know, telling us what the secret is, we instead cut to Sara and Tim at the beach.

Sara asks Tim what she thinks about the Jack incident and Tim is just lying down like, uhhhhh, I'm chill. Tim says that he isn't going to blow up about the whole thing and that it's not his style. Okay, but I find it odd that you wouldn't at least be a little bit angry or wouldn't want to stand up for her at all, given that Jack had been inappropriate. There's a difference between being non-confrontational and being complicit. Anyway, he promises that he'll stand up for her later and I'm like yeah okay whatever.

Back with Eden, Jayden says that she's been quite anxious recently, with Eden saying she only feels close to Jayden. Eden again says that the secret means all her relationships are at risk and at this stage, I'm like PLEASE just TELL US.

Then, because there's clearly too much drama in the air that's not being addressed, it's time to cram everyone together over a campfire. But before the shit goes down, Tim reveals that he bought his adopted son Tristan a matching hoodie. I love these two so much, and it's so wholesome to see a nice male relationship like this. That's my father! That's my son! Tim says that he loves Tristan and is fired up after the whale comment from Jack. I am ready for Tim to throw hands. Meanwhile, younger Tim is also bracing himself to confront Jack after his actions towards Sara.

Then finally, it's showtime. We kick off with Young Tim, who says he's got a bone to pick with Jack. If Tim has one bone to pick, then I have a thousand. Tim speaks up and apologises to Sara for not taking her claims seriously (which is another thing we should unpack, but I'm exhausted), and assertively retells all of Sara's experiences.

Jack relays his same sad excuses and says everything was an accident. Sara replies that she questioned if it was an accident at the time, but the repeated instances have made her realise it's not. I don't want to get too into it, but any woman who has been touched by someone nonconsensually would also likely have a similar experience: something shitty happens, you tell yourself that maybe it was just an accident and don't speak up, only to realise hours — or maybe days — later that it was actually intentional. Eventually, Jack apologises but it's a very weak apology, born out of a desire to make everyone quiet instead of being genuinely sorry. But hey, who's surprised? Sara is hot on Tim for standing up for her, which is nice. Jack thanks Tim for calling him out, but I can't help but think that if a woman spoke to him and said all the exact same words, he wouldn't have the same chummy reaction.

Thankfully, Daddy Timothy isn't buying his shit — and I am truly living for this huge turnaround he's had. I've been a Tim fan since day one, and it's nice to see that everyone is now climbing on board. Choo choo!!! Anyway, Daddy Tim straight up tells Jack that he's a "shit person", calling out the whale comment.

Because we're not even remotely surprised that he's still deflecting, Jack says that it's just a joke and JESUS CHRIST. I can't with him. Jack says that he'd never directly call anyone a whale (but you did...?), and Lucinda aptly calls him out for body shaming. Jack says that it's out of context, and I'm struggling to understand what context you would need to have for a comment like that to be okay. Poor Tristan is stuck sitting next to this dickhead and is clearly spiralling after the comment.

Lauren also calls him out, but Jack tells her to "shut up" — something that isn't even remotely surprising when we consider his treatment of her in the past. Finally, Tori has had enough and decides to walk away from the group, with old mate following her and sitting down for a chat. Jack says that there's no malice behind his comment, but Tori finally calls bullshit, saying that the comment was completely malicious. In a confessional, she says that she's never felt disappointed in him until now. Jack says that everyone's plotting against him and that he's just out here LIVIN'! There's not much more about this bloke that I can say that hasn't been said, but every time I see him on screen, I'm stressed and upset. Tori is concerned that she looks like an idiot for backing him, and it's hard to watch him gush about her relationship, seemingly in an effort to deflect and wrap her around his finger, all while she has very, very real concerns about him and his actions. Finally, Tori says that she can't support his actions after the whale comment. Yes, Tori!!!

Then, we get a fever dream of an edit featuring everyone laughing while Eden lowkey spirals over her big secretive secret that absolutely will come out... any time now. Yep, any minute... It's bizarre to watch, really. But it's A R T.

We cut to her behind a door with a producer. She's crying over the big secretive secret. Eden says that she's received a text message about what someone in the group had done and again airs concerns that the whole group will hate her after she comes out with it. Instead of actually revealing the big secretive secret, we cut to the next morning with Eden and Jayden having a chat and talking about her anxiety. This is all well and good, but please, cut to the chase.

Then FINALLY, we get the reveal. Eden explains that Sara met up with her ex-boyfriend during the experiment. Okay? Sorry, there was quite a big build-up for that? I'm confused as to how this would ruin her relationships with everyone. Anywho... Eden says that she doesn't know what happened with them, but that meeting up with your ex behind your partner's back is cheating. Eh, alright.

Jayden says that actually, he's very against cheating which is extremely ironic given his history. They both say that Tim doesn't deserve it and that he needs to know, before we all get treated to a little preview of the next episode with the secret unleashed (and the drama that goes with it).

Now, if you need me, I'll be lying in my room in complete darkness in an attempt to heal myself from this episode. Bye bye.

"Well, I see that the whales are here today." — Jack.

Tristan and Timothy. That's my father/son duo.

Timothy, for being the only one willing to call Jack out on his shit.