MAFS Recap 2024 Episode 25: Sara, Was It A Nice Dress Or A Nice Top? The People Need To Know

It's episode 25 of Married At First Sight 2024 and after that clusterfuck of a dinner party and couples retreat, I'm honestly exhaustedddddd. Sara's cheating allegations! Jack's body-shaming comment! And now, a wild Commitment Ceremony! Woohoo!

We kick off with Lucinda and Timothy, and these two are soooo into each other right now. Hell yeah! Then we cut to a compilation of all the other couples reacting to Sara's 'cheating' allegations. Unsurprisingly, Tim and Sara have spent the night apart, with Tim saying he's "drained" and the "trust is broken". He reckons he's had his heart broken, and I'm like, please, can you chill out? You've literally known each other for like three weeks. We get another dramatic flashback montage which allegedly shows Sara's shady behaviour, but are we conveniently missing the fact that Sara went out with her ex and a bunch of her friends? The longer this thing goes on, the more I'm edging towards Team Sara. If not just because I'm tired of these hypocritical blokes commenting on Sara's 'cheating', when in reality, they've likely done it all themselves in the past. I know I'm going to eat my words, but oh well.

Meanwhile, Tori says that she might have switched up her response to Jack's 'whale' comment and is actually really not okay with it (which is interesting given her recent thoughts on the incident in an interview with Refinery29). Jack does his best Hannah Montana, seemingly quoting, "Everyone makes mistakes, everyone has those days", but Tori is like nah, I need to see concrete actions.

We cut to Tristan, who tells us that he told Cassandra that he was FALLING IN LOVE WITH HER and awww, Tristan. It's a big jump from writing 'leave' just a few weeks ago. But because things are clearly too peachy, we get a shock, with Cassandra admitting in a confessional that she doesn't love him and is going to write 'leave' tonight. Oh god, Jesus, no. Make it stop. Someone, TELL HIM!

Right before we head off to the Commitment Ceremony, Sara heads on over to Tim's place. Sara tells Tim that she knows what she did was wrong and that she's taking full ownership of it. Tim tells her that her wanting to wear a "cute dress" to see her ex is suss AF, but Sara quickly reminds him that it wasn't a cute dress — it was a cute top. Semantics, everyone.

Everyone files in for the Commitment Ceremony and you can tell that Expert John Aitken is already revving himself up for a big night, with him, with his mastery of all the chaos that inevitably unfolds, at the centre. Lucinda and Daddy Tim are up first, and Tim is SO SMILEY! IT'S SO CUTE! Tim tells the experts about his breakdown (which Lucinda re-labels as a breakthrough, the cutie), and Tim opens up about his trauma. He says he values her having his back, and Tristan jumps in to say they had a big 'melting hug', to which Alessandra, hug enthusiast, loses it. Expert John says this is the first time he's seen the relationship looking like it has romantic potential, which is cuuuuuuuute. Tristan (son of Timothy) crosses his fingers for the two of them, and Lucinda writes 'STAY', requesting x1 hug/day. Timmy writes 'STAY' too, and we are all so proud of him.

Eden and Jayden are next and Eden IMMEDIATELY starts spilling all the dirty details about Sara borrowing the top. Eden is like yeah, Jayden and my principles are sooooooo in sync and Jayden says that he's been in the cheating position too and that's why he felt so passionate about the whole thing. COME ON. This dude literally made his ex WATCH as he CHEATED ON HER. GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE! Tim says that he appreciates their honesty and Eden and Jayden unsurprisingly write 'STAY'. Yeah yeah yeah.

Then, oh no, it's Tristan and Cassandra's turn. Tristan gleefully runs over to the couch while Cassandra dawdles behind, and it's killing me to watch this unfold. Tristan is honestly beaming and says the two of them are doing well, telling everyone that he loves Cassandra. Please, make it stop. It's causing me physical pain to watch this. Tristan says that he's happy that Cass didn't run away afterwards and noonononoononononoonononoononononono. NO. It's the first time Tristan has fallen in love with someone apparently, and I'm just begging Cass to cut this off sooner rather than later.

Finally, Cass speaks and says she wishes she felt the same way about Tristan, but it's not there for her and she's not sure if she can grow into those feelings. She says that his version of love is different to hers, and Tristan just looks devastated. Oh boy, it's about to get worse, mate. Tristan writes 'STAY', then we cut to Cassandra, who of course, has written 'LEAVE'. Cassandra says she's tried and doesn't have the same feelings as him, which is honestly just FUCKED to watch. Everyone just sits in silence and are like, yikes. Tristan starts being like WHATEVER! WE'LL MAKE IT WORK! But Expert John is like, you've gotta figure this out or GTFO. "That's the first time I've told someone I love them, and she wrote leave," Tristan says. Oh man.

Next up are Andrea and Richard, and I'm begging for a simple 'STAY' here, please. Andrea says she likes him while he's sick, and Richard's like, why do you like me when I cannot walk lol. He tells everyone that they haven't even smooched in SIX WEEKS, and Andrea says that she's been trying to get past him airing their sex life and all that jazz. Expert Mel says there's a disconnect between the two of them (you don't say?!) and essentially, to sort their shit out. Despite that mess, they both write 'STAY'.

Lauren and Jono are next on the couch and talk about how well they've been going together this week and say they've been holding hands. Good for them. They both write 'STAY'.

Jade and Ridge are on next and spend the whole time frothing over each other. Jade tells everyone that they went to the zoo with her daughter, and of course, they write 'STAY'. That's about all we've got on the happiness front tonight, folks.

Then it's Michael and Stephen's time, with Michael sharing that Stephen has the hots for the hairdresser and that Stephen's not into him. Michael says the whole thing has crushed him, and I'm devastated for these two. Mikey deserved a better run. Stephen's been getting a lot of hate, but he was honest the entire time and should have been matched with someone who fitted his preferences, not just any ol' bloke. These two deserved better. Stephen writes 'LEAVE' and Michael also writes 'LEAVE', which means they're officially out of the experiment. I'm devastated. Don't talk to me.

Next up are Jack and Tori. Oh man, my cortisol levels are already rising looking at this dude's face. Jack says that he was hoping the couples retreat would be a nice chill time but for some reason, people are still coming at him. Tori says that despite the two of them being chummy AF during the last dinner party, she came home and was like, wait, what? And has gone off him a bit. Expert John lists out all the problematic things that Jack has said in the experiment and damn, we're going to need a longer episode.

Seventeen hours later, Expert John is done listing Jack's cooked behaviour and calls him out for the whale comment, especially considering he's a personal trainer (THANK YOU, JOHNNY). Tori is clearly off Jack in this moment, and it's only after John calls this out that Jack realises he needs to stop with the shitty behaviour. Expert Alessandra very dramatically asks Tori if she trusts Jack, to which Tori replies that it's "in question". YES, TORI. WAKE UP! SEE THE LIGHT! Then it's decision time. Jack writes 'STAY' and Tori (sadly for me because I need to watch Jack for another week) also writes 'STAY'. Sad. Before they leave the couch, Alessandra hopes Tori will "pay attention" to what she's saying. Ominous! Time will tell if Jack actually changes his ways, but I'm not holding my breath.

Because we're clearly having shit sandwiches for dinner tonight, we hop onto the couch with Sara and Tim. I'm not ready. Sara recounts the dinner party drama, and explains that she was meeting up with her ex just because. Expert John interrogates her and she reveals that she's been seeing her boyfriend on and off for six years, give or take. But she also shares that she saw him a month before the experiment. Sara, babe, I'm really trying to fight for you, but you're making it kind of difficult right now.

John delivers an iconic line: "Friends don't get naked and have sex," and if I were Sara in this situation, I would be mortified. He calls on Eden, the keeper of the texts, and questions why she wanted to wear a nice dress. A girl wants to look hot for her ex! Is this not natural behaviour?! But also, this brings up a more important question: Was it a nice top? Or a nice dress? The things I would do to see this mysterious top/dress that has caused all this drama...

Ridge and Jayden pipe in and say that if she hadn't gotten caught out, she wouldn't have said anything. Sara tells everyone to pipe down and that it's her time on the couch (and honestly, it's kind of brilliant). Tim says that he isn't sure if anything physical happened with her and her ex, and is really torn about not knowing, saying that he's been there before.

John continues reading Sara, calling out that she lied to Tim and hasn't apologised for her actions. Tim says that her leaving the dinner party and not following up if he was okay, hurt him and has made him question why he's even there. John says that she's very combative and Jayden interjects, before Sara starts saying something. I don't know what that something is, because she cuts Tim off from speaking and everyone is like no, not this again please! She says that she wants to make Tim a priority, but Stephen jumps in and calls bullshit, considering she literally just shut him down from speaking.

Sara's kind of had it, but alas, we're at decision time. Tim says that he feels like an idiot and wants to be respected and finally writes 'LEAVE'. Everyone fist bumps the air, but Sara says she doesn't care what everyone else says, and writes 'STAY'. Oh my gawwwwwwwwddddd. We're in this for ANOTHER WEEK?!

John says that Sara needs to win him back and asks her to tell him what she's going to do to fix the whole thing. Right in front of everyone. God, this is awkward. She asks for the chance to show him that she does want to be there and apologises, but everyone is kinda looking around like, is that it? Then she forces him into a hug, and everyone is watching this all unfold like it's the WEIRDEST and most UNCOMFY thing they've seen, probably because it is.

Then we're done. Stephen and Michael are dunzo, and Tim and Cass have tried to yeet themselves from their relos, only to be pulled back in. It's gonna be a gruelling week, to say the least.

Sara's hug and apology. Oh god, make it stop.

Lucinda and Timothy!!!!! DUH!!!!

John Aitken. Go get 'em, tiger.