MAFS Recap 2024 Episode 37: During The Reunion Dinner Party, Jono Becomes The Most Hated Man In Australia

We're at the end, folks. We're finally at the reunion dinner party for the 2024 season of Married At First Sight Australia, and hooooo boy. We've all been waiting for the Jono and Ellie dating revelation to come out for yonks — and it's here! It's finally here! Episode 37! Let's fkn GOOOOOO.

We start the episode with a montage of Jono saying he and Ellie were just best best buds while the experiment was going on, but then the MAFS overlords expertly show them smooching, showing that things have obvi changed between them since the texting incident. It's a Jono and Ellie relationship debut, and it's going to be chaotic as hell. Fantastic. Beautiful. Molto bene.

We quickly cut to Lucinda, who looks like a human disco ball in a gold sequinned jumpsuit, and she looks STUNNING. I know she's only been off our screens for like, a week, but I've missed her so much. Our icon. Our mother.

We're told that everything going down in tonight's reunion is happening just one month after the final vows went down. Which is certainly a short time for Jono and Ellie to go from just mates to a full-blown relationship, if you ask me.

Then, we check in with our couples who said yes during the final vows. Jade and Ridge are still together and "in love" (that's deeeeece), with Ridge moving up to the sunny GC in the next two months. Meanwhile, Tori and Jack are surprisingly still together (!) and navigating their long-distance relo as they're both still living in different cities. They also insinuate that they're still boning. Good on them.

In surprising news, Sara and Tim reveal that they're also still together and doing long distance. They actually look cute as hell and Sara says she's "excited" for the reunion and that they're going into it "quite strong". If only she could see the chaotic trailer for the evening...

We also get reacquainted with all of those people we haven't seen in yonks, such as Collins. In a weird way, I've actually missed Collins, simply because every time he talks, I'm just flabbergasted at what comes out of his mouth. Surprisingly, it's not him just calling Natalie a "lovely, lovely lady". Meanwhile, Lucinda and Daddy Tim share that they're both excited to see each other again and have been chatting multiple times a week since the experiment, which is really nice.

The MAFS overlords are clearly enjoying this, splicing yet another scene of Jono during the experiment where he said he was "excited for the reunion" because he could disprove that he was into Ellie... before cutting to him with Ellie in the car, smooching her on the hand. Yikes, yikes, yikes. Lauren is still oblivious to the fact that they're now not just an official couple, but they're wearing MATCHING. OUTFITS. Lauren is gonna lose it, and I can't wait.

After a little sing song, Lucinda is the first to arrive at the dinner party. Jayden and Eden then walk on through, and I would guess they're still together because they look chummy AF. Lucinda calls them a "good fit" and I SUPPOSE that if Lucinda approves of them, then I will try to get around this couple, despite my dislike for Jayden. Tristan is next in the room, sporting a bright red suit and saying some lovely things about Cass. Then Daddy Tim rolls on through and Lucinda calls him "hunky". It's like nothing has ever changed!

Then chaos mode begins, with Lauren arriving, quickly telling everyone that she hasn't said a word to Jono since the final vows. While Lauren says that she's irritated at him, she also reckons that nothing is going on between Jono and Ellie, and oh man, this really IS going to be bad.

We watch everyone arrive for what seems like thirty solid minutes, including Cass, Andie and Richard (sans scarf). Jayden waits about two minutes before he starts kicking up about Sara and Tim still being together, hinting that their relo is actually total trash and sharing a big ol' secret — that Tim wished he left Sara during the final vows. Jayden reckons he was just "too scared" to say no to her, and even if this is true, I just cannot stand the fact that it's Jayden who's once again on his high horse about his relationship given the way he acted most of the season. Sorry babes.

Then, perfect timing, Sara and Tim arrive, all peachy and unaware and Jayden and/or Jono are about to send a little dumpster fire their way for them to extinguish. Jayden is confused that Tim could change his mind about Sara and says that he's going to "get to the bottom of it". Please, no.

Jade and Ridge arrive. Collins arrives. That dude that I forgot the name of (Ash) arrives. Ben arrives (with no guitar, unfortunately). Natalie arrives looking gorg and submitting herself to small talk with Collins (aka my idea of hell). Michael. Stephen. No Madeleine though, weirdly enough. Then Jack and Tori arrive. Everyone is surprised that they're still together and Tori tells everyone that she's still planning on moving to the Gold Coast. You do you, babe.

Of course, the last to arrive are Jono and Ellie, who are about to debut their relationship. Then it happens. They walk into the room hand in hand. Lauren's shocked. Sara's shocked. Ben's shocked. The experts are shocked. But you know what? Absolutely none of us at home are shocked.

The experts call out the fact that Jono "lied to all of us," and they reveal that they apparently got together "three weeks ago", which Lauren quickly calls bullshit on. Lauren is miffed that he had the nerve to call her a liar and says she should have been sent a pigeon carrier (at the very least!) with a heads up. She says hello to Ellie. Ellie does not respond. Oh god, this is so messy.

Sara speaks facts and calls Jono a "snake," while Daddy Tim calls Jono "slimy as a snail." I'm here for the Jono slander! Jono, clearly leaning into his villain era, drags Lauren and says it was worth walking through "broken glass" to get to Ellie. Then, to reallllly shove it in her face, he has the AUDACITY to kiss Ellie in front of everyone.

We get ding ding dinged, then it's drama time... I mean dinner time.

Everyone sits down for dinner. Lucinda sees that Lauren is hurt and says that Jono and Ellie need to "honour Lauren's hurt feelings", but Ellie clearly doesn't read the room, and just says that she's "feeling good" about her relo with Jono about a thousand times. The social awareness is strong with this one. Jono also yaps on about how happy he is and they kiss some more. Jesus, have some TACT. Ellie says that she's happy. Jono says that he's happy. Ellie says she's happy AGAIN. Etc etc, until the end of time. Make it stop.

Ellie reckons her actions were fine because Lauren had said she didn't have feelings for Jono on the couch (I guess she missed the part where they were all happy and shit). Jono doubles down and says that Lauren didn't give a shit about him so she shouldn't be upset, which is also messed up.

Then we get a touching monologue from Lauren, who speaks about her struggles of feeling like a "cold person" because she's loud and outspoken, and her history of dating self-proclaimed "nice guys" that turn her into a villain despite her shitty actions. Does any of this sound familiar?

But old mate Jono isn't done. He starts justifying their relo, saying that he called Ellie after final vows and that they went and got a six-hour coffee together. Sounds like hell, IMO. He maintains that he didn't know Ellie before then (despite sending 100+ texts, but I digress). Lauren, upon hearing all his shit, is clearly upset and starts crying, but Jono just calls her crying "hilarious". Damn, I never thought Jono would out-villain Jack.

Daddy Tim speaks up for her and says that Lauren was blindsided and that the whole thing is "suss." Sara also stands up for Lauren, calling out the intent of the text messaging. Jono talks to Lauren like she's a little five-year-old child and calls her the "nastiest person" he's ever met. Jesuuuuusss. Jack, now is when we need your muzzle comment (but aimed at Jono, please).

Jono still maintains that the texting was innocent, but Ellie's ex-husband Ben reveals that Ellie told him that she thought Jono had a crush on her. Ben says that he's got a problem with Jono and Jono starts ranting in a monotone voice, saying that Ben had fucked up in his relationship with Ellie. Can someone please take this man off my television?!

Jono, clearly on a mission to burn everyone on this show, gets bold and says that Sara was the only one who cheated on the show, which is WILD. I cannot get over the moral elitism. Then he reveals the big secret from Tim, saying that Tim disclosed to him that he felt "rushed" during his final vows with Sara and would have made a different decision. Ah, the art of deflection. Tim nervously laughs, then Jono's like Ohhhhh sorry, I didn't think this would come up... even though he brought it up.

Tim admits that he "could have" changed his mind, and Jono is like hehehehe, deflection success! Then Jono has the audacity to say that Tim deserves a "better person than Sara". I can't believe this. Sara is like, are you fucking kidding me bruh, and Tim is like panting and sweating because he knows he's fucked up. We quickly cut to Tori, and I feel like she is just as surprised as all of us that the camera hasn't been on her or Jack all night. A miracle!!!

Tim starts playing the semantics game, and Sara is pissed that he didn't speak to her about his issues and instead chose JONO of all people. J O N O. Sara says that she's made up for her mistakes, which, honestly, I think is FAIR. If you're claiming to forgive someone for their actions, then you can't continue to hold onto them. She starts crying, and she and Lauren walk away, while Tim is like, what the fuck at Jono, with him just teeheeing.

Sara tells... well, yells at him that if he doesn't want to be in the relationship, he doesn't have to be. Meanwhile, everyone is taking a little look through the door, trying to get a peek at the show. Tim returns to the table, calls Jono out for his gossiping, and says that he's happy with Sara. He apologises to Sara at the table and says that he's certain about her now. Jono calls their fight "hilarious", and it's wild how much he's enjoying everyone's misfortune.

Then that's it. Tomorrow night, everyone will return for a final couch session and it seems like Jack and Tori might not have gotten off easy after all, with drama looking like it will be surrounding them tomorrow night. Until then, friends.

Can I just say every time Jono or Ellie spoke? Because what in the hell was that entire hour and a half?!

In a weird way, Jono and Ellie get this one simply because the episode wouldn't have been this good without their chaotic as hell relationship.

Is it Lauren? Is it Sara? Or is it Lucinda, simply because she is Lucinda?