Abbie Chatfield's 'feud' with MAFS' Domenica and Ella backfires

Abbie Chatfield declared virtual war on former Married At First Sight brides Domenica Calarco and Ella Ding in May by calling the best friends out for having Jack Dunkley on their podcast and “dismissing” his controversial and “misogynistic” remarks about the women on MAFS.

Abbie said the girls' interview made her “feel sick” and urged them to take it down, apologise and “educate yourselves on the inner workings on patriarchy”, – leading to an onslaught of backlash and trolling against the pair, as fans demanded their podcast be cancelled permanently.

However, despite the fact that the media storm this created seemed career-ending at the time, new data has revealed that Abbie's decision to publicly call out the pair had the opposite effect.

RELATED:

• MAFS' Dom & Ella cop more backlash after Jono, Ellie interview: 'Cancelling yourselves'

• MAFS' Dom and Ella slammed after controversial interview with Jack Dunkley: 'Take this episode down'

• MAFS' Dom Calarco breaks silence after Abbie Chatfield slams podcast

Triton's Australian Podcast Ranker shows that throughout the month of May, Dom and Ella's podcast Sit With Us had a 177% increase in new fans, taking it from 50,729 monthly listeners to 140,621.

Whereas Abbie's podcast It's A Lot was still significantly ahead as the 16th most popular podcast in Australia with 271,656 monthly listeners in May, the backlash saw Sit With Us jump from number 132 to 45 thanks to their 89,892 new listeners.

The news will surely delight Ella and Domenica, who recently returned to social media after the controversy with Abbie resulted in her “spiralling into a deep depression” and checking into a mental health facility for four weeks.

Dom checks into a mental health retreat.

Following the controversy, Dom took to social media in May to announce that she felt “psychologically drained” and would be entering a mental health retreat.

“Over the last month I have been struggling with some deep issues that have left me emotionally, physically, and psychologically drained,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “Everyday, I am trying to be the strong, independent, and bubbly person that you all know me to be, but the reality is that I am not okay and the recent social media discourse has forced me to realise that I am at the end of my tether.”

Ella also shared a statement to the pair’s Sit With Us podcast group on Facebook, writing: “[It’s] been a weird time for Dom, me and even all of you being thrown into a media circus, some willing and some not so.

“I want to thank everyone who has posted positive supportive comments inside this group, I am reading them every day and I want you to know they go a long way.”

Domenica is currently enjoying a break with family in Europe after leaving her retreat in late June.

Mental health support for yourself or a loved one can be found by calling Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978, or the Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800. Online support is available via Beyond Blue.

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