MAFS' Dom reveals truth behind glass smashing scandal
Married At First Sight star Domenica Calarco has revealed the truth behind the glass smashing incident during an episode of the reality TV show.
Dom smashed a wine glass on the table as tensions boiled over during an argument at a girls' dinner party on the retreat between Dom and co-stars Olivia Frazer and Carolina Santos.
Carolina and Dom were discussing a previous altercation during a commitment ceremony when Dom expressed outrage at how Carolina was speaking to her on-screen husband Dion Giannarelli.
When addressing it at the dinner party, Olivia started antagonising Dom about her voice and the way she would speak to her 'husband' Jack Millar, claiming it was aggressive, which pushed Dom over the edge to the point where she smashed a wine glass on the table before walking off.
Addressing the controversial moment on her Sit With Us podcast, which she hosts with co-star Ella Ding, Dom spoke about what was going through her mind in the lead-up to smashing the glass.
"When it got to that level of being so petty that is when I think the triggering of a lot of my past traumas really started to come out," Dom said.
"I think there was a comment from Carolina that was like, 'Oh, that's such a shame because I really want to be your friend', and then having the other girls laugh at that comment.
"It really makes me emotional even to this day because that is the actual crux of making a person feel on the outside of a group, feeling like they are socially isolated ... and I think that is what really triggered a lot in me."
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When Ella asked Dom what pushed her over the edge to smash the glass, Dom said she had started to feel "really alone".
"I started to feel a divide and I think as human beings we are pack animals. We want to feel included. We want to feel like we're going to have a tribe ... I was really feeling like I don't have a f***ing tribe," she said.
"Obviously I'd had a really s**t day with Jack and coming to that dinner and having to sit there and ... being joked at and then everyone laugh at that joke ... that hit a chord and I really struggle right now not to get emotional about it because it really triggered something within me of like, being bullied in school and being socially isolated."
Dom reveals breaking point
Dom said she was not trying to make excuses for her behaviour, but she acted out as a deflection.
"I think in that moment, me smashing the glass was like, I'm trying to deflect and I'm trying to protect myself from being hurt. That was me at breaking point," she said on the podcast.
"I'm not blaming it on anyone ... some people will come off and say that I'm just excusing it and I'm claiming it and I always said that as well.
"Breaking the glass was not the right way to go about it and I ... felt terrible and regretted it straight away."
Dom began to choke up as she spoke of watching the episode back and how she saw her face change the moment before the incident.
"It just saw myself and I just saw 10-year-old me being made to feel like I wasn't good enough," she said.
Dom added she should have removed herself from the situation and walked away before the tension escalated.
"I really hate that I did it because it really just took away from me trying to get my point across. I think it gave a lot of people what they wanted from me," she said.
"I don't think I am this violent, aggressive, that kind of stuff – I would never see myself as that, I am literally the kind of person that sees a cockroach and is like I can't even kill this cockroach.
"Just because I am loud, doesn't mean I'm aggressive."
'I was beyond apologetic'
Dom added if at any point someone was at risk of being hurt or injured the cameras would have stopped. She also made it clear that if she was told she needed to be removed from the show she would have complied.
"I would have copped it. And I said it to the producers on the day. I said, 'Look, if I've crossed the line, yeah, I have to go,' I took 100 per cent accountability for what I did. And I was beyond apologetic from the word go."
Dom said in the aftermath she begged producers to let her call her mum, but they didn't allow it.
"I was crying for my mum, I wanted to go home. It was like 1am and I remember being to the producer, 'Can I get my phone I want to call my mum,' and they're like, 'Don't, you'll freak her out'. Which, in turn, probably was a good choice," she said.
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