MAFS EXCLUSIVE: Why Lauren and Jono were 'edited out' of Family Week

The couple were only shown for seven seconds during Tuesday night's episode.

Lachlan Guertin
·Senior Entertainment Reporter
Updated ·2-min read

From Lucinda Light’s protective dad to Tim Calwell’s unpredictable best friend, Family and Friends Week on Married At First Sight is a great time for the couples to get a sense of what dating in the real world would look like.

While a majority of the original couples were shown meeting each other’s loved ones during Monday and Tuesday night’s episodes, Lauren Dunn and Jono McCullough were noticeably absent.

MAFS’ Jono McCullough and Lauren Dunn.
MAFS’ Lauren Dunn and Jono McCullough were barely shown during Family and Friends Week. Photo: Channel Nine

The pair were shown for exactly seven seconds during Tuesday night’s episode enjoying a glass of wine in their apartment while a voiceover announced that family and friends week had “strengthened bonds and given couples renewed confidence in their relationships”.

A production insider now tells Yahoo Lifestyle that Lauren and Jono did participate in Family and Friends Week, but the scene didn’t air on TV as producers thought it was too “boring”.

“Nothing interesting happened during the lunch so the producers decided to scrap the scene altogether,” the source shares.

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The insider adds that Lauren’s friend was scheduled to film the catch-up scene, but producers cancelled her appearance at the last minute.

“The only person that showed up to their lunch was someone on Jono’s side, which producers explained was because of ‘scheduling reasons’,” the source details.

MAFS’ Lauren Dunn and Jono McCullough.
The couple filmed a catch-up scene with one of Jono’s loved ones but it was cut because producers thought it was too ‘boring’. Photo: Channel Nine

Timothy's un-aired walk-off

Lauren and Jono’s catch-up certainly wasn’t the only scene left on the cutting room floor this week, with Yahoo Lifestyle obtaining snaps of Timothy Smith storming out of his apartment in an explosive scene that never aired on TV.

Photos taken on August 29, days before Monday night’s episode was filmed, show the groom being chased by a cameraman and sound person after walking out of Skye Suites.

An inside source tells us that Timothy repeatedly tried to quit the experiment following Sunday night’s commitment ceremony but producers convinced him to stay.

“They knew Lucinda was going to be one of this year's most loved participants and were never going just to let Timothy just walk away,” the source shares. “They wanted her on the show as long as possible.”

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