MAFS' Melissa and Bryce slam radio hosts over 'sick joke'

Former MAFS stars Melissa Rawson and Bryce Ruthven have slammed Melbourne's KIIS FM over a 'sick joke' they played on the couple.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Melissa shared the story, visibly upset, explaining how Bryce had received flowers from a 'secret admirer' that turned out to be a prank by KIIS 101.1's Jase and Lauren in The Morning.

The accompanying note read: "Hey Bryce. Just wanted to say I've loved working with you. I know there's a spark there, I hope you feel it too. Love, your secret admirer."

It also included a phone number with Melissa saying she could easily track down the culprit, realising they were a producer at KIIS.

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Melissa called the florist to find out more information about why they received the flowers with hosts Lauren Phillips and Jason 'Jase' Hawkins later calling Bryce asking about the flowers and whether it had caused any issues for the couple.

Addressing the prank on Instagram, Melissa said she's "had enough of jokes being made at my expense".

"I know I signed up for it in MAFS, I know I was contracted to it to allow them to exploit and manipulate me was part of the contract, but I didn't ask for this," she added.

Melissa continued, saying the radio station likely didn't think their prank would be received poorly, adding, "But after listening to how it was put together today… Bryce was very kind on air but I was absolutely fuming behind the scenes.

"As a new mummy to preemie twins already so physically self-conscious about my looks and body, completely exhausted and vulnerable - I really don't think they thought how this could affect me or what could have happened if we as a couple did not know and trust each other so wholeheartedly.

"This was not a joke to bring 'a little love…' into our lives. This was intended to create a stir for radio and it was hurtful to me."

Melissa described it as a "sick joke", adding, "I thought the joke was quite tasteless and could've done potential harm not only to our relationship (one that is full of love, happiness, challenges and growth) but also to my own self-esteem and to our new family unit."

When the radio hosts found out Bryce and Melissa called the florist, they admitted the joke had "backfired'.

"We weren't in the game of splitting up relationships, we were supposed to be adding a little love to Valentine's Day," Lauren said.

Jase and Lauren sent out ten bouquets of flowers to different celebrities with the same note including Dylan Alcott, Karl Stefanovic, Tommy Little and Andy Lee's girlfriend Rebecca Harding.

When speaking with Bryce Lauren said: "We feel like we might have got some people in trouble with a little joke we tried to play."

Bryce responded: "It didn't go down too well with two new parents who are going through some stuff with two newborn twins, I'm not going to lie."

Things seemed to be alright with the group cracking some jokes about the prank, however, Bryce also took to Instagram to share a statement about it, saying: "The stunt wasn't funny, it was quite tacky and tasteless."

"Sure, for the hosts and their show producers it was all a joke, but to then celebrate the fact they thought they may have 'caused a few issues' for us is actually disgusting," he added.

"The aim was to target 'celebrities' with the joke - maybe next time actually do that instead. We are not celebrities and don't consider ourselves to be 'celebrities', we are two normal everyday people that happened to meet on a TV show. That doesn't make you a 'celebrity'.

"How would the hosts feel being publicly humiliated by a radio station trying to cause problems for two people in a healthy, loving relationship? Be better humans."

Taking to the airwaves on Wednesday morning, Jase and Lauren issued an apology to Bryce and Melissa after seeing the pair's Instagram posts, saying they thought it "was all cleared up" after having Bryce on the show and sharing a few jokes about it all.

"You know, in hindsight, bad timing," Jase admitted after playing some audio of Melissa's Instagram video. "I've got a 20-day-old baby at home, if I had flowers rock up, Lou would probably kill me with them if they were signed from a secret admirer.

"So yeah, in hindsight, bad timing on our part we probably should have targeted a different MAFS person. So yeah, sorry Mel if it upset you and I'm glad at least you got some nice flowers out of it. So lesson learned, pull our heads in."

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