MAFS star reveals secret dinner party rules: 'You can't just leave'

Former MAFS star Alyssa Barmonde has lifted the lid on what filming the dinner parties is really like, stating things get explosive due to a myriad of reasons including the cast being prompted to bring drama up at certain times, as well as not being able to leave when they may want to.

While the dinner parties may be MAFS fans' favourite viewing, numerous members of the cast have told Yahoo Lifestyle's Behind The Edit podcast of the long filming days that lead up to actually sitting down at the dinner party, with Bronte Schofield stating that the dinner parties would sometimes finish at 3am.

Alyssa has now told Behind The Edit that the dinner parties are often "so explosive" because that's the only time the cast get to see each other properly for an extended period.

"You have to do things at certain times because you're not allowed to see anybody any other time so that's why dinner parties are so explosive," she revealed.

Speaking of Sara Mesa storming out after a confrontation at last week's dinner party, Alyssa said she felt for Sara in that moment.

"I feel for her because after that scene is when she's stormed out and you can see her talking to a producer and she's like, I want to leave, I want to leave, get me out of here," Alyssa said. "You don't understand we can't just leave."

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Alyssa said she often sees MAFS fans discussing things in the comments but they don't have a full grasp on what's happening at the time of filming.

"They're like [people in the comments] 'they can't hold you against your will', [but] they have your phone. They have everything, OK? So when you first go into the warehouse, they take your phone off you, they take everything off you, what is she meant to do, walk down the street and hail a cab with no money, no nothing? We literally can't leave."

MAFS' Alyssa reveals producer tactics to get participants to open up

The former MAFS star also said when participants were often at their most vulnerable was when producers tried to get them on camera to talk about their feelings.

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"That makes me feel ick about the whole production side of things," she said, when referencing Timothy Smith's retreat week breakdown. "He was probably still really in his emotions and he probably wasn't ready to speak to the producer about what he was going through. But bravo to him, you can see the raw emotion in him and they would've just forced him into doing a voxxie."

She also said the producers employed 'psychological ways' to get the cast to open up.

"They chase after you, and one of the tactics I've learned that producers are taught, is real psychological ways of getting into the nitty-gritty. So they act like your best friend, so you are really open and honest with them, so when you're having this emotional breakdown, they're the first ones to run after you and be like 'Oh are you ok? What's going on? It might feel better if you talk about it'."

Alyssa said it often convinces contestants that they should talk about it. "You're already so broken as a person, at that point, you're so shattered, emotionally, mentally, physically, it's taxing."

Listen to Yahoo Australia's Behind The Edit podcast here. 

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