Truth behind abrupt ending to MAFS stars' popular podcast: 'True colours'

Married At First Sight besties Domenica Calarco and Ella Ding announced the abrupt end to their podcast Sit With Us last week, with fans believing the shock decision confirmed recent rumours that their friendship had also come to an end. In a telling move, Dom failed to mention Ella in her statement announcing the end of their joint venture on Wednesday, instead declaring that it was a “joint decision”.

“We have loved every moment, and ending this chapter is bittersweet. However, we believe it is the best step forward for both of us,” she wrote. “We think it is the right time now to move on with our own solo projects and explore new opportunities that lie ahead.”

Two days later, Ella remained vague in her own statement about Sit With Us ending. Instead of confirming the pair will remain as close as ever, she simply said there were “no issues” between them and failed to acknowledge Dom further.

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While fans have been left with plenty of questions about the duo, Yahoo Lifestyle can reveal exactly what happened between them, the truth about where their friendship stands now, and the inside story on why Sit With Us failed.

Record-breaking start

In May 2022, one month after Dom and Ella became the breakout stars of Married At First Sight’s ninth season, the former TV brides announced they were launching Sit With Us and dropped the first episode across all podcast platforms. Within 48 hours it hit number 1 on Spotify’s podcast chart in Australia and cracked the top 10 in the UK thanks to MAFS’ success internationally.

Yahoo Lifestyle revealed at the time that the pair had signed a one-year contract with podcast network Acast worth $250,000, which would see Dom and Ella each pocket $125,000 over the next 12 months while putting out one episode a week.

Things got off to such a flying start that Ella told Yahoo Lifestyle at the time she was even planning on relocating from Melbourne to Sydney to move in with Dom.

“We’re looking and it's definitely something on the horizon. We’d love to have our own little home studio,” she gushed, although she never ended up moving to Sydney or in with Dom.

A former producer at Acast tells Yahoo Lifestyle: “There was so much hype and excitement at the start, Acast really believed they had the next big thing female podcast. But over time, everyone involved realised this might not be the case.”

The initial reviews

After the initial hype faded, Sit With Us slowly started falling down the charts and by October 2022, several one-star reviews on Apple Podcasts explained why fans were turning off.

“I really liked both girls on MAFS but unfortunately, their true colours and immaturity are now showing in this podcast,” one person wrote. “Since all the MAFS 'drama' has now finally subsided, it's very evident that there's no real substance here. The girls both just come across as very materialistic, boy-crazy and VIP party/celeb-obsessed. A shame because I wanted to love it.”

Another listener said the podcast “has no substance”, while a different user said it was “a bit disappointing”.

“For two women who purported themselves to be progressive feminists with unique views – this podcast doesn't do anything that a hundred other lifestyle and dating podcasts aren't already doing,” someone else wrote. “Their views on dating and self-love etc are basic AF and offer no new insight, mostly just talking about what they want in a boyfriend and how glam their lives are.”

Controversies and contract clauses

In May 2023, once Dom and Ella’s 12-month contract with Acast ended, the girls announced that Sit With Us had formed a “strategic partnership” between LiSTNR and DM Podcasts.

Yahoo Lifestyle was told that there were several clauses in their initial contract with Acast that stated Sit With Us had to reach certain download and monthly listener milestones to ensure they were paid the full $250,000 – which it did not, so the pair were “paid a substantially lower fee”.

Shortly after signing with LiSTNR and DM Podcasts, Sit With Us found themselves in controversy after Ella suggested in an episode that “mindfulness” could cure “terminal illness”. This led to the podcast being slammed for “medical misinformation” and Ella being forced to issue an apology.

Alongside this, Dom often attracted negative attention towards Sit With Us due to her ongoing feuds with former co-stars such as Olivia Frazer across social media – with many fans insisting she “moves on” and unsubscribing from Sit With Us.

Ella begins to distance herself

While they were extremely close after MAFS finished airing - even getting matching tattoos with each other’s initials to make their friendship “official”- a close friend of the pair tells Yahoo Lifestyle that Dom and Ella have quite noticeably started to “grow apart” over the last six months and have different visions for their future.

“Dom constantly seemed to find herself in drama or scandals and Ella started to step back and distance herself a bit, especially after getting married. She doesn’t want that negativity in her life anymore,” the source said.

Ella married her long-term partner Guy Junior Palermo during a surprise ceremony in April 2024, with Dom and her mother Anna both in attendance.

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Abbie Chatfield controversy

In May, Abbie Chatfield declared virtual war on Dom and Ella 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.

In an odd twist, the controversy led to Sit With Us seeing a 177% increase in fans, taking it from 50,729 monthly listeners to 140,621 as people tuned in to hear the controversial episode. However, it dropped to a new low of 44,237 monthly listeners in June as none of the new listeners the backlash attracted stuck around, and even their existing fans stopped tuning in.

Yahoo Lifestyle is told that the controversy, along with the sudden drop in listeners, led to LiSTNR and DM Podcasts struggling to attract new sponsors for Sit With Us as brands “didn’t want to be associated” with the podcast amid the backlash.

As Dom checked herself into a mental health retreat to recover from Abbie’s takedown, Ella put out 10 episodes on her own before the pair ultimately ended the whole thing on August 7.

Where does their friendship stand now?

Yahoo Lifestyle is told by multiple sources that Dom and Ella are “technically still friends”, but “they’ve outgrown each other and have other priorities now”.

“They were close when MAFS ended, then they started to get all these opportunities as a pair and for a while it felt like they needed each other to succeed and build a brand as besties,” one insider says. “Their friendship basically became a business and over time it became clear that business wasn’t going to be as successful as they both believed.”

A second source adds that “they both have different theories about why Sit With Us didn’t work out” and “essentially just blame each other”.

Yahoo Lifestyle has contacted Dom and Ella for comment.

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