Married At First Sight UK star Matt Murray has voiced his “regrets” over taking part in the reality show after his ‘cheating’ scandal was exposed.
Things exploded in last night’s dinner party episode when it emerged the 32-year-old barber from Huddersfield had feelings for Whitney, 31, a legal assistant from St Albans.
Whitney was paired with Duka, while Matt married Gemma – who was understandably not happy about the situation.
Following a heated argument at the table, with a distraught Gemma telling Matt she felt “used” and that Whitney “should be ashamed of herself”, scenes showed Matt and Whitney sharing a kiss on a bridge and then spending the night together.
Matt took to Instagram to set the record straight, claiming he and Gemma had already been split for a week at that point.
But he expressed regret at the way his former bride had found out the news he was into someone else.
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Matt told his 52,000 Instagram followers: “So if I’ve got any regrets from last night’s episode, which I knew it would come.
“It was that production asked me not to speak to Gemma until the dinner party, and stupidly out of frustration I listened, and that was the first time I’d actually listened to production and did what they asked me to do.
“Bearing in mind me and Gemma had been broke up for a week prior to this filming, we had called it a day after the commitment ceremony and we agreed to be friends, then it got heated the next day and we just didn’t speak since.
“But to put someone in a position where they are finding out in front of all those people in hindsight it’s f****ing awful, it’s absolutely awful.
"And that there, regardless of whether me and Gemma were getting on, that bit there is my biggest regret of the whole production.”
Whitney also shared her thoughts during an Instagram Q&A with fans – and claimed Duka knew about her and Matt before the dinner party and even gave them his blessing.
One of the questions she was asked was ‘Did you have a chat with Duka before it all came out?’
Taking to her Instagram stories, Whitney candidly told her 22,000 followers: “That was one of the things I found so frustrating was that it wasn’t shown that Duka already knew.
"This whole him saying that this happened behind his back thing, I’m like ‘what the frig?’”
She continued: “It’s so frustrating because I had respect for Duka and we left things in such an amicable, nice place.
"But when you’re with your partner and you’re with the group and you’re filming together you know what is said in front of your face.
“Then people go off on these side interviews and you have no idea what’s been said.
"Little did I know that he’s been spinning this story, acting like he’s hurt and that he genuinely didn’t know. That was never the case.”
Explaining what really went down, Whitney said: “He [Duka] knew, he knew before everything happened.
“The minute that Matthew and I had a sparky thing, I looked at him and thought ‘ooh, maybe I fancy him, this might be something’, I went and told Duka.
“I had a long conversation, a really, really nice conversation with Duka about it. Matthew and Duka also had a conversation after that, like bro, man to man conversation."
Whitney added: "Duka gave his blessing and said go ahead there’s nothing between us, I don’t fancy her, she’s not for me.
“Then I watch tonight and he’s saying it happened behind his back and she’ll regret it in five years’ time. I was like f*** I did not know Duka. I thought I knew him, but I don’t know him at all.”
Despite meeting again at a Married At First Sight reunion yet to be aired and having the “loveliest conversation”, Whitney claims Duka sold a story three days later “absolutely slating her”.
“I’m just baffled by it all because we left things on such nice, amicable terms,” she said.
*Married At First Sight UK continues on E4 at 9am on Wednesday September 28
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