Despite the recent controversy surrounding her real-life wedding to Cameron Merchant, Jules Robinson maintains there’s no truth to Melissa Lucarelli’s claims she was dumped as her bridesmaid.
WATCH: Melissa tears into Matt De Groot on live radio
So it comes as no surprise the Married At First Sight star was less than impressed when KIIS FM’s ‘Intern’ Pete Deppeler asked her to comment on the infamous scandal that’s gripped headlines for months.
“Did you really dump Mel out of your wedding?” Pete asked Jules during an interview on the red carpet at the ARIA Awards.
“Even the word “dumping” is not something… I wouldn’t talk like that, Pete,” an infuriated Jules replied.
Her curt response comes a week after Jules’ former bestie Melissa unleashed on Cam’s groomsman during an intense live broadcast on Nova.
Speaking to Cam’s close friend, Matt De Groot— who also serves as a Nova FM newsreader— the MAFS contestant lost her cool when he implied she not only deserved to be dropped as a bridesmaid but should be slammed for bashing their televised wedding on social media just moments after viewers saw the couple say their I do’s.
“Mel you posted that photo moments after their ceremony for no reason,” Matt began. “You had said your piece, it had been done, and then for no reason you jumped in and posted a photo of the two of you, threw yourself right back into the middle of it at exactly the moment it should have been about them.
“It was really poor to try to make the most of their friendship for your own game.”
A tearful yet furious Mel quickly hit back, screaming: “You have not thought about how this has affected me and made me feel! I was asked [to be a bridesmaid] on national television. Everyone knew. I think that is so rude of you, Matt! I can’t even believe I’m having this discussion with you.
Mel went on to say the only reason she addressed the scandal publicly and leaked those text messages was to ensure viewers and fans alike knew she was blindsided by the dumping and wasn’t in the wrong.
“Am I just meant to not say anything so that everybody assumes that I did something so bad? Everyone was asking, so I addressed it! Do you want access to my Instagram inbox so you can go through all the messages [from fans] and answer them all? You’re very rude!”
Attempting to mediate, Matt’s co-hosts, Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli and Sarah McGilvray jumped in, admitting they empathised with the reality star as sobbed over the phone.
“Matt, you’ve got to understand that you can’t pose a question [like that] to poor Mel, who’s still trying to get answers on why she was dumped,” Wippa said before Sarah added: “Female friendships are so much harder than men’s, I don’t care what anyone says.”
Although Matt quickly settled down, Wippa tore into him when he said he was “surprised” she had thrown Jules under the bus so publicly.
“This whole thing is a public forum, so to be surprised by anything that’s played out publicly is a shock to me. Mel is a friend of the show, find your manners,” he said.
A devastated Mel— who’s clearly still hurt by what she once described as “Jules’ cold and hurtful actions”— concluded by saying she usually keeps her nose out of the MAFS drama and shouldn’t be shamed or judged for sharing her side of the story.
“I have never ever spoken out about anything, I’ve never been involved in the drama, I’ve never called anyone out or done this, whereas the others…” she said.
Matt later apologised for ‘opening the wounds‘, explaining: “As a friend of them, I saw what Mel had posted and I found it unusual – and I’m sorry, Mel, if I upset you.”
After their nuptials played out on television, Jules’ enemy Jessika Power also took it upon herself to support Mel, implying the bubbly redhead used this situation to attract attention.
Posting to her favourite social media platform, the former reality star wrote: “Wish mafs and a current affair paid me 75k to act like a complete twat on tv also. I want my compensation.”
Jessika, who has clearly had issues with Jules and Cam since their stint on MAFS, wasn’t invited to the real wedding… and neither was her former ‘husband’ Mick Gould. The pair decided to have a viewing party together instead.
Mick, the 32-year-old farmer who couldn’t stand Jessika by the end of their ‘marriage’ on the show, was just as vocal about the wedding that has been labelled as a “sickening” advertisement.
Directing his distaste to the couple on the TV, he told them to “f**k off” as he turned it off.
“Aw f**k it who gives a bloody … f**k off,” he said.
It’s not the first time Jessika has taken a swipe at Cam and Jules recently. The blonde took to her Instagram Story last month to take Mel’s side in the bridesmaid wars. During an Instagram Q&A, she claimed that Jules is “milking” the drama with Mel to turn it into a profit.
“I think Mel is such a bubbly girl. She’s not about the drama. She’s so open, honest and genuine,” Jessika stated. “So to see her dropped as a bridesmaid… I wasn’t that shocked. I stand by what I said and a lot of what Jules does is calculative. I think she has learnt how to milk what is happening.”
She continued, sarcastically: “I mean, good on you and all power to you if you can get things out of this opportunity. But to see somebody like Mel hurt and be shout out and neglected… it’s just sh*t.”
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