It’s not like MAFS dinner parties are usually the height of sophistication, but this one was erupting before couples even entered the room, and we’re only on Week 2!

Be warned, the episode is chock full of “he said, she said” moments.

We open with Tamara and Brent having a huge fight on iPhone footage (which must have escalated so quickly, the cameraman couldn’t even get to the room). There’s a lot of barely coherent shouting but it seems the gist is that Tamara asked Brent to turn down the TV and called him the C-word while doing it (and I don’t mean C-oles employee). She says she didn’t call him that and asked politely, he says she snapped too quickly over something small, she says he’s fake and different behind closed doors, he says she’s playing the victim and wishes people knew what really happened… I say the iPhone didn’t come out soon enough so we can see what really happened!

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Mitch and Ella are still at odds over his statements about her being insecure because she wants verbal validation. He is still channeling Steve Jobs in that turtleneck (whyyyy???) and does an absolutely terrible job of understanding what Ella is asking of him.

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And then we get to the strangest situation I’ve ever seen in one of these dinner parties. Andrew comes in to the group by himself first, and tells his version of the story with Holly, about how they are “imperfectly perfect” and “butted heads too much” and how he still cares about her and has “a clear heart”. Now this is where it gets confusing cos literally the whole group runs to support him and hug him, even Olivia and Jackson, who I’ve been thinking of as the levelheaded couple in the group who can be seen as the stand in for viewers. And it makes you wonder, is Andrew REALLY THAT GOOD at getting people on side, or is there more to their relationship and Holly’s behaviour that we have not been shown?

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Brent says that she has a full-on attitude to everything, Tamara says she put a lot of pressure on him and expected him to want a kid straight away, and the vibe of most of the group seems to be that even prior to this interaction, they didn’t seem to care too much for Holly (looking exasperated and rolling their eyes during her speech about Selin and Anthony last week). To so readily take Andrew’s side so wholeheartedly, it makes you wonder what they’ve seen that we haven’t, that has been perhaps selectively edited out in lieu of pushing the storyline of Andrew’s own bad behaviour.

Holly makes a triumphant, over the top, grand entrance, seemingly expecting everyone to fawn over her… and crickets. After making the rounds and ignoring Andrew, she goes to get a drink, and is not followed by anyone to check on her. It seems that usually when there’s an issue at these dinner parties, the person’s friend/s usually step away with them to debrief, and the absence of this seems strange. Andrew goes up to her after being advised by the group to check on her and she moves away, saying she doesn’t want to. The women ask to hear her side of the story, and just like that, the bell for dinner rings.

Holly takes the chair next to Andrew (where production seated her) and drags it to the other side of the table, while the group looks on, incredulous. The women tell Holly about Andrew being “upset” (which, is he, really?) and Olivia tells her to be the bigger person.

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The vibe is pretty awkward until Al (sweet Al, man I love him!) takes her off to have a chat. She debriefs him on how she’s feeling, and then hilariously starts giving him advice on what to do to be physical with Holly, such as brush up against her in the kitchen like whoopsy!

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Domenica tries to chat to Andrew about what’s going on with him and Holly and notes that she thinks that it’s both of their faults that their relationship broke down. He becomes defensive and Domenica can start to see that side of him come out. She states that “she thinks there’s a lot more here” going on, and that they both have these huge egos and want to be in charge, and I think she’s hit the nail on the head. Dom comes to the realisation that they’ve “all been blinded by his beautiful ‘I’m Tony Robbins’ bullsh–”

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Luckily, our resident experts Selin and Anthony are here to mediate a discussion between Holly and Andrew. Holly says he’s not capable of amending his behaviour, Andrew says she’s trying to pretend he’s something that he’s not and that he almost went home but didn’t because he “cares about her”, Holly tells him to go home then, Selin says to wait until they’re in front of the experts tomorrow, Andrew says he’s going home now and storms off. It’s as messy to watch as it reads! We’ll see if he makes it to the commitment ceremony on Sunday!

Image credit: Nine

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