Without a doubt, Bronte and Harrison have worked their way becoming one of MAFS Australia's most controversial couples. After warnings about a gameplaying groom fell on deaf ears, their romance seemed doomed from the minute they said 'I do.'
On their wedding day, Bronte was left fuming after the news broke that Harrison had ‘someone outside the experiment' he had promised to return to after. After insisting his intentions were pure, the couple jetted off on their honeymoon – where Harrison revealed he wasn’t attracted to Bronte (coincidentally after the pair had already been intimate.)
Over the course of the series, the couple have flung the term ‘gaslighting’ around like a ping pong ball. From Harrison taking another girls number on a night out to making Bronte's endometriosis all about him, the pair have never failed to leave viewers with their jaws on the floor.
Despite the many, many red flags, Bronte seemingly stood by her man through thick and thin.
But the other brides in the experiment (and the viewers at home) were all left asking the same question through gritted teeth – just why was Bronte staying with Harrison?
In a recent retreat, the brides took it upon themselves to bring some red flags to Bronte’s attention – sharing their concerns that she was beginning to ‘think like Harrison’ and needs to be ‘saved.’ But after it was suggested that Bronte was being ‘emotionally manipulated’ by her groom, the intervention ends in tears.
And frankly, fans are worried. The teary and reserved Bronte we now see on our screens is a far cry from the outspoken and fiery brunette that wowed at her wedding.
One fan wrote, 'Bronte is being emotionally manipulated, but there’s a reason a bunch of people yelling at you never makes anyone want to change or help themselves.'
Another tweeted, 'Wow, that was actually embarrassing the level of manipulation and gaslighting Bronte just accepted from Harrison… And the fact she apologised to him… Poor gal is clearly being emotionally abused & manipulated, and if this isn’t acting, the producers should’ve done something.'
One viewer of the show noted how ‘indoctrinated and isolated’ Bronte was, saying ‘She’d take a bullet for him now. So sad.’
Agreeing that sometimes reality TV might just warrant an intervention, another fan added ‘Can MAFS please do better background checks on the people they bring on the show? No one should have to sign up and go on a TV show just to be gaslighted, manipulated and emotionally abused in front of the whole world. I feel awful for Bronte.'
But whilst some viewers aired their concerns for the bride, not everyone was so kind – with many blaming Bronte for enabling her husband’s bad behaviour.
One tweeted, 'Seen some really stupid people in life, but Bronte is right up there with the dumbest ones,' with another fan agreeing 'They're as bad as each other.'
Another wrote, ‘I couldn’t care less about Harrison and Bronte now. If she is justifying his horrible behaviour, then they deserve each other.’
And questioning Bronte’s decisions on the show, another wrote 'Bronte makes doormats look stupid… And that’s offensive to doormats.'
But behind the hate is an important question – and one that needs to be asked almost every single time the insults of ‘doormat’ or ‘pushover’ are pinned onto women.
Why should Bronte ever be held accountable for her husband’s shitty behaviour?
From day one, Bronte’s new marriage was stooped with lies and insults. Light bickering turned to throwing each other under the bus, with Harrison quick to turn everything around onto his new wife. And whilst Bronte offered often un-needed apologies, Harrison kept hush.
With signs some fans called ‘textbook gaslighting,’ it’s no wonder the Aussie-born star appeared to shrink on screen, often agreeing with Harrison’s behaviour to avoid any more upset.
And whilst it's easy to critique and judge from outside, it's not as easy to see the whole picture when you're caught up in the moment. As one fan put it, ‘Anyone who has been in a relationship with a Harrison understands just how easy it is to become a Bronte.’
‘Sadly, I think Bronte has been a victim of narcissistic abuse for our entertainment.’
How can we hold women accountable for the actions of men, when more often than not these actions have affected them too? By blaming women for allowing men to be mean to them, we shift the blame off of the bullies and onto the victims.
Bronte didn’t walk down the aisle to become someone’s mum, reigning them in and tapping them on the wrist when they step outside the lines. She walked down the aisle in the hopes to find a respectful, mature, loving partner. And sadly, it doesn’t seem like she found any of those.
Opening up about the star’s welfare recently, a friend close to Bronte revealed that she was ‘struggling to cope’ and a ‘shell of herself’ after receiving abuse from viewers.
The news comes after Bronte took to social media to defend her relationship with Harrison on the show. The UK is behind Australia when it comes to episodes aired, but briefly addressing her relationship with Harrison, Bronte wrote ‘I wanted this to work for so many reasons that no one will ever know or understand. In reality, people’s opinions of me are none of my business. I have learnt that people know your worth, they just hope you don’t, because the minute you realise your worth you learn the difference between what you’re getting and what you deserve.’
And before MAFS AU aired in the UK, Mel Schilling told Grazia how she hoped fans would be more considerate and kind when it came to controversial contestants on our screens.
‘We do need to keep in mind that these are normal people doing a brave thing by putting themselves out there on international television,’ said Mel, adding ‘I would love to appeal to audiences to have some admiration for these people, because they’re doing something that’s pretty ballsy.”
Mel also nodded to the toxicity that we’d see unfold – pre-warning fans that the male behaviour was certainly not up to standard.
‘There’s some very toxic male behaviour that you’re going to see. We’re talking about narcissicm, gaslighting, toxic deceit, and really quite underhanded, manipulative behaviour to a degree that we haven’t seen before’ she revealed.
With more episodes still to go, there’s no doubt that we’ll be seeing more of Harrison and Bronte’s fallout unfold. Of course, we don't know what goes on when the cameras are off. Indeed, the only people who can really know what takes place between the couple is Bronte and Harrison themselves.
But, please, stop blaming women for men’s bad behaviour. Harrison’s actions are the result of no one but himself – it doesn't matter how 'enabled' he's been, he’d still be causing trouble in the world of MAFS.