Married At First Sight (MAFS) fans were perplexed by how quickly Julia Vogl and Grayson McIvor‘s relationship deteriorated, but an insider tells Chattr there has been plenty of “context” missed from the edit.
While Grayson seemed frustrated that Julia wanted to play a card game to develop emotional intimacy during her Ultimate Fantasy Night, it appears the couple were on rocky ground leading up to Intimacy Week. Our source says that Julia simply wasn’t comfortable getting physically intimate with the groom.
According to the insider, Grayson snores loudly at night and this spiralled into an argument. The sleep-deprived bride and her noisy groom had a fight and their relationship never fully recovered.
“He was annoyed at Julia for being tired, and this big argument ensued. He spoke in an abrasive tone, and their fight got nowhere. The bride was far too exhausted to have the conversation,” a source claims.
Fast-forward to Intimacy Week, and Julia was feeling drained and “shaken up” by their fight. “There was no way Julia wanted to engage in physical intimacy with Grayson, because she didn’t have the emotional connection with him. She needed to feel safe and secure to embark on something romantic, and this just wasn’t there,” they add.
The source theorises that Grayson expected Julia to dress up in lingerie or initiate something “sexy”, which is why he slammed her card game in his interviews.
“Perhaps he was feeling entitled in some way to Julia’s body, even though it was her fantasy.”
Why did Grayson and Julia’s relationship never take off?
Chattr also understands that Grayson and Julia wanted to go at different paces. While the bride needs to feel “emotionally attracted” to a partner before embarking on something romantic, there have been rumours floating around about Grayson that have called him a “serial dater”.
“At the end of the day, Julia was struggling to feel emotionally attracted to her partner, and she simply wanted to take things a little bit slower. Is that a crime?” a production insider asks.
“To see him patronising her and judging her for being in a different place, considering they had a big argument, it was just tone deaf.”
The edit has been favourable towards Grayson, but he may have made mistakes in their relationship, too.
“He probably was looking at all the other guys who were being physically intimate with the other girls, and there would have been a rejection wound there. But he was never honest with Julia about how he was feeling,” the source claims.
“He would pretend he was fine, and then keep a running tally of every time Julia upset him, and only bring it up in front of the cameras, even though she tried to connect with him in private.”
Yikes. It doesn’t sound like these two are going to last at all.
Married at First Sight (MAFS) 2026 airs Sunday – Monday on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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