Stranded on Honeymoon Island saw a narrative play out that Tom had a secret girlfriend while filming the show, spoiling the experience for his on-screen wife, Emily. But Tom has since set the record straight, telling Chattr there was never anyone he was dating on the outside.
ICYMI, Emily was initially a hopeful bride, saying she was on the show for all the right reasons. But things came crashing down for her in episode 3, when she alleged her new groom Tom told her off-camera that he had a girlfriend on the outside.
Emily raised the issue during the Couple’s Cove lunch, prompting a group discussion about Tom’s so-called ‘secret girlfriend’. At the event, Tom cryptically said that there was someone on the outside he’d been “seeing for maybe a couple of months”, and later pulled Emily aside and told her it wasn’t true, explaining that he made it up to spare her feelings because he wasn’t interested in her.
After the reunion aired, Chattr asked Tom whether there was any truth to his ‘secret girlfriend’ outside the experiment.
“Absolutely not. It was fully orchestrated. I never even said those words when I was speaking to Emily off camera.”
Tom said that he initially told Emily there was an ex that he had lingering feelings for, and later told her that it was just a cover to let her down gently.
“All I said was I still had residual feelings for someone I used to date, and so I couldn’t fully emotionally be there. Basically, what I was trying to do was just not make it about her at all. Make it all about me.
“So all I purely said was that I still had feelings for someone I missed from before the show, and then she’s taken that, and then when she went on Couple’s Cove, she’s said that I’ve got a girl on the outside, which is not what I said at all. On camera, it obviously looks shit, because I’m trying to backtrack on what I said without hurting her feelings, but still looking like a dickhead.”
“I told her that to basically let her down without hurting her feelings, when you don’t have any sleep, you haven’t had any food, it honestly seemed like a great idea at the time. I was going to let her down by making it all on me and nothing about her.”
Tom said that producers encouraged him to stay on the show, and told him he’d look like the “bad guy” if he walked out and went home.
“What I should have done in hindsight was just basically be straight with at her and say, I’m not into you, and leave the show.”
Emily claimed that Tom told her about the ‘secret girlfriend’ after they left Stranded on Honeymoon Island
Midway through the season, Emily told Chattr that Tom had admitted post-show he had a girl on the outside while filming Stranded on Honeymoon Island.
“I can confirm that there was somebody, so he lied about lying, so that’s a bit disappointing,” she told Chattr. “I never spoke to her. I never met her, nothing. But he told me, again, that there is someone”
When asked about Emily’s comment, Tom stressed that he was completely single during filming, and guessed that Emily was referring to his statement on the show about having feelings for his ex.
“There was a girl that I used to date, that’s 100% true… That person existed, but no, the lie was that I had feelings for her,” he said.
Tom is now married to Australian Survivor’s Morgan Mitchell
Honeymoon Island was actually filmed in October 2023, but Channel Seven kept delaying the air date until mid-2025. So a lot has happened since our couples first met… particularly for Tom!
Tom is now married to Australian Survivor’s Morgan Mitchell and they recently welcomed twin girls Honey and Maya. Tom hasn’t hidden his current relationship status, with Tom and Morgan announcing their engagement in July 2024, and then tying the knot in Februrary 2025.
“It’s been amazing, it’s one of the best things,” Tom told Chattr of becoming a dad. “We’re in the newborn trenches, so still finding our feet and getting a routine down.”
Stranded On Honeymoon Island airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 7:30pm on Channel 7 and 7Plus.
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