Former Married At First Sight star Melissa Lucarelli has opened up about the end of her friendship with ex pal and co-star Jules Robinson.
The bubbly brunette was asked about the fallout on the American podcast Dames Who Dish, as season six of Married At First Sight only just aired in the U.S.
The hosts said they were confused after Jules asked Mel and Heidi Latcham to be her bridesmaids on the MAFS finale, only to later see that Mel was noticeably absent from Jules and Cam Merchant’s televised wedding.
Speaking out: Former Married At First Sight star Melissa Lucarelli (left) has opened up about the end of her friendship with ex pal and co-star Jules Robinson (right)
‘You were not in their wedding, what the hell happened?’ they asked.
‘I was like the third wheel with those two,’ Mel said of her relationship with Cam and Jules, adding that they were all based in Sydney and often spend time together.
‘It literally came out of nowhere, just before the wedding she dumped me. Her reasoning was that we didn’t really see each other much after the show, which was so false it’s not even funny.
‘Her other bridesmaids lived in London and Heidi lived in another state. So she literally even saw me more than anyone.’
Shocked: ‘Just before the wedding she dumped me,’ Mel told the Dames Who Dish podcast this week. ‘Her reasoning was that we didn’t really see each other much after the show, which was so false it’s not even funny,’ she added
‘I was like the third wheel with those two,’ Mel said of her relationship with Cam and Jules (pictured), adding that they were all based in Sydney and often spend time together
She added: ‘It was really upsetting to me because I thought we had this amazing friendship and she was acting like it didn’t even happen.’
Mel and Jules were best friends on Married At First Sight, only to suffer a disastrous public falling out months after the show finished airing.
And earlier this year, one of their co-stars shared a theory about what may have gone wrong in their friendship.
In an interview with the Unpopular podcast back in March, Jessika Power said that she’d heard rumours that the pair had fallen out over rival endorsement deals.
REVEALED: The truth behind Jules (left) dumping Melissa (right) as a bridesmaid at her wedding was revealed earlier this year by their former co-star Jessika Power
Jessika mentioned that Jules had signed on to be a Weight Watchers ambassador, while Mel had landed a deal as the face of Celebrity Slim diet shakes.
‘This is just rumours,’ Jess said, before later adding: ‘Apparently there was jealousy between the two.’
The blonde bride then said she’d be frustrated if the rumours were true, given how much Jules judged her during their time on the show together.
‘If that is the truth then I am so mad because Jules used to slam me for only being on the show for Instagram and for followers, and it just seems like she was the one that wanted to get the most influencing deals when she came straight off the show!’ Jess said.
‘Apparently there was jealousy’: Jessika said that the pair may have fallen out over rival endorsement deals with weight loss companies
With more than 730,000 followers, Jules is currently the most followed Married At First Sight star on Instagram across all of the seasons.
In addition to landing a sponsorship deal with Weight Watchers, Jules has also been the face of Olay skincare and Always Discreet incontinence pads, in addition to the many other products and brands she flogs on social media.
She also has her own shapewear line called Figur, which is similar to Kim Kardashian’s Skims brand.
‘Jules used to slam me for only being on the show for Instagram and for followers’: Jessika said Jules was a hypocrite for doing more Instagram sponsorship deals than the rest of the cast
Shortly after Married At First Sight’s sixth season ended, Mel landed a deal of her own, becoming the face of Celebrity Slim meal replacement shakes.
The brunette had previously used the shakes to drop a few dress sizes while filming the show, which caught the attention of the company and led to them making her a brand ambassador.
Jules memorably axed Mel from her wedding party in 2019, despite having asked her to be a bridesmaid at the nuptials on the Married At First Sight season six finale.
Is this the reason? After MAFS finished, Jules went on to become the face of Weight Watchers among many other brands, like Olay and Always Discreet incontinence pads
The flame-haired reality star went on to marry Cam Merchant in a televised wedding special, which included former co-star Heidi Latcham as a bridesmaid.
After the wedding special aired, Melissa revealed the heartbreaking story behind her former best friend’s decision to dump her as a bridesmaid.
The 39-year-old confessed on The Kyle and Jackie O Show she had been cut from the bridal party weeks prior after being kept in the dark about the wedding plans.
Slim: Mel had used the shakes to drop a few dress sizes while filming the show, which caught the attention of the company and led to them making her a brand ambassador
At the same time Mel was being interviewed on KIIS FM, Jules coldly brushed off the drama during an appearance on Channel Nine’s Today show with husband Cam.
When asked about the situation, Mel explained that her friendship with Jules had quickly unravelled after she had enquired about the wedding date.
‘We’d be talking about the bridesmaids plans, but because they were doing it so secretively, I had to email [Jules] and her management to check dates,’ she began.
Axed: Jules memorably axed Mel from her wedding party in 2019, despite having asked her to be a bridesmaid at the nuptials on the Married At First Sight season six finale
After the two women had arranged to meet, Jules supposedly called Melissa and said: ‘You’re not going to be a bridesmaid anymore. I haven’t really seen you this year, it wouldn’t be right to have you standing next to me [at] my real wedding.’
She added: ‘I was so shocked… it didn’t make sense. I have absolutely no idea what happened. I was asked to be a bridesmaid in such a public way [on MAFS].
‘The reason she asked [Heidi Latcham and I to be bridesmaids] was because we had seen them fall in love, and we’d formed a bond in the experiment.’
Melissa then disputed Jules’ claim they had ‘drifted apart’, saying they both live in Sydney and had spent time together at events earlier in the year.
Tres amigas! The flame-haired reality star went on to marry Cam Merchant in a televised wedding special, which included former co-star Heidi Latcham as a bridesmaid
An ‘upset and confused’ Melissa continued: ‘[Her] other bridesmaids live in the UK, and Heidi lives in Queensland. It doesn’t make sense.’
After being dumped over the phone, Melissa revealed that Jules had later texted her to try and explain her decision.
KIIS FM radio host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson then read aloud the message Jules had supposedly sent, in which the reality star allegedly stated that just because she’d invited Mel to the wedding on the show didn’t mean she had to do it in real life.
Blindsided: Mel previously confessed on The Kyle and Jackie O Show she had been cut from the bridal party after being kept in the dark about the wedding plans
The text stated: ‘Just cause I said it on a show, doesn’t mean I have to do it. People said a lot of things on that show, but this is real life. I won’t be answering any media questions about this. I just want it to blow over and it will be forgotten about.’
Reflecting on the brutal snub, Melissa added: ‘I told her the reasoning did not make any sense.
‘Jules then said that for the first five months of our friendship she’d have done anything for me, but then it changed. No one told me our friendship expired in February!’
‘Just cause I said it on a show, doesn’t mean I have to do it’: Mel later read out the cold text message that Jules had sent her
Concluding her interview, Melissa claimed that Jules ‘didn’t want her to say anything’ about their falling out, but she felt compelled to speak publicly.
‘For me to stay quiet and let people assume would make it seem like I’d slept with Cam or something!’ she said.
‘Of course I didn’t, but people were writing that I must have done something really bad.’
Remember this? Jules had famously asked Melissa and Heidi to be her bridesmaids while announcing her engagement to Cam Merchant at the MAFS reunion dinner party (pictured)
Lights, camera, action! Jules and Cam went on to marry in a televised wedding special
After her wedding had aired on A Current Affair the night before, Jules was asked directly about the situation with Melissa on the Today show.
‘You know, when it got to the time, I just felt that it wasn’t… it didn’t feel right [to have her as a bridesmaid], you know,’ she explained.
‘We hadn’t really seen each other and I just really wanted my close friends to be there, to be by my side, and my best friends. So that was my decision.’
‘I just really wanted my close friends to be there’: Sydney-based Jules still included Heidi in her wedding, despite the fact that Heidi is based in Queensland