Canberra DJ Bryce Ruthven was accused multiple times of having a girlfriend waiting for him outside of the experiment, despite being “married” to Melissa Rawson on the show.And Bryce ended up in the hot seat yet again for the final episode, after footage was played to the contestants which showed his own friends backing the rumour.An under-siege Bryce then accused Channel 9 producers of coercing his friends into lying about him.RELATED: James Weir recaps the MAFS finaleWeeks ago, fellow bride Rebecca Zemek claimed at a dinner party that Bryce approached her at the hotel gym, and told her he had a girl on the outside of the experiment and that one of his friend’s offered to take her a gift on his behalf.At the time he fiercely denied this conversation happened, but during home town visits a few episodes later, Bryce’s friends were quizzed by Melissa about the secret girlfriend and the gift.Though they said nothing to her face, the friends were seen talking among each other later when they thought cameras weren’t rolling, with one declaring, “The gift thing is true.” Another said he believed Bryce had been lying to Melissa.RELATED: Toxic behaviour all men must stopThis was played back to the contestants, and Bryce and Melissa, for the first time during last night’s finale.But Bryce, a former radio DJ, claimed producers convinced his friends to push the agenda.“They did know (cameras) were rolling. So things were pushed,” Bryce said.MAFS relationship expert Mel Schilling asked, “So you’re claiming that your friends here were told to lie about this situation? And they agreed to lie about you?”Bryce said: “They’ve basically been told about what was going on and to push an agenda, and yeah.” JAMES WEIR RECAPS: Read all the recaps hereChannel 9 did not respond to news.com.au’s request for comment at the time of publication.After Melissa was shown the footage during the finale, she asked the group to stop telling her about rumours.Viewers have remained infuriated by Bryce’s seemingly “toxic” behaviour and Melissa’s blind loyalty.The couple has strongly denied their relationship is unhealthy, and say they are still madly in love months after filming wrapped.“We’re in a good place. We’re clearly still together, living in Melbourne, and happily in love,” Ruthven told the Today show. “I’ve never been so happy in my life.”Melissa added, “I’m the same”.RELATED: MAFS’ Bryce reveals he was glassed at clubA change.org petition went viral last month, urging the Nine Network to apologise for “creating a distressing viewing experience”, as well as a failure to “showcase that the relationship is clearly not healthy”.Created by Angela Rowell, the petition says: “(Melissa and Bryce’s relationship is) not being handled by the network appropriately.“These signs are being disregarded by producers and the network, creating a distressing viewing experience. “There is a clear failure of duty of care to Melissa during filming of the show, allowing her to remain in a toxic environment with her partner for the ‘benefit’ of the network. She is being subject to emotional manipulation, isolation, and countless other TEXTBOOK signs of a controlling relationship.”How to find news on news.com.au
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