Married At First Sight’s Jules Robinson dumped Melissa Lucarelli as her bridesmaid over fears she was leaking information to the media.
Sources tell Daily Mail Australia that Jules, 37, began to ‘distance herself’ from Melissa, 38, several months ago due to her growing suspicious.
‘When stories started running in magazines and paparazzi would appear out of nowhere, Jules started suspecting Melissa was the weak link,’ said the insider.
Mystery solved! Married At First Sight’s Jules Robinson (left) dumped Melissa Lucarelli (right) as her bridesmaid over fears she was leaking information to the media
The source added: ‘Jules never had any evidence to support this theory, but it was enough for her to keep her distance for a while.
‘By the time she dumped Melissa as a bridesmaid via text message, they hadn’t really seen each other for months.’
After Married At First Sight had finished airing in April, several cast members became ‘paranoid’ about who they could trust.
Another source claimed that weeks following the finale were ‘particularly tense’ and many ex-contestants ‘started falling out and questioning who was a real friend.’
Suspicious minds: Sources tell Daily Mail Australia that Jules, 37, began to ‘distance herself’ from Melissa, 38, several months ago due to her growing suspicious. Pictured: Melissa
Around this time, people who had been close friends during film started to fall out or grow apart – including Jules and Melissa.
‘Half of them didn’t know who they could trust, or who would tip off photographers and magazines with info for a couple of hundred bucks,’ said the source.
‘The suspicions and accusations destroyed a lot of friendships.’
Mel and Jules’ feud explained
Jules Robinson and Cameron Merchant got engaged during the season finale of Married At First Sight, just months after meeting at the altar.
While announcing the news at the reunion dinner party, Jules asked co-stars Melissa Lucarelli and Heidi Latcham to be her bridesmaids.
But she had a change of heart and dumped Melissa as a bridesmaid a few weeks before her wedding to Cameron, which took place on Sunday.
Jules claims she dropped Melissa from her bridal party because they had ‘drifted apart’ in the months since filming MAFS.
But Melissa disputes this, saying they were still in regular contact when she received a text from Jules saying she was no longer invited.
Brutal: Jules had asked Melissa to be her bridesmaid at the MAFS reunion dinner party (pictured), before abruptly changing her mind and dumping her via text message
Last month, it was revealed Jules had dumped Melissa as a bridesmaid just weeks before her real-life wedding to Cameron Merchant, 35.
Speaking to NW magazine, Melissa said she was in ‘shock’ after the dumping and had ‘no idea’ what she had done to deserve it.
‘She tried to blame it on me, saying I was a s**t friend,” Melissa told the publication.
‘When I asked her how I was a bad friend she couldn’t answer me, then [she] kept changing her reasoning behind it.’
Blindsided: Earlier this month, a source close to Melissa (right) told Daily Mail Australia she had been left ‘devastated’ by her falling out with Jules (left). Pictured with Heidi Latcham (centre)
Earlier this month, a source close to Melissa told Daily Mail Australia she had been left ‘devastated’ by her falling out with Jules.
‘She feels like Jules used and betrayed her. It really hurt her feelings because she thought their friendship was real,’ revealed the insider.
In a tearful video posted to Instagram on Sunday, the day of Jules’ and Cameron’s wedding, Melissa told her followers she wouldn’t be attending.
‘It really all just came out of the blue and I didn’t see it coming at all,’ she said.
‘Of course you’re allowed to change your mind about who you want as a bridesmaid, but I just feel like the way it was done was really cold and rather hurtful.’
‘It really all just came out of the blue’: In a tearful video posted to Instagram on Sunday, the day of Jules’ and Cameron’s wedding, Melissa told her followers she wouldn’t be attending
Sell-outs: Jules and Cam sold television rights to their wedding to Nine’s A Current Affair
Speaking to The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Wednesday, Melissa said that Jules had dumped her via text after she had emailed her manager about the wedding.
‘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 said.
She claimed Jules then called her 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.’
Moments later, she supposedly received an SMS message that read: ‘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.’
‘It didn’t feel right’: During an appearance on the Today show on Wednesday, Jules (left) was vague when discussing her reasons for dumping Melissa as a bridesmaid. Pictured with Cam
During an appearance on the Today show on Wednesday, Jules was vague when discussing her reasons for dumping Melissa as a bridesmaid.
‘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.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jules and Melissa for comment.