This season of Married At First Sight was, as always, a major talking point. And while most of the conversation was (rightfully) focused on the poor behaviour of the women, there is a lot to be said about the men.

As someone who has watched many seasons of MAFS, I couldn’t help but notice that this season’s core group of guys managed to stay out of the spotlight by keeping their heads down.

While we were focused on the Gias and the Tysons of the world, there was some questionable behaviour from the other grooms that definitely slipped through the cracks.

A closer look suggests some of these grooms were simply more calculated about their public image than our usual MAFS stars. It felt like they were hyper-aware of how they would be edited, leading them to stay quiet or play along even when they themselves potentially held some fairly narrow-minded views.

Danny was the clearest example of this pattern.

Watch: MAFS Danny breaks up with Bec at final vows. Article continues after video.

From their very first meeting, it was obvious Danny wasn’t interested in Bec, yet he dragged the relationship out for the entire experiment, only to break up with her during final vows. Watching him reject her was the least surprising thing I’ve seen all season.

But then at the final commitment ceremony, for which Danny was absent, we were shown a series of videos that showed just how cruel and crude he could be behind-the-scenes.

At home stays, when talking about how much Bec’s dog liked him (which should be a wholesome, lovely thing), Danny said this: “Because all b****es love me. I’ve never met a b**** that don’t love me.”

Charming, right?

In another clip, when asked about the prospect of a future without Bec, Danny really showed his true colours.

“The future without Bec would be bright. Do you know what I mean?” he laughed. “After this there’s gonna be women queuing up for me. Won’t be able to walk down the street, they’ll be throwing their pantyhose at me.”

Image: Nine

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The clips were a shock to everyone in the room. But the signs were there from the beginning. We just weren’t looking hard enough.

Earlier in the experiment, Danny purposefully avoided the photo ranking challenge by throwing the pictures out the window. On the surface, it was a show of loyalty, but to me, it felt like a strategic play to ensure he didn’t look shallow on camera.

As the show went on, he continued to use jokes to deflect any time a conversation got too serious or required a real commitment.

His true perspective and values only slipped out in the small moments, like when he admitted he’d feel “like a bitch” if he had to move into Bec’s house.

But most telling was part of his reasoning during their final vows.

Image: Nine

While Bec’s behaviour was undeniably mean-spirited throughout the entire experiment, the final straw for Danny seemed to be a conversation they had had about Gia’s alternate match challenge.

“You told me after the task that Gia’s date basically forced you to take his number [for Gia] but watching the video back I saw that that was a complete lie,” he said.

While I agree that lying about that moment was wrong and unnecessary on Bec’s part, turning this moment about someone else’s relationship into a massive breach of trust and the ultimate dealbreaker also feels disingenuous. It felt a lot like someone trying to come up with a moral reason to leave, rather than just admitting the chemistry wasn’t there. And let’s be honest, the chemistry was his problem from the beginning.

Then there is Scott, who seemed to disappear into the background for most of the season. Many of the men seemed to lack any real presence, likely because they were so focused on not saying anything that could be used against them.

Image: Nine

As a result of Gia’s awful behaviour, we all seemed to collectively forget that, at one point, Scott couldn’t even remember the name of Gia’s daughter, which showed a pretty significant lack of investment.

His audition tape also revealed a much more opinionated side of him that never made it to the dinner parties. For instance, he had strong feelings about not wanting to pay school fees for a child that wasn’t his, something he hid from Gia when they first had conversations about it.

The group dynamic among the men was also telling. There were several moments where they all seemed to reinforce a very specific, dated version of masculinity — like the collective agreement that moving into a woman’s home was emasculating. It makes you wonder how many other controversial opinions they were sharing when they thought the microphones weren’t picking them up.

Even David, who was so easy to root for and genuinely seems like a nice man, appeared to keep a lot of his opinions under wraps. While his reservations could definitely be as a result of a fear of conflict with Alissa, ultimately, by the end of the show, I didn’t really know anything about this man and his beliefs. He remained very guarded.

When speaking to Mamamia, Alissa also claimed that David was texting her behind the scenes ahead of the final dinner party and trying to coordinate a “united front” for the cameras.

“That morning, he messaged me… And he’s like, ‘Hey, tonight might be a big dinner party. Maybe we should meet up, and go in as a united front.’ So he actually wanted to go in together, and I was like, ‘That’s not authentic because that’s not where we’re at,’” Alissa told Mamamia.

“He goes, ‘Oh, well, at least, did you want to meet up before the producers separate us and film our TikToks for continuity? And I’m like, ‘I don’t think TikToks are a priority right now.’”

Image: Nine

While we may never know the truth of what went on between these two people, it’s fair to say that there’s likely plenty we didn’t see.

At the end of the day, I think we can all agree that some of the women this season were undeniably cruel to each other and their partners. However, the men raise a different but equally interesting question about the nature of the villain edit — specifically, whether or not a person is actually a hero just because they have the self-control to stay quiet.