Dean Wells thinks MAFS villain Ines is a victim of sneaky editing and, of course he does.

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From the moment Australia met Ines Basic on Married At First Sight, we labelled her the “villain” for this season.

“Yep. She’ll do,” we said of the 28-year-old legal assistant who quickly displayed all the qualities we look for in our reality TV bad guys.

To quickly recap: Ines was initially matched with Bronson Norrish, but she decided the former stripper wasn’t right for her and that she “didn’t want to touch him”. She then set her sights on Sam Ball, who was matched with Elizabeth Sobinoff on the reality TV show.

Before we knew it, the 2019 season’s first couple swapping cheating scandal was upon us, cementing Ines’ villain status.

Speaking of reality TV villains, let’s take a look at The Bachelor’s villains through the years. Post continues after video.

But according to former Married At First Sight ‘villain’ Dean Wells, who himself was also embroiled in a MAFS cheating scandal in 2018, this season’s current villain is the latest victim of producers and sneaky editing.

How does he know this? Because he was a victim too, naturally.

“I actually feel really bad for Ines mainly because I think she’s actually having fun with it,” The 40-year-old told WHO Magazine.

“[The producers] really manipulate you into thinking it’s all a bit of fun, it’s all a bit of a joke and it’s all a funny game that people will see through… but when they edit it on the show, they put the most serious music with it.”

Despite acknowledging some of the things Ines has said and done – particularly her treatment of her former partner Bronson – “are a bit nasty”, Dean said what us viewers don’t see is the hours of work that go into effectively creating those conversations.

Whether or not Ines’ behaviour, some of which has been labelled emotionally abusive, was manipulated through the reality TV production TV, the public backlash against her on social media has reportedly left her too scared to leave her house.

In an exclusive interview with Mamamia’s The Quicky podcast, former Married At First Sight contestant Clare Verrall spoke about the impact the show had on her life long after filming wrapped up (you can listen to the interview below, post continues after audio).

Clare said her life “spiralled” after her appearance on the show, and she wasn’t able to return to the job she had loved for two years.

“Literally I had two panic attacks behind the bananas in Coles. It was really hard for me during that time, while I was in such a bad place.”

She added, “A lot of the time the villains are the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and the heroes are just awful.”

Again, it’s hard to know if Ines is a victim of the editing process as Dean says she is, or if she just isn’t a very nice person.

But what we do know from experience is that Married At First Sight isn’t done with their villain just yet.

To catch up on all the MAFS gossip, listen to the latest episode of Mamamia’s MAFS Chat podcast below.