Controversial MAFS groom Harrison Boon is making waves and there’s a wild truth behind his cheating scandal.
Controversial MAFS groom Harrison Boon is making waves and there’s a wild truth behind his cheating scandal.
Opinion by Mary Madigan
OPINION:
Micro-cheating became the real main meal in a chaotic group dinner held in a theatrical episode of Married at First Sight.
It all started when it was revealed Harrison allegedly got a woman’s phone number during a boys’ night out.
Harrison, who looks like he’d be a little too generous with his aftershave, claimed this was not a big deal because he immediately deleted the woman’s number. So why take it in the first place?
Just to remind everyone, Harrison isn’t single. He is “married” to the long-suffering Bronte. Yes, it’s barely been a few weeks, but the woman has already suffered long enough.
Naturally, the producers dug the story out of Harrison, and he allegedly told the woman he couldn’t give out his number but he could take hers. Very confusing logic … but sure.
Harrison explained to the producers that he got the number and “deleted it as soon as she walked off”.
“That’s all that there is to the story. I personally don’t see it as a big deal,” he explained.
Sadly, it is hard to trust Harrison’s gauge of what a big deal is.
This is the man that didn’t understand why it was wrong to sleep with other women even when he knew he was about to get “married” on a reality show in a few weeks.
Harrison’s version of not a big deal could also be considered micro-cheating. He was doing something behind his partner’s back that he clearly wasn’t planning to tell her.
Harrison getting stressed because he took a woman’s number.
If you are unfamiliar with micro-cheating, basically, it is acting unfaithfully but in a small way.
It isn’t sleeping with anyone else, but perhaps it is being a bit flirty with someone or sending Instagram influencers cringe and thirsty private messages. Small acts that can still be considered a betrayal.
Clinical psychotherapist Julie Sweet explained that micro-cheating can be hard to pinpoint because it is behaviour that isn’t traditionally labelled as cheating.
“Yet it has the features and elements of infidelity such as, secrecy and dishonesty within an intimate relationship,” she explained.
Bronte is trying to make things work with Harrison but he's exhausted from being questioned.
While the name might be micro-cheating, small acts of indiscretion can also create big problems in a relationship.
“The impact can be damaging and detrimentally affect relationships. Micro-cheating is harmful as it’s often experienced as a betrayal and erodes trust,” Sweet said.
It gets even more complicated because often the acts of micro-cheating might not be considered traditional deal-breakers, so the person doing the micro dodgy behaviour can try and fob off the way they acted. You know, like saying something isn’t a big deal...
Sweet said this is a common tactic used by micro-cheaters.
“Unfortunately, it can be met with defensiveness or even denial as it’s not perceived as infidelity, per se. The question that needs to be asked by the individual micro-cheating is - would I behave this way if my partner was present?”
Interestingly, Sweet believes that in some cases, micro-cheating can be just as damaging to a relationship as someone having a full-blown affair.
“It can be as corrosive in the sense that it demonstrates a person turning away from, not toward, their intimate partner,” she said.
“When a partner withholds, conceals and betrays a partner’s trust, there are emotional consequences, and as a result, the foundation of any relationship is jeopardised.”
So what’s the lesson here? Well, maybe if you are “married”, don’t take random women’s numbers.
