Married At First Sight reunion: Jono reveals when his romance with Ellie really began and new details about their secret relationship behind bride Lauren’s back during shock finale

Married At First Sight groom Jono McCullough revealed when he actually started dating co-star Ellie Dix during Monday night’s explosive Reunion Grand Finale.

The health company owner, 39, sat in the front seat as the contestants took their seats on the sofa for the final time in front of the relationship experts.

Alessandra Rampolla chatted to Jono about the romance he and Ellie had behind his bride Lauren Dunn’s back, with the busty cosmetic injector’s groom Ben Walters also sharing some telling details.

When asked to give the timeline of his relationship with Ellie, 32, Jono admitted: “About a week after final vows I made the decision to contact Ellie (about the text messages).”

“I wanted to call her and let her know what happened… I called her and said something happened,” he added.

A health company owner (pictured) sat in front seat as the contestants sat down for the final time in front of the relationship experts

“I didn’t want her to come to the reunion and be overwhelmed or blindsided by all of this.

“I thought she might be upset or worried, but she laughed and said, ‘This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.’

“Then we talked for an hour and a half… Over the past three weeks, Ellie and I have had a great time together.”

Despite Jono’s attempts to play down his interactions with Ellie prior to their relationship, his former bride Lauren, 32, was not convinced of their innocence.

Bringing up the secret texts Jono shared with Ellie after the brunette left the experiment, Lauren said: “The number of messages… it just seemed like the getting to know each other phase.”

Despite Jono’s attempts to play down his interactions with Ellie prior to their relationship, his former bride Lauren (pictured) was not convinced of their innocence.

She added: ‘I made little jokes to Jono during the experiment saying, “I think Ellie is in love with you, I think you are in love with her.”

‘But Ellie also told Ben that she thought Jono liked her. So it wasn’t like I was some crazy person who brought this out of nowhere.”

Alessandra agreed that Jono and Ellie’s previous communication didn’t look good for them, and directly asked Ellie if she had a crush on him on the show.

“I always thought Jono was good looking, I even put him in my top four in the face challenge,” Ellie admitted.

“But as everyone knew, I really tried to make my relationship with Ben work on the show.”

When asked to give the timeline of his relationship with Ellie, 32, (pictured) Jono admitted: ‘About a week after final vows I made the decision to contact Ellie… Over the past three weeks, Ellie and I seeing each other was great’

Ben, 39, who was initially linked to Ellie before their brutal split, took the opportunity to reveal his own damning details about his bride and Jono.

“I remember one time we were going out and working out and Jono just had a laser focus on (Ellie) and you guys were just glued together,” Ben said.

“So it was clear that there was a crush.”

Jono and Ellie caused drama at Sunday night’s reunion when they finally revealed their relationships with the other couples.

The couple traveled to the party together, holding hands in the car along the way as Jono told Ellie: “I wish I could do this with you for the whole experiment, but it doesn’t matter.”

‘You had to kiss a toad. I had to slay a dragon,” a giggling Ellie replied.

Ben (pictured), who was initially linked to Ellie before their brutal split, took the opportunity to reveal his own damning details about his bride and Jono

When the couple arrived at the dinner party four weeks after filming, the couple walked in hand in hand.

The other attendees were stunned when they arrived, none more so than Jono’s former bride Lauren, who claims she was ignored by Ellie at the party.

‘She shut me up. Well, girl, I didn’t do anything to you. Like… You got my sloppy seconds,” Lauren said.

‘For example, you can say hello to me. Like, I don’t have a problem with the girl, but now I do, now it’s a problem. It’s just rude. So rude.’

Jono insisted the couple were ‘so happy’, while Ellie said she felt like she had won ‘Married At First Sight’.

“She has no right to be upset, and if she is, I don’t really care,” Jono said of Lauren, before praising Ellie.

“It was worth crawling through hell on broken glass to get to this beautiful woman,” he said.

Ellie and Jono are still going strong after filming for the show, which wrapped in November last year. The couple are pictured here at a viewing party on Sunday evening

The pair were invited to discuss their romance as soon as they sat down at the table.

‘Everyone says I’m glowing and I say, ‘Yes!’ It’s not just the color. It’s Jono,” Ellie boasted.

‘I’ve been so happy. Yes, it was amazing. We are barely a day apart. I wouldn’t change anything. Can I have a kiss?’ Jono said before the couple hugged.

During Monday night’s episode, the couple even went so far as to admit that they were “falling in love with each other.”

“I would say I’m on the path to (love), yes. (Ellie) is amazing, and I’m so happy to have met her,” Jono said.

“I really love (Jono)…as he said, it’s moving towards (to love). I’m so grateful that I met him… We just have such a great bond,” Ellie admitted.

Ellie and Jono are still going strong after filming for the show, which wrapped in November last year.