MAFS Australia: Bryce Ruthven signs a deal with a podcast company

He quit his role as an announcer on Hit104.7 Canberra’s afternoon show in February.

And Bryce Ruthven is now back in the media industry after recently signing a contract with podcasting company Podshape.

His first assignment for the brand is a podcast with his ‘wife’ Melissa Rawson all about their life post-MAFS, aptly title What Happens After. 

A two minute trailer for the Podshape exclusive was released last week.

In the trailer, the couple talk about their time on Nine’s hit reality series, as well as what’s happened to them since the cameras stopped rolling.

‘The bad things have definitely been the trolls, and the lack of understanding around our relationship,’ says Melissa.

Bryce even alludes to marriage for the pair – and children.

‘I think it’s about time we make it legal at some point in the near future,’ he says, adding: ‘I would like to have kids. I’m not getting any younger.’

‘That will be an interesting topic to discuss!’ adds Melissa. 

What Happens After launches on Tuesday, May 4, and will run for 10 episodes. 

It comes after a newsreader for KIIS 101.1 Melbourne claimed Bryce already had a bad reputation in the radio industry before he emerged as the ‘villain’ of this year’s season of Married At First Sight – and this may prevent him from getting another job.

Sacha Barbour, who delivers news bulletins for the Jase & PJ breakfast show, hinted during a podcast on April 16 that she’d heard rumours about Ruthven, 31, that put her off working with him again.

Ms Barbour did not specify what she’d heard about the former Canberra hit104.7 afternoons host, but said it was enough for her to be relieved that Ruthven wasn’t joining KIIS 101.1. 

For his part, Ruthven says he and Barbour barely know each other, and that her claims are just another example of people in the media trying to drag him down.

She made the comments after KIIS 101.1 content director ‘Chatty Tony’ Aldridge claimed Ruthven had asked him about job opportunities at the station. (Ruthven claims he did not seek employment.)

Mr Aldridge said he expressed reservation about hiring Ruthven given his bad reputation from MAFS, but claimed the main reason he couldn’t offer him any work was because there weren’t any vacancies for DJs.

This prompted Ms Barbour to reply: ‘I know things about him but I’m obviously not going to say them because that’s very unprofessional.’

‘But yes, I’m glad that maybe there isn’t a position [at KIIS 101.1] for him at the moment,’ she added.

When contacted for comment by Daily Mail Australia, Ruthven confirmed he had spoken to Mr Aldridge, but said it ‘wasn’t about a job’.

‘Tony was kind enough to free up some time and offer some advice on how I can move forward in radio from my portrayal on MAFS,’ he said on Monday. 

As for Ms Barbour claiming she was glad he wasn’t joining KIIS 101.1, Ruthven said they barely knew each other.

‘I worked in the same building as Sacha in Sydney for about nine months and never once did she ever have a conversation with me,’ he said.

‘I find it interesting she “knows things” about me when she didn’t [make] any attempt to get to know a fellow work colleague. I didn’t know who she was until the end of my stint there.’

He continued: ‘It’s disappointing that media personalities attempt to bring down others in their industry instead of supporting each other – particularly when they don’t know the first thing about the person they’re making comments about.

‘I worked closely with Jonesy and Amanda, not Sacha, and I believe they’ve described the opposite to what Sacha’s comments portray.’ 

Meanwhile, it’s no secret the outspoken MAFS groom has ruffled feathers in the workplace in the past.

One of his former colleagues at Canberra hit104.7, radio announcer Jason Roses, infamously threw him under the bus on MAFS by revealing he had a ‘secret girlfriend’ outside the experiment.

Mr Roses then sensationally announced the pair were no longer friends.

WSFM host Amanda Keller has also said she disliked Ruthven’s blokey bond with her co-anchor Brendan ‘Jonesy’ Jones when he was a studio producer for their breakfast show for nine months.

However, Jonesy and Amanda have also said nice things about Ruthven on air, and believe his negative portrayal on MAFS was at least partially the result of a bad edit.

Ruthven is hoping to return to broadcasting following his divisive portrayal on Married At First Sight, and already has some high-profile backers in the industry.

He recently struck up a friendship with Kyle Sandilands, the host of Sydney’s most popular FM breakfast show on KIIS 106.5.

Sandilands, 49, has even described Ruthven on air as a younger version of himself.

His last regular radio job was hosting the afternoon shifts and weekend breakfast for Hit104.7 with Ellie Mobbs and Jason Roses.

Before moving to Canberra, Ruthven had been the studio producer for WSFM’s Jonesy and Amanda for less than a year.

His partnership with Melissa Rawson on MAFS was controversial to say the least, with viewers accusing him of gaslighting and manipulating his on-screen wife.

But despite their tumultuous journey in Nine’s social experiment, the couple are still together months after filming wrapped.