EXCLUSIVE Stranded On Honeymoon Island star Brie opens up on her wild ride - and why nice guys used to scare her
She signed up to find love in paradise - but for Stranded On Honeymoon Island bride Brie White the reality was far more intense than she ever imagined.
The 29-year-old admitted to Daily Mail Australia that watching her wedding back for the first time felt like 'looking at a younger version of myself' – even though the experience still triggers memories of the emotional rollercoaster she endured on the island.
'I was watching it thinking, "Oh my God, I was just a baby!" she said. 'It was really sweet to watch, but also kind of wild. I looked so unsure.'
Brie, who had never been in love before entering the show, was paired with Byron, 33 - and says there was a spark from the moment they met.
'I felt a connection straight away,' she said. 'It was definitely there… but that also scared me. Watching it back reminded me of that claustrophobic feeling. There was no escape.'
From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.
While she wouldn't go so far as to say it was love, Brie admitted the emotional bond rattled her in a way no past relationship had.
'There was something there - I was scared of how strong it felt,' she confessed.
Still, the fast-tracked wedding process was confronting.
'That sh*t scared me,' Brie laughed. 'It felt surreal - suddenly I had a ring on my finger, I was sharing vows with a stranger. I never thought I'd do anything like that. And I definitely didn't imagine doing it without my family.'
Brie said getting married without her loved ones was one of the hardest parts of the process.
'I always imagined a massive wedding with everyone there celebrating me,' she said. 'But it was just me and him. None of my people were there. It felt uncomfortable and scary.'
Despite the nerves, Brie said she knew she wanted Byron from the speed dating round.
'They asked who I wanted - I said, 'Number 11 only',' she revealed. 'When I saw him coming down the aisle, I was so relieved. It just calmed me instantly.'
The most challenging part of the show, she said, wasn't the isolation – it was the personal growth.
'I went on a huge personal journey,' she explained. 'I couldn't call my best friend, couldn't stalk him online - I didn't even know his last name, let alone my new one. Everything I usually did in relationships was stripped away.'
'There were moments where I was lying in bed thinking, 'I can't do this' - I remember day three specifically. I didn't know how long we'd be there. We had no idea what day it was. One day felt like a week.'
Asked if things ever felt different when the cameras weren't rolling, Brie admitted the lines blurred quickly.
'Honestly, there was no difference,' she said. 'After the first day or two, we just forgot the cameras were there. Two days felt like two weeks. Three days felt like three months.'
Brie also revealed how little the participants were told going in.
'They told us nothing,' she said. 'I knew I was marrying a stranger from the speed dating round and going to an island - that's it. I didn't know who the other couples were, or if we'd ever see them again. We didn't even know it would last three weeks.'
Looking back, she said the emotional intensity forced her to face a lot of fears – including red flags she'd previously ignored.
'I used to be scared of nice guys – anything about relationships scared me back then,' she said. 'Now, I've learnt I need someone who's kind, not arrogant, not rude… and with good hygiene!'
As for the glamour side of reality TV? Forget it.
'After day three, you stop caring,' Brie said. 'I was more worried about not having my dental floss or mouthwash. Makeup? That didn't even cross my mind.'
The upcoming series promises drama, tears and unexpected love stories - but Brie says it's the authenticity that sets it apart from other dating shows.
'This wasn't polished. We didn't know what was coming next - and that's exactly how it felt living it,' she said. 'It changed me.'
Stranded On Honeymoon Island continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Seven
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Precious cargo! Madeline Holtznagel cradles newborn baby Jaegar in a woolen jumper as she exits seaplane with billionaire Justin Hemmes
Madeline Holtznagel looked every inch the doting new mum this week when she was spotted with her precious new bub in Sydney. The model, 28, and her billionaire beau Justin Hemmes, 52, welcomed their first child, Jaegar Justin on June 1. Madeline was positively glowing while carrying her precious cargo, as the new family arrived via seaplane at Justin's $100million Vaucluse mansion. The bubbly blonde could barely keep the smile from her face as she walked with Jaeger, who was swaddled in a brown sweater. Going casual for the flight, Madeline wore a plain light grey hooded sweatshirt and a pair of matching pants. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Madeline rolled the legs of her track pants to the knees to keep them dry as she waded to shore. Her trim and toned pins were on full display, and she finished off her look with a pair of plain white slides. Wearing her blonde locks back in a ponytail, Madeline accessorised with a pair of black Chanel sunglasses. She also carried a large black leather bag over her arm, no doubt containing all of Jaeger's necessary accessories. Justin was also spotted in tow, with an armful of jackets and shoes as he disembarked the seaplane. Also cutting a very casual figure, Justin wore a plain white T-shirt and a pair of dark grey track pants. While baby Jaeger was kept under wraps during the outing, Madeline snuggled her son close to her chest as she strolled along the beach with a pal. It comes after Madeline announced Jaeger's arrival in a sweet Instagram post last week. Madeline was positively glowing as she was seen carrying her precious cargo as the new family arrived, via seaplane at Justin's $100million Vaucluse mansion The new mum could barely keep the smile from her face as she walked with Jaeger, who was swaddled in what appeared to be a brown sweater 'Jaeger Justin Hemmes ❤️ 1.06.25,' she captioned the post. This is the model's first child with the billionaire Merivale owner. He shares two daughters - Alexa, nine, and Saachi, seven - with his ex-partner Kate Fowler. The sweet photo dump included an array of snaps showing the couple's newborn baby wrapped up in a blanket. One picture showed the new mum proudly holding her first child as she donned a matching pink pyjamas set. She was positively glowing as she beamed at the camera while her precious newborn wore a smile on his face. Another picture showed Justin and Madeline looking windswept and content as they enjoyed a beach walk with their little one. One adorable snap showed Justin leaning down to kiss baby Jaeger, who was tucked into his jumper to keep warm during the windy outing. Friends and family flooded the comments section with well wishes for the couple and their new bundle of joy. 'I love him,' Madeline's sister Simone Holtznagel simply wrote. Madeline recently announced the sex of their baby in an interview with Stellar magazine, and said she was thrilled because she wanted a 'new journey' with Justin. 'I always thought I was going to have a boy. I knew I was going to be a boy mum,' she said. 'Justin has two beautiful little girls, so having a boy, it's like a whole new journey together. '[The baby] is going to be his little best mate.' She said she previously kept details of her pregnancy private, but was ready to share her journey. 'I keep a lot of my life private and I don't share a lot online anyway, so [being pregnant] wasn't really something that I was going to share online,' she said. In November, an insider confirmed the exciting news of Madeline's pregnancy to Daily Mail Australia. They revealed a friend of Justin's recently moved out of his Vaucluse mansion to make room for their growing family. The business mogul, who has a net worth of $1.39billion, began dating Madeline in 2019 when she was 22 and he was 47, after his split from Fowler in 2018. Madeline is the younger sister of fellow Aussie model Simone Holtznagel, who welcomed her first child, a daughter called Gia, in March 2024 with her now-ex-boyfriend Jono Castano.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Bezos vs Venice: Will the billionaire's wedding sink in the Italian city of love?
It begins, as all good fairytales do, with a $10m budget, a megayacht the size of a football pitch and a network of A-listers so starry it could alter the tides: this week Jeff Bezos ' wedding to Lauren Sánchez is set to be a spectacle of opulence. After a five-year romance, the pair have planned an extravagant celebration in the heart of Venice, a city renowned for its timeless beauty, labyrinthine canals and centuries-old architecture. But the Adriatic city isn't swooning – far from it. In fact, the locals are absolutely seething. One of the richest men on the planet is holding their home 'hostage', they say – to the Venetians, this isn't so much of a destination wedding but an occupation. Residents and activists say that the nuptials – and the pure extravagance planned for the celebration – are set to turn their home into a 'playground for the wealthy'. The response of the locals? Widespread protests being planned around the city which will attempt to mar the so-called wedding of the year. "He is basically going to treat the whole city as a private ballroom, as a private event area, as if the citizens are not there," said Alice Bazzoli, an activist with No Space for Bezos, a group protesting at the billionaire's "privatisation" and "exploitation" of the city. "This is not what Venice needs. This is not what a city that is already suffering from overtourism needs," Federica Toninelli, another activist associated with No Space for Bezos, told Sky News. The 'luxury footprint' – the environmental cost of the weekend in private jets and yachts contributing to Venice's already high carbon emissions – they say, will be huge; the celebrity entourage and logistical chaos they'll bring with them a perfect example of how the spirit of the city has been eroded by unchecked tourism and commercialisation, this time with the added audacity of exclusivity. It's not all that hard to see where the protesters are coming from. The basics are this: reports suggest that on 24 June, billionaire Bezos and his once news anchor, now socialite fiancée, will wed on his $500m (£370m), 3,493 tonne yacht, Koru (also the tallest sailing yacht in the world). However, reports say that views from the boat, which will be anchored in Venice lagoon, will be severely restricted – it can't be moored too far into the famous Grand Canal, because it is (you guessed it) simply too big. The Amazon boss and Washington Post owner, who proposed to Sánchez with a $2.5m diamond ring in 2023, has also secured many of the city's water taxis for guests, and Venice's most luxurious venues and hotels across the city, including the 14th-century Venetian landmark, the Scuola Grande della Misericordia. It's one of the largest and grandest buildings in Venice – and it's right in the middle of the historic city centre, much to the horror of the locals. They've also reportedly booked The Gritti Palace, Hotel Danieli, Aman Venice, Belmond Hotel Cipriani and St Regis Venice for the three-day event. Room prices at Gritti Palace and Aman Hotel start at $3,200 per night and soar up to 10 times that amount for the most extravagant suites. Fitting for a 200-strong guest list that reads like a who's who of the global elite. Rumoured to be attending are the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga and Elton John; the latter two are both expected to perform. The couple themselves are rumoured to be staying at the grand canal suite at Aman Venice, at a cost of $11,600 per night. Of course, it was never going to be a humble gathering for Amazon's boss – a nerdy bookseller turned leather-jacket-wearing 'biohacker' famed for his cliché tech-bro lifestyle (ice baths aplenty), phallic rocket launches and quest for immortality. To some, he's a genius innovator, a trailblazer in technology and space exploration – to others, the face of exploitative capitalism. He's known for his spineless bootlicking when it comes to Trump – the billionaire took a front-row seat at the US president's inauguration in January – and for reportedly paying very little tax. Despite his enormous concentration of wealth, the struggle of his workers at Amazon, who have in the past been found to be working in unsafe and unethical conditions, is regularly exposed and documented. The Venetian mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, insists that the wedding won't be that disruptive, since the city is used to hosting high-profile events, like the film festival, La Biennale di Venezia. And one report in The Times suggests that Morris Ceron, the director general of the Venice council, actively campaigned for the wedding to take place in Venice. 'Seven months ago, Domenico Dolce [co-founder of Dolce & Gabbana] told me Bezos was getting married,' he told the paper. 'I got to work to bring this marriage of the century to Venice – that's how it started.' But as the wedding week is upon us, the tension between the couple's plans for a grand celebration and the city's need for preservation is only continuing to escalate. It's an undoubtedly beautiful place, but one that's undergone profound (some would say devastating) changes over the past few decades due to mass tourism. Away from the incredible architecture and romantic canals, littered with gondolas, Venice is in crisis, its residents say, and in danger of becoming 'Veniceland' – a city with all the charm of a museum, and none of the vitality of a real community. Skyrocketing rents and a city packed full of holiday homes have led to a mass exodus of Venetians. For years, locals have protested against giant cruise ships carrying day-trippers (who spend very little but cause a lot of chaos) docking so close to the ancient city to stop the physical damage occurring to its fragile foundations. And, of course, famously, Venice is literally sinking. Which, to be fair, is hard to argue with when it comes to defending a needlessly wasteful wedding for the megarich. Right now, it's slowly dropping about 1-2mm per year due to subsidence. Combined with rising sea levels, it means that Venice is facing extensive flooding threats; it now sees extreme floods every year that used to be rare. At the centre of it all, say the protestors, is a city losing its heart to too many elite events. Of which, Bezos' tone-deaf wedding is a crowning example. In the end, Bezos and Sánchez's wedding is a picture-perfect reflection of the broader issues at play. For the ultra-wealthy, the event is a symbol of success and exclusivity – but, as the Venetians taking to the streets rightly ask: what is the real price of prestige and cash for access? Bezos' floating palace, will put the tension between old-world beauty and new-world excess firmly on display. And as the world's elite raise glasses of champagne behind velvet ropes, the locals will be busy raising something else entirely: placards, voices and a warning from the heart of their ancient, beloved home – that cities like Venice aren't for sale. No matter how rich someone is, or how sparkly the ring maybe.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Married At First Sight's Jamie Marinos lands surprise new show after turning down appearance on UK series
Married At First Sight's Jamie Marinos is set to return to screens. The popular bride, 29, who was matched with caulker Dave Hand on the 2025 series, will host a new dating show alongside TikTok star Olan Tekkers. Daily Mail Australia can reveal that the series titled Love At First Scent, sponsored by Lynx, will see one blindfolded contestant going on dates with three options. 'Three guys, one fragrance each. A blindfolded queen. She sniffs. She quizzes. She eliminates,' the insider explained. 'Then it's two steamy live dates, one big final pick, and a face-to-face reveal that could lead to fireworks… or a hard pass.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Daily Mail Australia can reveal that the series, sponsored by Lynx, will see one blindfolded contestant going on dates with three options It is understood that the series will be broadcast live on YouTube and across social media platforms. The news comes just weeks after Jamie reportedly turned down an offer to appear on a new version of SAS:UK due to contractual obligations with Channel Nine. Daily Mail Australia revealed that six 'Aussie celebrities' arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco to film an 'all-new version' of the hit survival series. Dubbed SAS Hotel, the hush-hush series is said to be unlike anything fans have seen before. Described by insiders as part military boot camp, part luxury mind game, the series is slated to air in the UK first but could very well land on Channel Seven late next year. Among the stars spotted arriving in Morocco are 'reality Queen' Jessika Power, singer and actress Natalie Bassingthwaighte, and Neighbours legend Ryan Maloney. All chosen for their recognisability in both the UK and Australia. 'It's a wildcard version of SAS with a twist,' one well-placed source said. The news comes just weeks after Jamie reportedly turned down an offer to appear on a new version of SAS:UK due to contractual obligations with Channel Nine. (Pictured with her on-screen 'husband' Dave Hand) It comes after Jamie shutdown romance rumours with co-star Eliot Donovan. 'Eliot and I are really good friends. He's been such a great support system, always makes me laugh and I'm super grateful to have him around,' she wrote. 'We are both single, and focusing on ourselves at the moment - But who knows what the future holds.' The pair have fuelled romance rumours for weeks after attending Daily Mail Australia's reunion party in April. Eliot spoke highly of his relationship with Jamie and said their friendship had grown since meeting during filming last year. Eliot said it was when MAFS began airing they each started to understand each other as they watched their respective marriages play out on television.
