Married at First Sight sixth-season star Jonathan Francetic has confirmed he's in a relationship with one of the Lifetime reality show's experts, Dr. Jessica Griffin.
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RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHO BROKE UP? (PHOTOS)
Speculation that Jon and Jessica, a psychologist who also happens to live in the Greater Boston area, have been dating has been circulating online for months, fueled by the pair's social media postings.
Jon finally confirmed the news on social media this week, and he's also defending their relationship to critics.
Jon, 29, and Jessica, 41, both competed in a Spartan race at West Point Military Academy in New York on Saturday, August 25. Jon posted a photo of the couple hugging on Sunday and wrote, "Convinced someone to run a @spartan with me."
Jon completed the Spartan course in 1:52:40, while Jessica finished about 16 minutes later with a 2:08:39 time, according to the race's results data.
When Married at First Sight: Unfiltered host Jamie Otis commented on the picture with three heart emojis, Jon replied, "Thanks homie."
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And then on Wednesday, Jon shared another photo of himself jumping over a fire obstacle during the race, with Jessica shown running not far behind him.
Given Jessica served as one of Jon's marriage counselors on Married at First Sight, Jon apparently felt the need to defend their relationship against social media comments that it is "ethically dubious" and "against the rules."
On Monday, Jon decided to address one critic in particular, who commented on an August 16 photo on Jessica's Instagram showing the silhouettes of three children playing with a man in the ocean as the sun was setting. (Jessica has three children, and some social media users apparently felt the man in the photo could be Jon, or a "#missingsomeone" hashtag she also included could be a reference to him.)
In response to a woman claiming Jessica and Jon's relationship "speaks poorly on [Jessica]'s profession," Jon said, "I rarely reply to people I don't know, but given your persistence let me put your mind at ease -- I completely agree that those ethical codes exist for a reason."
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Jon continued, "And should you wish to try and have her license taken I only ask that you show up to the board hearing where my contract (the contents of which you have never read, seen, or know anything about) will be shown as evidence."
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"When you are educated on why a client/patient relationship cannot exist (hint: confidentiality means it's not broadcast on national television) then I'm sure you will have no choice but to admit defeat in this situation," Jon fired back.
"Also, if you believe that we did not research the ethical codes you previously sited before pursuing anything, then clearly you're not giving our intelligence enough credit. But thank you for your concerns, happy Monday."
Jessica -- who appears to have been in St Lucia filming the show's new Married at First Sight: Honeymoon Island spinoff at the time -- had captioned the August 16 photo, "Put me in front of an ocean and I'm good. Put me in an ocean and I'm even better. Put the people I love in it and I'm the best."
"#nofilter #aboutlastnight #marriedatfirstsight #sevenyearswitch #nightswimming #missingsomeone #ocean #islandlife."
Jon's season of Married at First Sight concluded its broadcast run on Lifetime in late April, but he and Molly split up before the marriage experiment even ended.
RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' EXPERTS DR. JESSICA GRIFFIN AND PASTOR CALVIN ROBERSON WRAP "SECRET PROJECT"
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Rumors Jon and Jessica were dating began to swirl several months ago based on the pair's social-media activity, which included the two making postings from what appeared to be the same locations at around the same times.
One Married at First Sight fan also tweeted in July claiming she had just seen the couple kissing in Sandwich, MA, a Cape Cod town.
In addition, Jonathan posted a selfie photo back in June that appeared to show the pair atop an observation stand enjoying a very scenic day hike together. However, Jonathan subsequently deleted the photo.
Jon's defense of his romance with Jessica is similar to what Jessica had written in a May 1 blog post on her drjessica.com website titled, "Why I Said Yes to Television."
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"At no point should the role I (or others) provide be construed as replacing actual therapy. We are NOT individuals' or couples' therapists on these television shows or in real life," Jessica explained of her dynamic with Married at First Sight and Seven Year Switch cast members.
"We do not have a client/therapist or doctor/patient relationship at any point during production or any point, period. Outside companies are hired to conduct the psychological evaluations of cast members."
Jessica concluded in her blog post, "My role that I am hired to do as a 'Relationship Expert' is to provide consultation to the cast of a television show and consultation to production on topics that fall within my expertise."
Meanwhile, Jon appears to have an amicable relationship with Molly now.
The pair attended Married at First Sight co-stars Shawniece Jackson and Jephte Pierre's baby shower earlier this month, and the foursome took a photo together in which everyone was smiling.
RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHO BROKE UP? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
