The legitimacy of their relationship has come under question ever since they declared their love for one another during The Bachelorette finale.
And pictures showing Sophie Monk and Stu Laundy looking tense in a Melbourne car park last Friday only added fuel to the flames that their romance was a fabrication.
Now, 44-year-old Sty has spoken candidly about the shocking snaps, telling The Courier-Mail that he was ‘on edge that day’.
‘That Friday was a very, very tough day’: Stu Laundy has opened up about THOSE car park photos with Sophie Monk in an interview with The Courier Mail
‘That Friday was a very, very tough day,’ the millionaire publican explained.
He added: ‘We were going from radio station to radio station. Soph and I were bloody buggered. We had discussed it’s her world not mine, and she was trying to protect me.’
The pictures show Sophie looking at Stu with what appeared to be an angry stare and gritted teeth.
‘I don’t think anyone else on the show has been put through that’: Stu told The Courier Mail The Project interview made him feel ‘filthy inside’
The photographs were captured just before the pair appeared on The Project in a now-infamous interview which was noted for its awkwardness.
Speaking with The Courier Mail, Stu lashed out at the program, saying he felt ‘filthy inside’ as the show’s panelist Meshel Laurie grilled him about his relationship with Sophie.
‘I don’t think anyone else on the show has been put through that,’ Stu told the paper.
Team Jarrod! The Project co-host Meshel Laurie grilled Sophie and Stu on The Project
Stu’s claim seems to contradict Sophie’s explanation for the car park pictures.
On Tuesday, the blonde bombshell, 37, insisted that they were not tense during an interview on they Kyle and Jackie O Show.
‘I just have a resting b***h type of face,’ said the former Bardot singer. ‘I was probably talking about someone else at the time!’
In the same interview, the pair addressed persistent break up rumours.
‘People expect us to be almost making out, but you put on the bright lights and you’re not going to be all over each other,’ said Sophie, who added she’s not an overly affectionate type of girlfriend.
Still together: Sophie clarified on to KIIS FM hosts that she and Stu have ‘not broken up’
‘Mean girls’: The previous day, Sophie’s best friend Oscar Gordon also rushed to her defense
Stu added: ‘It’s a bit ridiculous. I’ve got four daughters, I’m sorry I’m not going to be a public display of affectionate type of guy.’
The previous day, Sophie’s best friend Oscar Gordon also rushed to her defense.
Taking to Twitter, he slammed the media ‘mean girls’ who had suggested the relationship was fake.
It is believed he was referring to Em Rusciano, Meshel Laurie and Kate Langbroek.
‘Four women in media very opinionated over (Sophie’s) relationship! Can we not just show happiness for her new found happiness?,’ Oscar tweeted on Monday.
He also added the hash tag: ‘Mean girl’.
Speaking out: Stu spoke candidly about his relationship with Sophie to The Courier Mail