Married at First Sight alum Ryan Ranellone is speaking out about the shocking death of his former season 2 castmate and friend Ryan de Nino.
“We stayed in contact the first couple of years after the show, but after some of the fallout with the TV show, unfortunately not a lot of people heard from him,” Ranellone, 39, exclusively told Us. “I just think he had kind of a rough go, the way things were portrayed and so forth.”
De Nino and ex-wife Jessica Castro met for the first time on their televised wedding day, which aired in 2015. The pair, however, split weeks later and Jessica, 42, filed a restraining order against de Nino. She claimed at the time that he allegedly threatened her and her family.
When the exes came together at the season 2 reunion, Jessica tossed de Nino a $100 bill because he “needed the money” more than she did. He took the cash and left the set without addressing the allegations.
On a hot mic at the time, de Nino said, “She’s f***ing dead. When I get back to Brooklyn, she’s f***ing dead, this girl.” MAFS producers provided Jessica with a security team after de Nino’s alleged threat.
“After the show aired they had a reunion show, and he had gotten into an argument on TV with his — at that time, soon to be ex-wife. I guess he said something backstage, like he was gonna hurt [her]. He was pissed. He was really pissed off about whatever she said,” Ranellone told Us.
He continued, “I guess someone on the show heard [his comments], and then they had to report it to her and her family that he kind of made mention of some sort of violence. And then she put a restraining order against him.”
A source exclusively told Us that de Nino faced “a lot of negativity” after the show, which was “really a shame.”
“He was angry, and kind of got a bad rap,” the insider said. “It wasn’t a positive experience for him. I don’t think he could get away from it.”
The source shared that de Nino had “often said” before appearing on MAFS that he was set to be a cast member on Jersey Shore, but “got cold feet and decided not to do it.”
“And then he ended up on MAFS,” the insider recalled. “I think he struggled to find direction, especially after the show aired. He had a really hard time with all the comments online about him after the reunion. He was getting a ton of comments online, on social media, on Reddit. People talking about him and his family. He got paid $1,200 an episode for all that. It’s not even worth it in the end. All the negativity was very challenging.”
Years after season 2 aired, de Nino’s sister Melissa shared that he died. A cause of death was not disclosed in the Facebook announcement on August 11. After learning of de Nino’s death, Ranellone reached out to the family.
“Ryan was a good guy. He had a lot of good characteristics. He had a very strong, loyal friend base. People that would do a lot for him,” Ranellone said.
Ranellone, for his part, found love about a year after appearing on the show.
“I bought a home in East Northport [New York]. We’ve been together for 10 years. My business is great. Family’s good. You know, there’s no regrets in my life,” he said. “The show was a blessing for me in so many ways. I do not regret it whatsoever. And I’m happy for the people that do try to go forward with it. It’s just for those people that have a hard time with the public being up your ass. Either you lean into it or you run away from it. But thank God, thank God, everything is great on our end and we just keep moving forward.”
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