If there was one Aussie reality TV show that was the epitome of drama and scandal, it would have to be Married At First Sight Australia.
Cheating, couple swaps and downright fights have all happened over the course of the last nine seasons and we doubt MAFS 2023 will be any different.
In honour of the new Season 11, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane and revisited some of our favourite scandals the show has seen.
Grab a vino, this is going to be a long list.
“She’s not what I ordered.”
Back in season two when Jono Pitman was matched with his TV wife Clare Verrall, the groom uttered one of the show’s biggest phrases… and insults.
Upon seeing his bride walk down the aisle, Jono mused: “She’s the opposite of what I expected to walk down the aisle. She’s not what I ordered.”
Jono ended up becoming the season’s villain and his marriage to Clare went from bad to worse over the course of the season, and he even admitted to Now To Love in 2017: “I honestly wish I never met her, that’s the truth.”
Secret texting and the birth of the couple swap
The show’s very first texting scandal kicked off thanks to season four’s Jonathan Troughton and Scarlett Cooper who hit it off at the first dinner party and ended up swapping numbers and sending flirty messages to each other all night.
Jonathan’s wife Cheryl Maitland was so blindsided by his actions that she dumped him, tearfully confessing: “I hate disloyal people. I heard you last night saying you got paired with the wrong person. And then you swapped numbers and you have been talking to each other.”
Dean and Davina’s dangerous liaison
Arguably the biggest scandal of season five was Dean Wells and Davina Rankin’s secret date that was unbeknownst to their respective partners, Tracey Jewel and Ryan Gallagher.
In the end, Dean, who denied ever doing anything wrong, went back to his on-screen wife whilst a humiliated Davina and Ryan ended up leaving the show. However, Dean’s marriage didn’t go the distance and Tracey ended up dumping him at the final vows.
Not even *that* rap could save them.
The shock season five re-couplings
For the 2018 finale, not one but two shock couples decided to make their grand debut.
Troy Delmege (yes the toothbrush guy) and Carly Bowyer revealed they’d hooked up, as did Tracey Jewel and Sean Thomsen, leaving even the experts speechless.
Both relationships eventually went down in flames but we’ll be the first to admit we didn’t see either couple coming.
ANOTHER cheating scandal
If Dean and Davina’s dalliance was the PG version, the MAFS team cranked things up a notch with Ines Basic and Sam Ball’s affair in 2019.
Season six saw Ines and Sam engage in a sexual affair behind the backs of their spouses, Bronson Norrish and Elizabeth Sobinoff.
In the end, Ines apologised for her wrongdoings when she herself fell victim to Sam’s “empty promises” and poured her heart out in the final commitment ceremony that Sam didn’t attend.
“Sam told me he wanted to make it work outside of the experiment but it didn’t happen. I had huge feelings for him. I chose to see the best in him, but like Elizabeth said, he says one thing and does another,” she said.
Jessika and Dan’s disaster
As soon as Jessika Power was matched with farmer Mick Gould, fans knew their relationship wasn’t going to be the stuff of fairytales.
In yet another couple swap of 2019, Jess set her sights on intruder Dan Webb and they engaged in an affair behind Mick and Dan’s wife Tamara’s backs.
However unlike other affairs, the experts controversially allowed Jessika and Dan to re-enter the experiment as a new couple and they seemed to hit things off at first. But when Dan learned that Jessika had made a move on co-star Nic, things turned sour.
After an awkward interview on Talking Married, the couple announced that they were over.
Cyclone Cyrell vs Martha
It’ll go down as one of the most iconic MAFS feuds of all time – and they weren’t even married!
It all started when Cyrell Paule confronted Martha Kalifatidis over a rumour that Nic had flirtatiously touched Jessika’s leg at a dinner party – but it ended in yelling, glass breaking and a producer having to separate Cyrell and Martha, the latter of whom was wearing a sheet face mask the whole time.
Part two kicked off at the final dinner party when Martha famously tipped her glass of red wine over Cyrell’s head and they had to be physically separated once more.
Michael’s affair – and Stacey’s shock reaction
It didn’t take long for the first 2020 scandal to come to light when Hayley Vernon revealed that she and Michael Goonan had kissed after a drunken night.
Both Hayley’s husband David and Michael’s wife Stacey were hurt and angry by the revelation, but it was Stacey’s defence of Michael that had fans stunned.
“Why were you even out with my husband alone? You’ve just ruined a relationship, yes he’s a d—head and he parties but you’ve taken that for granted. You were encouraging vulnerable Michael,” Stacey said at the dinner table.
The couple stayed together until the end, but more on those two later.
Toothbrush gate
Stacey may have been hurt, but David’s reaction to the affair took things to a new and disgusting low.
A video emerged of David cleaning a dirty toilet with Hayley’s toothbrush during the dinner party, and Hayley even decided to stay in the experiment purely as an act of revenge on her husband.
However, the experts ended up making a MAFS first and asked them both to leave.
“It is very unhealthy what you’ve got going on between you. We have certain standards and it is not in the spirit of the experiment,” expert John Aiken said at the couple’s final commitment ceremony.
“There are boundaries that have been crossed that should never have been crossed.”
Mikey’s final bombshell
It’s the biggest mystery since the Sphinx – did Mikey Pembroke sleep with Stacey?
Mikey’s ex-wife Natasha Spencer dropped *that* bombshell at the final 2020 dinner party to the entire group and whilst Stacey denied it ever happened, Michael (who had his own cheating scandal if you remember) couldn’t forgive her.
“They’re both going to great lengths to prove that they’re right so I’m as confused as everyone else,” Natasha confessed in a chat with Now To Love shortly after the finale.
“I think something might’ve happened, I don’t know if it’s sex but clearly the two were in a room alone together – why else would Mikey say ‘I didn’t want to be seen going into your room.’ I think there’s Mikey’s side, Stacey’s side and the truth.”
KC and Michael’s post-show fling
Even after the seventh season ended, Michael was still involved in the drama – this time when he and KC Osborne started dating.
The couple enjoyed a brief fling and even went into lockdown together in Melbourne but Michael just couldn’t shake his old partying ways.
“He sold me that dream of, ‘I would stop my playboy ways to have a girl like you, you’re such a good girl’. You have to remember too, I had felt really rejected and here I was with this guy telling me everything I’d ever dreamed of hearing,” KC told Who back in July 2020.
“I got along with him and I cared about him but I had that voice in my head going: ‘No no no KC this is a danger zone, you shouldn’t go there, you know what he’s like, he’s a party boy, he’ll probably break your heart.’ But when you have someone telling you: ‘You’re amazing, I give you my word, if I had a girl like you I’d change my ways, I want to move forward and have a family,’ it was so full-on and I’d never had a guy say that to me before. I got sold the dream and I fell for it.”
Wine throw 2.0
At the 2021 reunion dinner party special, the tables turned and Cyrell ended up tipping a glass of white wine at Jessika Power.
It all kicked off when Cyrell confronted her former co-star for “making a mockery” of her now 10-month-old son, Boston, whom she shares with partner Eden Dally.
Whilst Jessika admitted that she’d called Cyrell and Eden’s relationship a publicity stunt, she denied all claims that she’d brought Boston into the argument, but Cyrell wasn’t having any of it.
After the incident aired, the mum-of-one took to Instagram to remind fans of the double standards when she and Martha threw wine at another contestant.
“So when a white woman throws wine… it’s considered iconic… and she even gets a little show called ‘Martha’s red wine moments’,” Cyrell wrote on her Instagram story.
“But when a woman of colour does it, it’s considered ‘degrading’, ’embarrassing’, ‘uneducated’ and a terrible example of a mother.”
Jessika’s car confession leaked
On the show, it appeared that Jessika spoke about her personal growth – but when a video surfaced of herself and season five brides Sarah Roza and Ashley Irvine in a car on the way to the second part of the reunion mocking Cyrell, that redemption arc went out the window.
The Instagram Live video, that was originally shared by Sarah and showed Jessika saying that she hoped Cyrell would break her leg and that she was “mental”, has now been deleted and both Sarah and Jessika apologised for the clip.
0“I would never mock mental health,” Jessika stated, before agreeing that the broken leg comment was “b****y”.
“I’m still going to say little things that aren’t politically correct but I would never speak to people the way Cyrell speaks to people.”
Cam and Coco: Another cheating scandal
There’s nothing MAFS contestants love more than a good side-fling. In 2021, Coco Stedman and Cameron Dunne were at the centre of a cheating scandal that divided fans.
Coco – who was paired Sam Carraro (you know the guy) – sought comfort from Cameron after her numerous clashes with her husband.
The pair quickly hit things off and began spending time together, which was discussed at length by the other contestants. But things didn’t last outside of the show and they went their separate ways.
“Since leaving the experiment, Cam and I hangout a few times,” she said at the reunion before revealing that, “Cam and I got intimate.”
1“Did Cameron hit it and quit it? He got his coco pops and left for the day… There’s no ill feelings there.”
A secret girlfriend for Bryce
Bryce Ruthven was accused by Beck Zemek of having a secret girlfriend very early in the eighth season, with the rumour spreading like wildfire to the other contestants – who wanted the tea to be spilled for the sake of Bryce’s wife, Melissa Rawson.
It was brought up yet again when bride Samantha returned to the show to tell Melissa she’d heard about Bryce texting a girl outside the experiment, and that she was waiting for him.
She kissed her brother?
2One of the weirder MAFS scandals came when Beck Zemek was caught on camera reconnecting with a secret boyfriend behind Jake Edwards’ back. Only, she claimed it was her brother.
The pair committed to each other in their final vows, but in the final week it was revealed Beck had reconnected with a secret boyfriend behind Jake’s back – and it was all caught on camera.
When Beck and Jake sat down on the experts’ couch during the reunion, a video was played of Beck and her ex kissing. With his face blurred-out, Beck originally claimed that it was her “brother,” before finally admitting it was an “old burn”.
“Emotion sparked and we shared a kiss,” Beck said in the episode, later telling KIIS FM that it “wasn’t anything sexual” and was edited to look different.
Olivia and Dom’s feud
Things got fiery between Olivia Frazer and Domenica Calarco on season nine of MAFS after the former bride allegedly circulated a photo from Dom’s OnlyFans around the group.
The whole thing culminated in an explosive dinner party. Dom was upset that the photo was being talked about behind her back, but the others weren’t all that sympathetic.
3“I’m sorry, but you put it out there,” Tamara Djordjevic argued. “You put your photo there, you created an OnlyFans. When people put their nude photos online, they’ve got to cop this back.”
Eventually, Dom left the dinner party with her partner Jack Millar.
But the feud didn’t end there. At another dinner party, when Olivia poked fun at Dom’s voice and the way she spoke to her husband Jack, Dom got so heated that she smashed a glass on the table before storming off.
In an August 2022 interview with Woman’s Day, Dom spoke about her fractured relationship with Olivia – and it doesn’t seem like it will be healing any time soon.
“I’ve tried to reach out to her even though I have no way because she blocked me in every way, I’ve tried to reach out to her to have a proper conversation and to sit down. I’d like to sit down with her and talk. But she obviously clearly wants not a bar of it. Which is her prerogative,” she said.
“If I had the forum to chat with Olivia, I definitely would do it. I’ve got nothing against it. There are a lot of questions I still have for her. It wouldn’t be meant with animosity at all. I would like that chapter of my life to be closed.”
Harrison breaking his wedding vows
4The tenth season of MAFS kicked off with a bang. One of the first couples to get hitched, Bronte and Harrison, found themselves at the centre of a cheating scandal after the groom’s seemingly sordid dating life was exposed.
It was Bronte’s good friend Jessica who told Bronte that a girl she knew on the outside (aka, not in MAFS-land) was still seeing Harrison. Not only that, the groom had apparently told his off-screen girlfriend that he was keen to continue their relationship after the show.
Upon learning that he was seeing someone else, Bronte confronted Harrison – who assured her that her intel was incorrect.
However, he did add that the girl back home may have thought differently because he did tell her things “that would soften the blow”.
“I didn’t want to be an a**hole about it,” he explained to Bronte.
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