NEED TO KNOW
- MAFS star Dave Hand has just won Netflix’s Perfect Match with Love Is Blind UK star Sophie Willett.
- The pair are no longer together, admitting they “friend-zoned” each other on the trip they took to the Maldives as their grand prize.
- Dave addressed fans who felt he had a different personality on Perfect Match compared to his time on MAFS, claiming that MAFS pigeonhole’d him.
- He says he hopes Jamie is doing well, but doesn’t expect her to reach out to congratulate him on his win.
Dave Hand has just made history as the first MAFS star to win the Netflix dating show Perfect Match.
The reality star took home the grand prize with Sophie Willett from Love Is Blind UK – but reveals to New Idea he’s no longer with her.
The pair won a trip to a destination of their choice, and they chose the stunning Maldives.
But, speaking to us from his car in Melbourne, the 38-year-old exclusively tells New Idea that it was the least romantic trip ever.
“I think we’re the only two people who friend-zoned each other in Maldives history,” he says with a laugh.
After the pair won the show and filming ended, they spent 24 hours together before going their separate ways.
“We were lucky, we had late flights the next day, so we had a full day to ourselves in Mexico. Everyone was leaving during the day, and we had another 24 hours together. We went out for dinner, walked along the beach, had pina coladas, and it was nice,” he tells us.
However, he says that it was difficult to keep in touch with Sophie, 30, due to the time difference, as she lived in Manchester, and he’s based here.
“There were about six or eight weeks until we had our trip to the Maldives and I think when we went back home, the communication was up, the buzz is high and it was just like, what an amazing thing we did,” he says before adding that the “communication dropped off on both of our ends with the time difference and the ocean between us, you know what I mean? It was our lives sort of came back to normal, and you realise ‘oh sh*t, this is gonna be difficult’.”
He and Sophie check in with each other regularly.
“I think if it was going to work, it would have worked, but it sort of, it went the way it did, and I’m super glad that we’re close,” he says.
A different sort of reality show
Dave reflected on his time on the show – which he tells us was around seven months ago – with fond memories.
Funnily enough, he did not expect to win and says that he didn’t think he was going to meet anyone on the show, as he lived so far away.
“I didn’t think I was going to stay in the villa long at all. I hooked up with a few girls, and I was just having fun along the way. And then somehow Sophie and I both got blindsided by the connection we had and the banter,” he tells us.
He says that being Australian “worked in his favour”.
“I think that came across really well for me, being the Aussie dude and a bit of a larrikin and having a laugh all the time. But that’s who I am; everyone in the cast let me be myself. There was no beef, someone trying to pick me apart,” he says with a laugh, adding, “I couldn’t thank the cast enough because this is me, and even the guys were like ‘that’s Dave, he’s kissing someone else, that’s right.’”
A message for those haters
Dave addressed the comments he’s been getting online from fans claiming that he’s got a different personality on Perfect Match compared to how he was on MAFS.
“There’s so much I can say on that, but it’s just like, what a shocker. Someone’s got a personality after MAFS. I mean, they pigeonhole you into one character, and you see a backstory for a minute and a half of what they want you to say. It’s just, I mean, look, people get so invested in MAFS, and I get it, and they think that they know that person from that show, which, genuinely, you talk about your feelings and emotions, but… how do they want me to act? I’m in Mexico having fun. Like, my personality is coming out clearly. I don’t think MAFS showed me having a laugh at all, really,” he says.
Dave was a groom on the 2025 season of MAFS Australia – gaining popularity with fans because of his relationship with Jamie.
“I’m not MAFS, you know what I mean? I’m in my day-to-day life, or when I’m going out, I’m not going out kissing girls and doing all this. I wanted to have fun on the show, but I like having a joke. I like having a laugh. I’ve got a personality to me. I’ve got depth. I’ve got… Yeah, people have to remember that MAFS is very, very produced, edited, and that you’re playing it. They make you play a certain character,” he adds.
And speaking of MAFS, as for what Jamie may think, Dave says he hopes she doesn’t contact him to congratulate him on his win.
“I hope she’s I hope she’s doing well, but she won’t message me.”
