It’s finally all over between Married at First Sight couple Steven Danyluk and Rachel Gilmore.
The fan favourites got their fairytale ending at Final Vows, but dropped the bombshell that they had split at the Reunion Dinner Party.
However, they surprised fans when they agreed to rekindle things, before Rachel exclusively confirmed their break-up with us.
Now, their separation has played out on screen in devastating scenes at the Reunion Commitment Ceremony on Monday, April 13.
The couple arrived on the couch to discuss their break-up, with Steven being grilled by John Aiken about whether he wanted to be in the relationship.
“You’re confusing her, you’re telling her all the things that will give her hope and then doing nothing about it,” John argued.
When asked if he wanted to be with Rachel, he first answered, “A big part of me does, yes,” before John fumed that he wasn’t giving a good enough answer.
The group also urged Steven to be honest with Rachel and “let her go” if he wasn’t interested, citing his lack of effort since he moved back to Sydney.
Eventually, Steven conceded, “I’m going to say it loud and clear, I’m just going to put a bullet in it and just say, no.”
Rachel was left in tears and shared her sadness over wasting her time on the Channel Nine experiment, leaving fans devastated.
“It reaffirms for me that I’m not worth it. I’ve just spent three months with him, I’m in love with him, and I’m not worth it,” she said through tears.
“I predicted it, I saw it coming, I’m a silly girl in love.”
However, John was quick to reassure her, saying, “You are absolutely worth it; there is nothing silly about you.”
John argued that Steven just “wasn’t ready for a relationship” and urged him to take what he’d learnt in the experiment forward in his life.
Rachel confirmed that things had gone south between them when she arrived solo at the Reunion Dinner Party.
After the emotional scenes aired, Rachel revealed what really happened between her and Steven in an exclusive chat with us.
Are Rachel and Steven still together?
Rachel said she started seeing red flags when Sydney-based Steven began using “every excuse” not to visit her in Melbourne after Final Vows wrapped late last year.
“Steven went back to life in Sydney. He was busy with work, and I became a burden,” she told us.
“I was the burden, and I had to be dropped.”
Rachel said she began to feel Steven pulling away from her and claimed he had said “outrageous things” to her, including that visiting her was a hassle.
Her heartbreak still clear, Rachel said they had spoken about their plans to move in together and have a family, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Heartbreak is the worst. It sucks. It’s like a physical illness,” she told us through tears.
Rachel said they broke up just weeks after MAFS finished filming, with things breaking down during his visit to Melbourne, shortly before the Reunion.
“When Steven did come see me in Melbourne, he said, ‘I don’t think I can give you what you need. I think you need a man who can actually give you what you want’,” she explained.
“We circled in this conversation until I went, ‘so I guess we’re done then?’ And he looks at me, and I said, ‘Well, you’ve dumped me about 15 times now’.”
Rachel accused Steven of lying about their relationship and said it has been highly emotional watching MAFS back, conceding that he just wasn’t ready for a relationship.
Read our full interview with Rachel here.
What happened at Final Vows?
Final Vows was the last obstacle for the pair to overcome on the Channel Nine show, and they committed to dating in the real world!
The pair had their issues with intimacy and communication during the experiment, but have grown significantly as a couple during the experiment.
Going into Final Vows, Rachel said she worried about moving out of the MAFS “bubble” into the real world, knowing Steven’s commitments to his business in Sydney.
Having also never been in a “deeply emotional” relationship before, she knew how much was at stake.
For Stephen, Rachel’s commitment to move interstate worried him, because he didn’t want her to regret it.
“We’ve come so far, and I’ve got someone I can be comfortable around, and they like me for being me,” he shared.
Despite their worries, they both committed to trying to make their relationship work as they agreed to stay together, though sadly, their happy ending was short-lived.
“You’ve let me be me, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted,” Rachel gushed, saying she was ready to continue to grow away from the experiment. “I choose you, Steven, no hesitation, no holding back.”
After sharing a passionate kiss and sweet embrace, Steven also declared his feelings for Rachel.
During his vows, he said he was thankful to Rachel for allowing him to be vulnerable during the experiment.
Acknowledging that it came with challenges, and he did doubt himself, and how much Rachel changed him.
“You saw me, you accepted me, all of me,” he said. “You taught me that love isn’t perfection, it’s about being real.”
He then said that he wanted to be with her and promised to keep taking risks with her.
“I am falling for you,” he continued. “Rachel, I choose you, and I’m diving in headfirst, fearless.”
What happened at Homestays?
During Homestays, they turned over a new leaf, with Steven finally declaring his feelings to Rachel on Monday, March 23.
They had a successful Homestays, with Steven taking Rachel out fishing as he began to picture exactly how she would fit into his life after the experiment.
And he didn’t shy away from telling her just that, having a rare moment of vulnerability which reduced Rachel to tears.
“I may not spell it out for you, verbally, but just seeing you yesterday on the boat, having a go, casting a rod, what I see is a wife outside the experiment,” he admitted.
“Speaking about feelings, I like where this relationship is going, and I like you. If it keeps going in the right direction, I can see myself falling in love with you one day.”
“I have caught up in my feelings for you,” he added, reassuring her amid her fears that he didn’t feel the same way about her.
Delighted, Rachel broke down in tears and leapt into his arms for a hug and a kiss as they appeared stronger than ever.
Their love bubble lasted up until the end of the experiment as they appeared to have overcome their issues and reached a strong place in their relationship.
What happened at the Couple’s Retreat?
Rachel and Steven’s hopes for a drama-free couples retreat came crashing down when Bec made a toast and joked about their “finger-banging”.
Despite apologising and insisting it wasn’t malicious, Rachel did not appreciate it.
The incident did initially bring her and Steven closer, but it turns out that the groom had made comments before the infamous speech.
The truth emerged on the Stan spin-off series, MAFS: After The Dinner Party, where Steven was seen joking with Bec about the most explicit details of his relationship with Rachel.
Steven appeared on the fourth episode of the series and said he wasn’t proud watching it back.
“Watching that back, I feel mortified. I’m even shaking just seeing that back,” he shared, adding that he felt “disgraced and ashamed”.
For Rachel, the comments about their relationship “all made sense”.
“I thought I was supported, and I thought my partner had my back,” she said, adding that it was difficult to watch back. “You essentially gave a green light to it.”
Despite push-back from co-host Brittany Hockley, Steven said he never permitted Bec to say it.
“No, but it gives someone the impression that we are joking about this and that it’s light-hearted,” co-host Laura Byrne said.
In a follow-up interview the following day, Rachel told the Daily Mail she felt “singled out” and “really silly” after the ongoing saga. She told the publication she only opened up to the group about her and Steve’s “increase in intimacy” because of the strange environment they were in.
“We’ve got to remember, this is not a normal social situation, right? We are in an experiment that is about relationships and sharing milestones around intimacy and where your relationship is at is really normal in that setting,” she said.
“I wanted to celebrate it. Because we have been a slower burn and I do think there were questions around mine and Steven’s intimacy.”
She then admitted that the incident had a huge impact on her relationship with Steve.
“Retreat in general impacted mine and Steven’s intimacy,'” she said.
“It very much put our relationship on ice and put us back because Steven also struggled to understand why it had upset me as well, even though I could clearly articulate why.
“I just feel like I spent retreat trying to explain myself. We all have feelings and people’s feelings get upset at different times by different things and I don’t feel like anyone should have to explain that. It should be respected.”
Rachel said, most of all, she regretted letting it escalate and not talking to Bec directly.
“With Gia and Juliette, when they were speaking to me, I genuinely thought that they were coming to me with empathy and sharing these things with me out of concern,” she said. “Looking back, there might have been a bit of like, if we can get Rachel on side, then that will instantly pull other girls across as well and isolate Bec. And I’m really glad that I was able to snap out of that.”
Friends and Family Week
Even though they are getting along, intimacy and attraction have become ongoing topics for Rachel and Steven.
The pair were excited to meet with their loved ones and hear their perspectives about their relationship.
Throughout their catch-up, Rachel had her arm looped in her husband’s, which delighted his family. However, they became concerned about his lack of affection in return.
When asked about affection, Rachel admitted that it was a challenge for the pair.
“You should love that,” Steven’s mother, Anna, told her son.
When Rachel was pulled aside by her friends, his mother and brother Dylan said he needed to open up more.
After Rachel told her friends that she did not want to push him, her husband made a touching declaration in front of their loved ones.
“I do like Rachel,” he shared, adding that she meant a lot to him.
What happened at the second Commitment Ceremony?
Even though they had a rough start to Intimacy Week, Rachel and Steven were a united front at the second Commitment Ceremony.
Steven explained that he hurt Rachel’s feelings, and took Alessandra’s advice on board, feeling more comfortable with Rachel.
“It’s a step forward for me, and it’s a massive step forward,” he shared with John, Mel and Alessandra.
Rachel then shared that she moved back into their apartment, where they became closer.
“I like Steven, the crush for me, the feelings grow,” she shared, admiring his efforts.
Both of them then wrote stay.
Intimacy week
On Monday, February 16, Rachel was left in floods of tears after Steven rejected her advances during an Intimacy Week challenge.
MAFS fans were left devastated after Rachel broke down crying when Steven admitted there wasn’t yet a romantic “spark” between them.
Rachel had been hoping to build some added intimacy after revealing that she and Steven had barely kissed since their wedding day.
“Since the wedding, I’ve only had two goodnight kisses, like pecks, it’s like how you kiss your mum,” she confessed.
In a bid to advance their relationship, an “excited” Rachel devised a Love Actually-inspired exercise, where she stood blindfolded and held out cards to Steven.
She first asked Steven what her best qualities were, to which he replied that he likes her “caring, selfless nature”.
Rachel’s cards then asked Steven, “Will you kiss me now in this moment? The kind of kiss that makes me feel something.”
However, Steven left Rachel devastated when he denied her request, and replied, “I can kiss you, Rachel, but I’m not too sure if it’s going to make you feel something.”
Sitting her down to explain, Steven told Rachel that he couldn’t give her a passionate kiss because he didn’t yet feel any romantic spark between them.
“We feel like roommates, and I feel like it is friendly,” he shared.
“For me to kiss you and make you feel something, I’d need to feel that romantic connection, and unfortunately, I haven’t felt that romantic connection as of yet.”
Rachel described his “rejection” as a “slap in the face” and argued that she didn’t think he wanted to kiss her at all.
“Do you have any physical attraction to me at all?” she then asked.
However, Steven said it wasn’t as simple as a yes or no answer and once again said that he hadn’t yet built up any romantic spark.
“I think we need some space right now, I’m feeling really rejected over a kiss,” Rachel said after breaking down in tears.
However, they worked through it, with Steve gifting her 12 long-stemmed roses and initiating a kiss.
Rachel then decided to move back in.
What happened at the first Commitment Ceremony?
The latest drama was a shocking U-turn from the commitment ceremony, where they appeared happily beside each other on the couch.
Happily reminiscing about their wedding day, they said Revelations Week brought them together, connecting about their body image issues.
When asked how she felt, she said, “I really like Steven.”
“And I think you’re really handsome, and you are amazing the way that you are, and I will tell you every freaking day if I have to,” she said to him.
Steven was quick to say that she is the most selfless person he’s met, and she was special.
“You are so special, and I really hope we can move in the right direction, and I hope we are going to get there,” he continued to share.
They both then said they planned to stay for another week.
Revelations Week
The couple made progress during Revelations Week, after Rachel watched Steven’s audition tape.
She was shocked when he revealed the extreme lengths he went to try to conform to a certain male physicality.
However, during the final task, while he praised her kindness, Steven did worry that their humour might not align after a misunderstanding during their honeymoon.
During their getaway after the wedding, after hearing Rachel was an AFL supporter, Steven asked if she became less ladylike when she got frustrated at a game.
While she laughed at first, she said she did not appreciate the humour.
Despite both apologising for how they handled things and acknowledging the misunderstanding, Steven was still unsure.
What happened at Rachel and Steven’s wedding?
The couple made their reality TV debut on Monday, February 2, when they committed to marrying one another at first sight.
Speaking to the camera, they both revealed they have been single for more than 10 years and struggle with modern dating, aligning in their hopes of finding love on the show.
“I find modern dating very difficult on the apps,” Steven, 34, candidly shared.
“I feel defeated, I don’t want to pretend to be someone else to get my foot in the door, that’s why I’m here, I want to find a partner and love.”
Rachel, 35, also spoke about how she has been left feeling insecure and lacking in confidence after dealing with “situationships” for many years.
“I’ve never been told, by a partner, that I’m beautiful. I’ve never received compliments like that,” she heartbreakingly revealed.
Both looking for deep and lasting love, it appeared to be a match made in heaven for the pair.
However, things hit a rocky patch on their wedding day when Rachel was left upset over Steven not paying her a compliment at the altar.
“That has stung a little bit because there’s not that compliment back to your bride,” she confessed.
But she decided to confront the issue head-on at their reception, leading to a heartwarming conversation between the newlyweds.
“I’m really sorry you felt that way,” Steven said.
“You do look gorgeous today, you look fantastic, and I’m really sorry I didn’t say it when it mattered.”
“I know what it’s like being looked at and feeling like ‘am I not good enough?’,” he added.
Appreciative of his honesty, Rachel said, “What I really like right now, in this moment, is that you’re owning it and you’ve apologised.”
Rachel then sounded hopeful about their union as they bonded over their similar humour and “goofiness” at their nuptials.
“I feel like we’re both as goofy as each other, so it’s really nice,” Rachel added.
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