Married at First Sight 2025 stars Awhina Rutene and Billy Belcher grew closer after their respective TV marriages failed, and fans have been hoping for romance.
However, that might not be on the cards!
The pair recently travelled to Bali to celebrate Billy’s birthday,
“Thank you so much to everyone who wished me happy birthday, but thank you to @_awhinarutene for making it one to remember. Feeling blessed ❤️,” he wrote on Instagram on July 6.
While fans have been speculating about their relationship status, the former TV groom was spotted kissing a mystery woman!
According to The Daily Mail, the pair were stayed together in a luxury villa, but Awhina returned to Perth without her rumoured beau.
The outlet also published a video of Billy kissing a blonde woman in a nightclub in Bali over the weekend.
“‘They were all over each other. No attempt to hide it,” a source said.
When approached for a comment by the publication, Awhina said they were “just friends”.
On July 13, she also shared a reel of their outfits on their trip.
“Just two besties & our matching fits 🫶🏽 I know everyone wants to see a romance between us but we’re grateful to have built such a beautiful friendship from this experience 🥺,” she explained on Instagram.
Are Billy and Awhina dating?
It comes a month after they sent fans into a spin after months of speculation, revealing they were together.
On June 5th, the pair shared a joint post to Instagram where they shared a carousel of photos together with the caption, “I’ll keep this one.”
In the photos, they were pictured enjoying a romantic dinner date, as well as cuddling close together for a mirror selfie. Only a day prior, Awhina had shared an adorable video on TikTok of Billy and her son spending time together.
With both reality stars being based in Perth and speculation that their romantic interest in one another began when they were both matched with other people on MAFS, the news didn’t come as a huge surprise to fans, especially with the couple making no effort to hide their connection during previous public outings.
The hard launch comes only three weeks after Awhina herself confirmed on her Instagram account that Billy was only a “friend.”
“I haven’t actually gone on a date with anyone post-show or hung out with any guy I wasn’t already friends with,” she explained during a Q&A session posted to her Instagram stories on May 12.
During the Q&A session, she also added that she wanted to regain her confidence before she dated again. The former bride also noted that she and Billy found out about Adrian and Sierah’s “footsie” situation when the episode aired.
When it came to her son and the MAFS 2025 cast, she added that she had only introduced him to Billy, Rhi, and Jeff.
Before she confirmed their romance in early June, Awhina and Billy hinted at their growing connection with fans, who were hoping they would indeed get together.
Bonding after MAFS
On April 27th, the reality stars shared some happy snaps together on social media in a sweet joint post with the caption, “Who really ate?”
The post came just days after she opened up about her “close” relationship with her co-star in an interview with 9Entertainment.
“I’ve been on the experiment to find a partner, which is really still my goal. I want to grow my family. I [just don’t] want to start anything off on the wrong foot,” she added.
In mid-March, the duo was photographed going on a double date with co-stars Rhi Disljenkovic and Jeff Gobbels. Billy made no effort to hide his affection as he swung his arm over Awhina’s shoulder as they walked into the Claremont Hotel in Perth.
Only a month prior, they were also seen enjoying a romantic Valentine’s Day date by the beach where they strolled hand in hand, cuddled up close, and looked very much besotted with one another.
Prior to that, Billy made a surprise appearance at the joint 31st birthday Awhina had with her twin sister Cleo in February. Notably, he was the only MAFS 2025 star to be in attendance.
Despite the photographic evidence, however, Awhina denied that anything more than a friendship had ever existed between them.
“Billy’s a WA guy. We have built a friendship. He happened to be at my birthday, but it is a purely platonic friendship,” she explained to Daily Mail Australia at the time.
“Billy and I have actually got a really beautiful friendship. He’s a great guy,” she also gushed to Yahoo Lifestyle shortly after.
But an insider source close to Billy’s ex-wife Sierah Swepstone revealed to New Idea that this wasn’t the case. Read more from Sierah and her true thoughts and feelings surrounding Billy’s shocking “rebound romance” with Awhina here.
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