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.
WATCH: Which MAFS couples are still together?
Cheating, couple swaps and downright fights have all happened over the course of the last nine seasons and as we approach the tenth, we doubt 2023 will be no different.
In honour of the upcoming MAFS season, we took a trip down memory lane and revisited some of our favourite scandals the show has seen.
Grab a red wine, 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 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 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, we 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 whilst they seemed to hit things off at first, 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 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 Nic had flirtatiously touched Jessika’s leg at a dinner party but 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. Geez Louise that’ll go down in history.
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 of David cleaning a dirty toilet with Hayley’s toothbrush emerged 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.
“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.”
You guessed it – another cheating scandal
In season eight, Coco Stedman and Cameron Dunne were at the centre of a cheating scandal, but unlike past seasons, this one was talked about in depth with all the contestants.
It all kicked off when Coco, who had numerous clashes with husband Sam Carraro, sought comfort from Cameron who knew Sam outside of the show.
The pair quickly hit things off and remarked that they shared a connection, but things didn’t last outside of the show and they went their separate ways.
The secret girlfriend
A rumour that Bryce Ruthven had a secret girlfriend on the outside all started when Beck Zemek accused him of telling her he was buying a gift for another woman.
While Bryce denied the accusations, it was later brought up during a visit to Canberra with his wife Melissa Rawson, and Bryce’s friends were caught talking about the rumour when they thought no one was listening.
“Do you think he’s lied to her?” one said, while another answered with “Yeah, no doubt.”
“Because the gift thing is true,” they added.
It was brought up yet again when bride Samantha returned to the show to tell Melissa that she’d heard about Bryce texting a girl outside the experiment, and that she was waiting for him.
Beck’s ‘brotherly’ kiss
It’s safe to say that season eight’s Beck Zemek and Jake Edwards’ TV marriage was far from fairytale even though they committed to each other at the final vows.
Things took a real turn when Beck went home to Perth to visit her sick dog during the final weeks of the experiment, and she reconnected with a secret boyfriend behind Jake’s back – and it was all caught on camera.
When the pair took to the experts’ couch, a video was played of Beck and a mystery man kissing right in the corner of the frame.
With his face blurred-out, Beck originally claimed that it was her “brother” who she was kissing, but then later admitted it was an “old burn” who helped her transport Oscar around.
“Emotion sparked and we shared a kiss,” Beck said in the episode.
Connecting with another spouse
From Jessika Power and Dan Webb to Coco Stedman and Cameron Dunne, the experiment has seen its fair share of contestants finding a connection with another spouse.
Season nine was the centre of a new cheating scandal between Daniel Holmes and Carolina Santos, who managed to form a connection after experiencing troubles in their own relationships.
Their time together slowly progressed from playful flirting at the Dinner Party to secret rendezvous and late-night make-out sessions.
After keeping it a secret for two weeks, Carolina and Daniel finally revealed their romance to the other couples and the experts during an explosive Commitment Ceremony.
“We all came here for the reason to meet some undeveloped feelings and fall in love and obviously the both of us didn’t get that with who we were initially matched with,” Daniel said.
0Much to everyone’s shock, Carolina and Daniel brazenly asked the experts if they can stay in the experiment as a new couple, prompting a mass walkout.
Eventually, all the couples calmed down enough to head back into the room, only to discover that the experts refused to allow Carolina and Daniel to return as a new couple.
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