Married At First Sight Australia has returned for its 11th season, bringing with it the promise of fresh scandal and spectacle.
Love it or hate it – and if you’re reading this article, chances are you love it – MAFS runs on drama. While the romance and quirky moments are fun to see on-screen, it’s the increasingly unhinged levels of chaos that truly captivates the audience. And this season promises to be bigger than ever.
In the teaser trailer at the beginning of the premiere, hints were dropped as to a series of scandals to come.
The narrator promised this season would be brimming with piping hot tea, sharing small snippets of audio from the contestants throughout the series.
Some of the top teaser lines included “What the f**k is this? Stuff’s been leaked” and “Did you hear about one of the grooms?” and “Shut your mouth, can you muzzle your woman?” BIG YIKES ENERGY OVER HERE.
So what are the biggest MAFS scandals of 2024? From couple swaps, to runaway grooms, here’s everything you need to know.
The “most confronting scandal in MAFS history”
In the initial teaser, the narrator asked “Which groom will be exposed in one of the most confronting scandals in MAFS history?”
The teaser flashed images of grooms Tim Calwell, Jonathan McCullough and Jack Dunkley during this narration – which surely means it’ll be one of them? Right? Honestly, with MAFS we never know.
Among the key players focused on in the teaser, Lauren Dunn, Sara Mesa and Tori Adams appear to be heavily involved. And if there was a Logie Award for Best Facial Expressions, we’d say hand it to Sara right now.
In one snippet, she’s even seen swatting the camera away while telling producers to “leave me alone.” In another, she says through tears to the group “I will literally ruin you.”
Not only that, but it seems John Aiken will take a stand against one of the participants.
“I’ve heard some things in these experiments that have repulsed me, that is right up there,” he said, to an unknown participant. “So I’m gonna cut to the chase, we need to just kick you out.”
Jack Dunkley’s ex-girlfriend
Of course, some of this drama could tie in to the ongoing storyline surrounding Jack Dunkley and his mysterious ex-girlfriend.
After their wedding, it was revealed that he had broken up with his partner to appear on MAFS – according to stories on The Daily Mail, Yahoo and The Wash. All of these were seen by the cast during filming, with the news becoming a hot topic of conversation at the first Dinner Party.
“I’ve got a disgruntled ex basically,” Jack told everyone when the scandal was uncovered. “It’s all out of context.”
“It was a very casual but exclusive relationship…She fell a little bit harder for me and a little bit quicker. She’s thrown me under the bus.”
For what it’s worth, she says he “broke up with me right after I met his family and he told me he loves me. Tells me it’s for [a] ‘work opportunity in America’ only to find out he’s on MAFS in Sydney.”
We have a feeling the drama is far from over where this storyline is concerned.
Jonathan and Ellie’s couple-swap
Another year, another couple swap! Though this one doesn’t involve cheating, according to reports.
Following in the footsteps of fan-favourites Evelyn Ellis and Duncan James, it seems Ellie Dix and Jonathan McCullough have hooked up when filming wrapped. At least, we hope it was once filming wrapped.
If the experts couldn’t find them a lasting love story, these two seem to be taking matters into their own hands.
The duo were photographed kissing at a beach in Queensland last week, and were reportedly spotting enjoying dates together in December 2023.
Only time will tell whether or not their romantic tryst will play out on screen. Read more here.
Groom quits Married At First Sight
Though he attended the bucks party, Simon Flocco departed the experiment before his wedding.
“MAFS wasn’t what I thought I wanted at this point in my life, that’s all,” he told The Daily Mail in October. Straight to the point!
By Week Five of the experiment, the experts had luckily found a new groom for Michael Felix, who said ‘I Do’ alongside hairdresser Stephen. We’re excited to see how their love story plays out!
Jack and Lauren go head to head in MAFS dinner party clash
Tensions had been brewing between Tori’s best friend on the show Lauren and her husband Jack for weeks, but it was a dinner party in week four where it all kicked off.
After Lauren and Jack clashed over comments he made about his wife, he lashed out telling Lauren’s husband Jonathan to “put a muzzle on your wife.”
“There are things you can’t say, and that is one of them,” a shocked Tim told the cameras after the altercation.
“If that was someone saying that to Jade I would have absolutely lost it,” new groom Ridge added.
“That’s not cool, Tristan explained to the cameras. “My mum would beat me if I said that to a woman.”
“Not funny, not appropriate,” continued Lucinda, “not now, not never.”
Sara accuses Jack of Flirty Behaviour
Think Jack’s troubles are over this season? Wrong! Jack has found himself in yet another situation after Sara shared some uncomfortable moments she had with the groom.
Sarah and Lauren confided in Tori on the Couples Retreat, letting her know that Jack had kissed Sara on the neck, brushed up against her backside and told her husband, Tim, that she was the best bride of the season.
“This is so ridiculous,” Jack responded when Tori brought up the allegations. “This is an ordeal, this is hilarious.”
“If I did brush her bum it was an absolute accident,” Jack continued. “I can’t stand Sara…she’s not my kind of person.
When further probed, he did admit to his wife that he had labelled Sara “the most striking,” of the wives, “someone who stands out the most like a red Ferrari.”
He went on to explain that the quotes were taken out of context and Sara was just “looking for clout.”
Tori, who has stood by her husband’s side all season as he has dealt with controversy after controversy, seemed unsure after the conversation, telling the cameras she was confused.
“It’s like another thing…I’m mentally fatigued over it,” she shared. “I’m sick of having the same conversations. Issue after issue after issue that Jack and I are dealing with and it weighs really heavy.”
“My anxiety has never been higher.”
The next morning the married couple were back to a united front, with Tori telling Jack she would continue to stick by him.
“I know what I’m doing,” she explained. “I have a great intuition and I trust Jack.
Eden has a Secret
The second episode centred on Couples Retreat saw another major scandal emerge – although we don’t have all the details yet.
Eden teased her new dilemma, which has forced her to choose between her friendships and her partner.
“I’ve been given information I didn’t want,” she shared with the cameras. “It’s a secret that can affect a lot of people in here.”
“I’m feeling so uncomfortable and so anxious…I don’t know what to do.”
Explaining that she felt like she was in a “lose, lose” situation, Eden admitted the secret had the possibility to ruin her friendships with other contestants if she went public with the information, or would see her risk losing her partner, Jayden, if she chose to lie and keep quiet.
“Somethings happened. It’s not to do with Jayden, it’s to do with somebody else,” she told producers. “I’ve received a text message, of something that someone’s done to someone else that’s quite bad.”
Sitting down with Jayden, Eden divulged more details, explaining Sara had messaged her before the retreat asking to borrow clothes for dinner. The problem? Sara explained that she was meeting up with her ex.
At this stage, Jayden and Eden have not confronted Sara or told Timothy, but audiences are on the edge of their seats as they wait for the next episode to find out more information.
With so many promised scandals and fallouts this season, fans are sure to be in for the ride of their life when MAFS continues.
Married At First Sight Australia airs Monday to Wednesday, 7:30pm and Sunday, 7pm, on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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