As we settle in for a new season of Married At First Australia, we’re preparing to meet a whole new cast of wild, chaotic, sweet and lovelorn characters.
WATCH: Married At First Sight Australia | 2022
One such contestant is Selin Mengu, a 32-year-old executive assistant from Sydney who is looking for a “good man” with his head planted firmly on his shoulders. She’s also a single mother.
Her son Roman is about to turn three, with Selin hoping to find someone special on the reality TV show who will be on her and Roman’s team “for life.”
The future MAFS bride has admitted that she was nervous of being hurt again – and scared to sacrifice precious time away from her son to join the series. As we know, the experts don’t always get it right.
“What on earth am I doing?” Selin wrote on Instagram after the cast list was revealed. But fears aside, she was willing to put it all on the line after years of putting her role as a mum first.
So, what happened between Selin and her ex-husband?
The reality TV star celebrated her bachelorette party in September 2017, though has since removed any other photos of her wedding and marriage from Instagram.
She announced her pregnancy one year later in September 2018, before welcoming her baby boy on April 6, 2019.
In her Married At First Sight bio, Selin reveals she split from her husband shortly after giving birth. Meeting her future groom Anthony Cincotta at the altar was the first time in three years that she’s even been on a date!
“I couldn’t sit there and play the role of a happy wife – because I wasn’t,” she said of her marriage, which ended when she was “betrayed in the worst way possible.”
In an interview with 9Now, Selin opened up on the struggles of co-parenting with her ex-husband.
“We have disagreements, we can have arguments, but at the end of the day we want to do what’s best for him, for our son,” she told the publication.
“In our co-parenting arrangement, I don’t have any set days that I put down that he [her ex] has to see him… Things change week by week, so he can see him whenever he wants, it’s not just once a fortnight,” she revealed.
Selin also admitted to feeling as though she’d “split up” her family.
“That’s one thing I always think about. I take it personally and I feel like I’ve broken up our family, but obviously, it was for the best,” she said.
“We’ve gone our separate ways, but the main thing was that there was something really good out of the relationship, obviously our son. We don’t regret that.”
Selin says that, after always providing for Roman first and putting her needs last, she is attempting to leave her “mum guilt” behind for the opportunity to find true love on Married At First Sight.
But one look at her Instagram page and it’s obvious she has a special bond (and a whole lot of love) for her son.
Whether she’s taking him on adventures around Australia to Byron Bay or the Blue Mountains, or throwing him a sweet birthday party with a car-themed cake, Selin is clearly one proud mama.
On his second birthday in 2021, Selin wrote: “TWO of the greatest years. HBD my sweet boy Rome! Be happy always, be kind forever and just LOVE. It’s you before anything else. Love Mama.”
On his first birthday she shared a video tribute for his first lap around the sun, writing: “You’re in here (my mind) and in here (my heart) for eternity my son.”
READ NEXT: Where to follow the Married At First Sight cast on Instagram
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