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Every season of Married At First Sight, we wait with bated breath to see if another explosive cheating scandal will unravel.
In the past few years, it’s become almost inevitable that at least one contestant will spark up a romance with another bride or groom.
So in case you were distracted by the dramatic mess that is MAFS‘ current season, we’ve rounded up all the affairs, couple swaps and cheating scandals that have made headlines through the years.
Davina Rankin and Dean Wells, season five
While cheating scandals seem part and parcel with MAFS nowadays, in the show’s early seasons, the contestants never had so much as a wandering eye.
But when Davina Rankin and Dean Wells met at one of season five’s dinner parties, the experiment’s first ever cheating scandal started brewing.
Despite being paired with their respective partners, Tracey Jewel and Ryan Gallagher, Dean and Davina snuck away from a dinner party to spend alone time together, unbeknownst to their on-screen partners or the other contestants.
“I want to kiss you so bad,” Davina repeatedly told Dean in private, kicking off the explosive affair.
“There is that fire in the belly with Davina that I haven’t had with Tracey,” Dean then explained to the cameras.
Dean and Davina agreed to leave their respective partners and requested to continue the experiment together, but it all fell apart when Dean got cold feet and back-pedalled.
He announced “the affair” at a shocking commitment ceremony, and promised renewed commitment to his bride, Tracey, leaving Davina exposed and utterly blindsided.
Despite trying to convince Ryan to stay in the experiment, Davina ultimately chose to walk away, much to Ryan’s relief.
“Well, I figured I haven’t put you through enough hell yet,” she began, alluding to a “stay” decision. “You’re going to hate me,” she joked before saying, “I’m kidding! I’m leaving.”
In 2022 during her stint on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, Davina recounted the experience, adding: “People are shocked to hear that me and Dean never slept together, we never even kissed! How can I have an affair with someone that I’ve never spent time with?”
“There were other people within the series that were fooling around with each other and stuff like that but production would not let that go to air because they already had a narrative. There’s no way anyone else is the villain or any other scandal is happening except for this scandal that’s playing out.”
Ines Basic and Sam Ball, season six
Ines Basic had her eyes firmly on Sam Ball from season six’s very first dinner party, so it was no huge surprise when the pair engaged in a sordid affair.
Sam failed to connect with his on-screen wife Elizabeth Sobinoff, while Ines made no effort to hide her disdain for her husband Bronson Norrish.
After a nightmare honeymoon, Ines secretly contacted the Sydney-based tradie via social media.
Things quickly turned flirty at a dinner party with the former legal aid worker exclaiming: “If Sam doesn’t show up and he’s left the experiment, I’m done.”
The pair eventually enjoyed a steamy sleepover in a hotel room, but at the next dinner party, gossip began to circulate about their romance.
Ines continued to deny the affair to the group, and told the cameras that she and Sam had made a pact not to reveal anything to the group.
The same night, Ines and Sam snuck off together for some time away from the rest of the group. But as they discussed their future together outside the show, Sam got cold feet.
In the ultimate messy twist, Sam left Ines on the show when he decided to leave the show for good. To add insult to injury, Sam stood Ines up at the reunion show, leaving her heartbroken.
Jessika Power and Dan Webb, season six
Another infamous affair to play out on season six was the trainwreck that was Jessika Power and Dan Webb.
Jess was originally paired with Mick Gould, but while the down-to-earth farmer tried his best to form a connection with his bride, the two never hit it off.
Dan, on the other hand, entered the show as an intruder with his match Tamara Joy. Despite initially having some chemistry, their romance quickly fizzled out.
At the next dinner party, Jess wasted no time in sparking up a flirtatious conversation with Dan. To pursue her budding relationship with Dan, Jess continued to write ‘stay’, much to the dismay of Mick, who wanted nothing more than to leave the show.
Eventually Jess and Dan came clean to the group about their romance at an explosive commitment ceremony, and Mick and Tamara were sent home.
In a MAFS first that will go down in reality TV history, Jess and Dan were allowed to re-enter the experiment together as a brand new couple.
But just when we thought Jess and Dan’s relationship couldn’t get more explosive – the pair eventually went on to break up on live TV.
Their appearance on Channel Nine’s sister show, Talking Married, came directly after the bombshell finale episode that saw them relive their journey together throughout the series.
Dan saw for the first time that Jessika had also propositioned fellow contestant Nic Jovanovic, to no avail.
When discussing their trust issues, Jess decided not to respond and looked deadpan at the camera while ignoring all of Dan’s questions. Safe to say, it has to be one of the most awkward moments to ever play out while live on air.
You can watch it play out below.
Coco Stedman and Cameron Dunne, season eight
Coco Stedman and Cameron Dunne bonded after failing to find a connection with their own respective spouses, Sam Carraro and Samantha Harvey.
The pair then continued to meet up several times in private, before eventually sharing a passionate kiss in Cameron’s apartment.
Coco and Sam as well as Cam and his wife Samantha opted to leave the experiment shortly afterwards but denied they had anything more than a personal connection.
At the show’s reunion, Coco and Cameron eventually admitted that they had met up and slept together after the show ended.
Cameron admitted what he did was cheating, saying: “There’s a lot that went on. And there is someone else to consider, so it would be cheating.”
However Coco insisted she hadn’t been unfaithful to Sam, saying: “I don’t think I cheated on Sam, no. Do I think I was deceitful to Samantha? Yes.”
When asked by the experts if it was worth it, Coco responded: “Nup”.
Cameron explained: “We caught up, yeah. I wasn’t gonna leave it alone, so, I mean, it didn’t go far, that got in the way. I moved to Queensland, and it just, kind of, disappeared, really.”
Carolina Santos and Daniel Holmes, season nine
Carolina Santos and Daniel Holmes’ cheating scandal became one of the most talked about plot-points of season nine.
Carolina was originally matched with Dion Giannarelli while Daniel was matched with Jessica Seracino. However, both of them admitted that they didn’t have a spark with their respective partners. When they met at a dinner party, the pair say they were hit with some sparks.
“The weird thing about attraction is it’s not a choice, and there was something that I felt that I had on my end, and I also felt she felt it as well,” Daniel told 9Enterainment.
“I just took my shot. I just thought, you know what, why not? Why not, just before I go back to Brisbane, just see if what I felt was real, and then invite her over for a chat?”
The opportunity for Daniel and Carolina to explore things presented itself when Jessica decided to leave the show. Daniel reached out to see if Carolina wanted to go to the gym together. It led to multiple secret dates where they got to know each other.
Eventually, Daniel and Carolina arrived at a Commitment Ceremony together, much to the surprise of Dion and the other couples.
“We’re genuine and real about this experiment and how we feel about each other. We’d like to continue this experiment together,” Daniel said to the experts, before asking whether they’d be allowed to re-join the experiment together.
The experts said no, and the pair were sent packing. However, they did stay together for three months before separating.
Claire Nomarhas and Adam Seed, season 10
Season 10 of MAFS kicked off with a cheating scandal right off the bat. During a night out, Claire Nomarhars — who was paired up with Jesse Burford — was rumoured to have shared a smooch with another groom in the experiment, Adam Seed, who was coupled up with Janelle Han.
At first, the pair denied that they kissed, but later in the experiment, Claire came clean. While Claire apologised to all involved, Adam doubled down, claiming that it wasn’t cheating because his relationship with Janelle didn’t technically start until a few days after the kiss with Claire.
“I’m really really sorry to Jesse and to Janelle for disrespecting you and I’m sorry to everyone here for disrespecting this entire experiment,” said Claire to the group.
While Jesse admitted that he was hurt by Claire, he had “mad respect” for the way she owned up to her mistake.
“That’s what owning your mistakes and giving a genuine apology will grant you – a bit of leniency from the mob,” he said.
However, the drama really kicks off when Janelle reveals that Adam came home and slept with her after kissing Claire.
Jonathan McCullough and Ellie Dix, season 11
Admittedly, this one is barely a cheating scandal.
When Jonathan McCullough first entered the MAFS experiment, he was paired up with Lauren Dunn. Towards the end of the season, it was revealed that Jono had been texting another bride, Ellie Dix, who had left the experiment after things didn’t work out with her on-screen husband, Ben Walters.
“You reached out to her. These aren’t just relaying information that happened the night before, this is more than that. My stomach dropped,” said Lauren in an episode.
While it was a shock at first, it seemed to be the best outcome as Jono and Ellie are still together over a year after their time on the show.
Plus, they have the full support of Lauren who told the Daily Mail that she “could not be happier for Jono”.
“Me and him were forced to be together, we didn’t choose each other, and we gave it our absolute all,” she said.
“I honestly I could not be happier that they found love, because Jono and I weren’t in love.”
Sara Mesa and her ex, season 11
When Sara Mesa and Tim Calwell were first paired up together on MAFS, audiences felt like they were an incredible match. While they were, for a time, this all unravelled when it was revealed that Sara had been in touch with her ex.
During a tense dinner party, fellow MAFS contestants Eden Harper and Jayden Eynaud pulled both Sara and Tim aside to reveal the shocking news.
“He was here from Perth and he messaged me and we met up,” she told them, denying it was a date.
Tim was quite upset by this admission.
“I feel like I tried so hard to meet her needs and expectations and it was never enough for her. Now it’s pretty obvious why. She lied to me about where she was on the weekend and now the signs were pretty obvious. She was cheating on me,” Tim told production.
Although Sara maintained that nothing physical happened with her ex, she did admit to emotional cheating, apologised to Tim and said it would never happen again. Despite going on to staying with each other during final vows, they split shortly after.
Well, there you have it!
Who knows what the 2026 MAFS season will bring? We’ll have to wait and see.
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