As well as incredible drama and the occasional success story, MAFS is great at delivering cringeworthy moments.
From overzealous contestants, to embarrassing family and friends, to bizarre behaviour, the reality TV show sure knows how to deliver those funny watercooler moments that will live on long after the that season’s contestants have all unfollowed each other on Instagram.
Here are the 10 cringiest moments in MAFS history:
1. Harrison’s printed “evidence”
At the Reunion Dinner Party in 2023, Harrison Boon arrived with printed “evidence” that Bronte had been messaging a girl he had “been seeing before the experiment”.
Harrison thought he had delivered a real gotcha moment, but he really just gave the rest of the contestants, and the rest of us, a good laugh.
He believed Bronte getting in contact with the 20-year-old woman he was seeing just before he entered the experiment was a breach of his privacy.
However, the rest of the contestants believed Bronte was well within her rights to contact this woman and get the full story.
2. Dean Wells serenading Tracey Jewel with a rap
After cheating on his on-screen wife Tracey Jewel with fellow contestant Davina Rankin, Dean attempted to win Tracey back with a tried and true method… a personalised rap.
“You’re so hot, we tied the knot at first sight, it’s so tight,” were just some of the lyrics.
3. Bryce telling Melissa she’s not “ugly”
When Bryce Ruthven was first matched with Melissa Rawson on season 8, he didn’t hold back with his initial thoughts about her.
During the pair’s honeymoon, Melissa asked Bryce an Honesty Box question about whether he found her attractive.
“I’ll be completely honest. Not 100 per cent,” he said. “I’ve always gone for the blonde hair, blue eyes, tan kinda girl. And usually tall. I can’t say 100 per cent I’d come up to you in a bar and buy you a drink,” he continued.
“When I first saw you I thought, ‘Not my type.’ But, I thought, she’s not… ugly?”
Somehow these two were able to get past this and have since welcomed twins.
4. Lucinda’s father encouraging Tim to have a “one-night stand” with her
Nobody wants to talk to their father-in-law about their sex life, but that’s exactly what happened to Tim Smith when Lucinda Light’s father encouraged him to have a one-night stand with his daughter.
The couple were struggling with intimacy when they met up with Lucinda’s father during family week.
“We’d love to see a bit more action on your behalf. It could be a one night stand, it could be anything but just try it,” Lucinda’s dad told a shocked Tim.
5. Troy Delmege brushing his teeth
Troy Delmege brought many laughs to season 5 of Married At First Sight.
But the funniest scene has to be the one where he was getting ready to go out on a date with his onscreen wife Ashley Irvin, and they showed footage of him brushing his teeth.
Let’s just say that toothbrush was working overtime.
He followed his intense toothbrushing session with stopping mid-date to do some push-ups.
6. Ines and Sam’s “cheating scandal”
In season six, Ines and Sam took a page from the Dean Wells and Davina Rankin playbook and decided to orchestrate their own “cheating scandal”.
Look, we’re not saying that it wasn’t real but it did feel a little bit like an audition tape for Home & Away.
The whole situation became even cringier when Sam decided to bail from the experiment altogether, leaving Ines and his onscreen wife Elizabeth Sibonoff behind.
7. When Ines asked Bronson to remove his eyebrow ring
Ah Ines, you gave us plenty of material in season six.
When her onscreen husband Bronson, and we the audience, first met Ines at the altar she bluntly told him he needed to change his appearance.
“Hi Bronson. Can we get rid of your eyebrow ring please?” she said.
Things only went downhill from there for Ines and Bronson and they soon parted ways.
8. When Madeleine received a message from a spirit about her husband
Season 11’s Madeleine is definitely one of the most interesting contestants we’ve met so far on MAFS.
She told her on-screen husband Ash that she loved him as soon as she met him at the altar.
However later during the reception, Madeleine, who is a psychic medium, received a message from “spirit” about her new husband.
“What has shifted and why?” a producer asked her, to which she replied: “I got a download about where it was going… they were showing me something.”
While she wouldn’t elaborate on what the spirit world had told her, she said it was information “that is helpful for me to know”.
9. Tim’s best man’s horrifying speech
Season 11’s Tim and Sara initially hit it off at their wedding but things rapidly went downhill when Tim’s best man Ben delivered his speech.
In the speech, Ben referred to Sara as “experiment 865” before launching into a bunch of crude stories about Tim.
“Tim had the idea to pack his own lunch at a four-day music festival in the middle of an Australian summer,” he said at one point. “On the very last day, we sat in awe as he devoured rancid four-day old chicken…”
He then told a joke that we’re not going to repeat here.
10. Matt’s “chicken Twisties’ breath”
Matt didn’t get off to a great start with his bride Kate on the 2022 season of MAFS.
Matt wasn’t shy about showing affection during their wedding photoshoot but the feelings weren’t reciprocated by Kate.
At one point, he leant over and whispered “Darling, come closer,” which quite frankly just seem to terrify his new bride.
That was just the tip of the iceberg, though, later he leant over again to apologise for his chicken Twisties’ breath.
“Sorry about the breath. I’ve just had some chicken Twisties,” he whispered to a mortified Kate.
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