When Jason Smith woke up one morning last August, he expected it to be just another day waiting for his partner Chris Robinson to return after one of the many break-ups in their on-again off-again relationship.
Instead, he found out the man he loved was getting married… on TV!
“I went online and saw the paparazzi pictures of him getting married on MAFS,” Jason tells Woman’s Day.
“I was absolutely in shock. I thought it was fake.”
Even more devastating for Jason is that he believed the pair would get back together – and were even planning a future that included having a baby.
“I thought we were going to raise a child together,” he says.
Jason began dating current Married At First Sight groom Chris on June 18, 2022, after meeting on Tinder. Despite a 15-year age gap – Jason is 54 and Chris 39 – the pair quickly fell into an intense relationship.
“We were together 95 per cent of the time,” Jason recalls, explaining they moved between several Airbnb properties around NSW, including Jervis Bay and the Hawkesbury region.
TUMULTUOUS PAIRING
But while their connection was strong, Jason admits the relationship was often turbulent. “Any time we had a small issue, it was, ‘It’s done. We’re over. Don’t ever contact me again,’” he says. “It happened about 70 times. That’s no exaggeration.”
Because of the constant break-ups and reconciliations, Jason says he assumed Chris had simply disappeared again for some solo time after a couples counselling session in July 2025.
“It wasn’t uncommon for Chris to disappear for a week, two weeks, sometimes longer,” he says. “He would always resurface and want to restart the relationship.”
So when weeks passed with no word, Jason believed Chris simply needed space.
“Until I woke up around August 27 and saw the photos,” Jason says. “It was the shock of my life. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
Feeling blindsided, Jason immediately sent an email to production outlining their relationship.
“I didn’t think it was a good idea to have him on the show. I felt he wouldn’t have disclosed our relationship. I heard nothing back, of course,” he says.
Jason adds he also attempted to contact Chris’ on-screen husband Sam through social media, however he believes he was “blocked.”
BABY PLANS
According to Jason, Chris had long dreamed of becoming a father and had begun the process of having a baby via surrogate during their relationship.
“He very early on expressed that he wanted his own biological child,” Jason explains. “I was on board with that. I’ve raised two kids myself.”
Jason says he even travelled overseas with Chris to help that dream happen. “We flew to Bogota [Colombia]so he could make a sperm donation,” he reveals. “I was there with him while he did that.”
The expectation, Jason says, was that they would raise the baby together.
“Absolutely we were going to raise the child together,” he says.
“That was always the plan.”
ULTERIOR MOTIVE
Jason admits watching MAFS has been difficult as it brings up memories of their “volatile” relationship, which at one point got so bad it strained his relationships with his own family.
“My children were beside themselves. My daughter wouldn’t speak to me for a period,” he says.
When asked why he believes Chris went on the show, Jason says he thinks there are two reasons.
“I believe he knew he was losing me for good. And I also think he thought it would bring him fame and money.”
Jason hopes that speaking out will prevent others from going through the same experience.
“I never thought this could happen to me,” he says. “And I’d hate it to happen to anyone else.”
And what would happen if he ran into his ex again?
“I’d run the other way,” Jason admits.
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