With twelve explosive seasons under its belt, Married at First Sight Australia has seen more than its fair share of cheating scandals, and we’ve taken the time to rank them all!
While wine-slinging, glass-smashing and wars of words make for some spicy entertainment, no drama can compare to that of a salacious cheating scandal.
Season upon season, the experts poorly match hopeful singles with partners who are literally the worst fit for each other and naturally, some contestants opt to stray from their marital agreements.
Now, some of the experiment’s extramarital affairs have been downright laughable, but others have had us hot under the collar (and red in the face).
And so, because we’re suckers for punishment, we’ve ranked each Married at First Sight cheating scandal in line with a trusty Spice-O-Metre.
Keep scrolling to see where the MAFS affairs rank from Plain…ish to Extra Hot!
Jacqui Burfoot and Clint Rice — Season 12
Spice-O-Metre: HOT
Now, this one isn’t technically considered a cheating scandal, but it was definitely one of the most talked-about moments of the series!
Jacqui Burfoot, who was originally matched with Ryan Donnelly, and intruder Clint Rice, who was initially paired with Lauren Hall, shocked their co-stars when they entered the Reunion as a couple.
Whilst Jacqui and Clint only became a thing after the experiment, Jacqui admitted in a TikTok video that she and Clint were “secretly crushing on each other” during filming. Ooh la la!
And the best part? During the So Dramatic! MAFS Reunion Viewing Party, Clint popped the question to Jacqui, proving to everyone that you really can find love on reality TV!
Adrian Araouzou and Sierah Swepstone — Season 12
Spice-O-Metre: MILD
From playing footsies to sharing a plate of meat, Sierah Swepstone and Adrian Araouzou found themselves swept up in a plethora of cheating rumours.
It all kicked off during the second Commitment Ceremony, when Sierah admitted she’d opened up about her past to Adrian and Ashleigh Ackerman.
Sierah’s TV husband, Billy Belcher, claimed he felt “blindsided,” as he’d been trying to get Sierah to open up throughout the experiment, while Adrian’s wife, Awhina Rutene, admitted she felt the same way about her husband.
But in Part Five of her exclusive tell-all on the So Dramatic! podcast, Sierah shut the rumours down, revealing she’d “never been alone with Adrian.”
Later in the show, Sierah was accused of “cheating” when it came out that she went out for dinner with Adrian.
Sierah then explained that Tony Mojanovski was also present and that they merely shared “a plate of meat” at a local kebab shop.
Producers also made it seem like Sierah and Adrian were playing footsies under the table during a Dinner Party.
Adrian laughed off the claim, telling an outlet, “If bumping feet under a crowded dinner table is cheating, then half the cast must be guilty. If that’s cheating, then I also ‘cheated’ with Jeff [Gobbles], Rhi [Disljenkovic], and everyone else at the Dinner Party because we were all sitting close together.”
So the reason we’re ranking this one Mild? Simple – they weren’t actually cheating with each other!
Ellie Dix and Jonathan McCullough — Season 11
Spice-O-Metre: EXTRA HOT
The most infamous cheating scandal of Season 11 erupted when Jonathan McCullough was caught secretly texting Ellie Dix, despite still being “married” to Lauren Dunn.
“Jono and Ellie were messaging each other during the experiment,” one source told So Dramatic! at the time.
“They started messaging even more when Ellie left the experiment. They were texting all day, every day, while Jono was still on the show with Lauren.” Yikes!
Lauren discovered this huge betrayal when Tori Adams blurted it out during a Commitment Ceremony.
Meanwhile, Ellie’s former TV hubby Ben Walters found out about the recoupling when Ellie and Jonathan walked into the Reunion hand-in-hand.
Ellie and Jonathan are still going strong today, proving that sometimes reality TV scandals turn into real love stories!
Sara Mesa and Tim Calwell — Season 11
Spice-O-Metre: MEDIUM
Married at First Sight Australia 2024‘s Sara Mesa also found herself in the middle of a messy scandal when it came out that she’d met up with her ex during filming.
Sara confided in fellow bride Eden Harper about this secret rendezvous, but Eden then exposed this tea to the rest of their co-stars during an explosive Dinner Party, leaving Sara’s TV hubby Tim Calwell shattered.
During Part Two of her tell-all on the So Dramatic! podcast at the time, Sara explained she didn’t tell Tim about meeting her ex, because she considered him one of her friends, so she didn’t think it was a big deal.
“If the [producers] knew I was going out with my ex, they’d make it seem like something it wasn’t,” she justified. “On reality TV, we have to think about how things will look. So I thought about it that way.”
But that wasn’t the only cheating rumour that arose!
After filming wrapped, Tim had a short-lived relationship with Barbara Griebeler. However, rumours were circulating that he had dated Barbara before the show, then dumped her, but was still texting her during filming. Tim, however, shut down these claims.
Claire Nomarhas and Adam Seed — Season 10
Spice-O-Metre: HOT
Married at First Sight Australia 2023‘s main cheating scandal occurred when Claire Nomarhas and Adam Seed shared a cheeky pash on a night out.
Instead of owning up to their respective partners, Jesse Burford and Janelle Han, the pair ascended to villain status (if they weren’t there already), and they vehemently denied the kiss before eventually coming clean.
After everything went down, Janelle left the show during the following Commitment Ceremony because she no longer trusted Adam.
Jesse and Claire stuck it out until the fifth Commitment Ceremony, but Jesse ultimately couldn’t move past the betrayal.
In a juicy twist, Jesse and Janelle sparked romance rumours after their exit from the show. But sadly, the pair confirmed they were just friends.
“Lol me and Jesse are not dating,” Janelle told So Dramatic! at the time. “…We are just friends that pecked once.”
Meanwhile, Jesse claimed he was cosy with Janelle because they were “just mates”.
Shannon Adams and his ex Jamea Drake — Season 10
Spice-O-Metre: HOT
The second cheating scandal of Season 10 involved Shannon Adams and his ex-fiancée, Jamea Drake.
Shannon and his TV wife, Caitlin McConville, reached a breaking point when Caitlin overheard him making a distraught phone call to his on-again, off-again partner of seven years, with whom he shares a child.
When Caitlin pushed for answers, she got more than she bargained for, as Shannon admitted he was still in love with Jamea.
After he left the show, So Dramatic! exclusively revealed that Shannon and Jamea were expecting another child together, with sources dishing that the child was conceived while the show was being filmed. WTAF!
Another source told So Dramatic! that Shannon and Jamea were “on and off right up until he left for filming,” and they were intimate two days before he went on MAFS.
The source also alleged that the duo “met up during filming” and “were busted by producers having sex at Skye Suites.” Yikes!
As reported by PEDESTRIAN.TV Shannon and Jamea tried to make things work before the season aired. However, their relationship didn’t last, and they have since gone their separate ways.
Carolina Santos and Daniel Holmes — Season 9
Spice-O-Metre: HOT
Oh boy, where do we even start with this one?
Let’s set the scene: It’s MAFS 2022, and we’re in the gym (where all the worst stories start), where Daniel Holmes and Carolina Santos are engaging in a flirty fitness session.
By this stage, Daniel’s expert-assigned partner Jessica Seracino had already waved buh-bye to the cursed experiment. However, Carolina’s husband, Gucci-loving king Dion Giannarelli, was still very much there and trying to form a connection with his bride.
After an extremely hard-to-watch affair, Carolina and Daniel decided to attend the sixth Commitment Ceremony of the season together and requested to re-enter the experiment as a new couple.
Dion was heartbroken, the experts were stunned, and the other contestants were pissed AF. The bulk of Dion’s castmates even walked out of the ceremony in protest.
Obviously, they said a big hell to the no to them re-joining the show. And good riddance!
Coco Stedman and Cam Dunne — Season 8
Spice-O-Metre: LEMON & HERB
Married at First Sight Australia 2021 was so drama-packed that, somehow, a cheating scandal between Coco Stedman and Cam Dunne was one of the least interesting things to happen during the experiment.
Coco, who was paired with outspoken groom Sam Carraro, and Cam, matched with Samantha Harvey, hit it off and began a short but salacious affair behind their partners’ backs.
The rendezvous saw the two contestants share a kiss in Cam’s apartment… and then Coco exposed their infidelity at one very explosive dinner party.
Samantha actually gave Coco her blessing to explore a connection with her husband, whilst Coco’s hubby was not so forgiving and picked a (justified) fight with Cam.
At the time, however, she was not aware that the pair had pashed. This was only revealed at the season’s reunion special.
Hayley Vernon and Michael Goonan — Season 7
Spice-O-Metre: PLAIN…ISH
MAFS 2020‘s resident cheating scandal occurred when Michael Goonan and Hayley Vernon snogged on a night out.
No relationship or major affair came of their kiss; however, Hayley’s partner, Dave Cannon, was devastated, and Michael’s wife, Stacey Hampton, blew up at Hayley (and Hayley alone) over the kiss.
“Why were you even out with my husband alone?” Stacey exploded at the Dinner Party. “You’ve just ruined a relationship. Yes, he’s a d*ckhead and he parties, but you’ve taken that for granted. You were encouraging vulnerable Michael.” Uhhhh, WTF?
Sam Ball and Ines Basic — Season 6
Spice-O-Metre: MEDIUM
Season six of MAFS started with a bang – and a cheating scandal!
After WEEKS of secret text messages and flirty meet-cutes, Ines Basic and Sam Ball hooked up behind their respective partners’ backs during Season Six.
This came after Ines’ partner, Bronson Norrish, said his new wife was “acting like a c**t* at the very first Commitment Ceremony of the season. Yikes!
Speaking to TV Week after the show wrapped, Sam’s ‘wife’ Elizabeth Sobinoff said the pair “belong with each other”.
“They would act sweet to my face and then tear me apart behind my back. I think they’re disgusting,” she added.
This cheating scandal was definitely a bit yikes, but loses points on the Spice-O-Metre for appearing set up AF.
Jessika Power and Dan Webb — Season 6
Spice-O-Metre: EXTRA HOT
Season six of MAFS was clearly cursed because another cheating scandal arose between Jessika Power and Dan Webb.
Jessika, who was relatively uninterested in her hubby, Mick Gould, took a liking to Dan after he entered as an intruder alongside Tamara Joy.
The pair hit it off at their first mutual Dinner Party and eventually admitted their affair to the rest of the cast in a wild AF Commitment Ceremony.
In a MAFS first, the pair were allowed to reenter the experiment as a new couple —which certainly wouldn’t have happened on new expert, Alessandra Rampolla‘s watch.
The pair later broke up live on TV after Dan discovered during the reunion episode that Jess had also propositioned fellow participant, Nic Jovanovic. Sheesh!
Dean Wells and Davina Rankin — Season 5
Spice-O-Metre: HOT
Somehow, Married at First Sight Australia managed to avoid a major cheating scandal for its first few seasons.
The show’s clean streak was broken in 2018 by season five contestants Dean Wells and Davina Rankin.
Dean and Davina found themselves in a saucy cheating scandal after hooking up behind their expert-appointed partners Ryan Gallagher and Tracey Jewel‘s backs.
Hidden out of sight from the other participants, Davina (now-infamously) told Dean, “I feel like you and I like each other more than anyone else in that room.”
Davina and Dean decided to continue on MAFS together. But Dean had second thoughts and ultimately chose to stay with his “wife”.
“The plan was to come back into the experiment together, but at the last minute everyone screwed me,” Davina said. “[Dean] had decided to stay with his Mr,s but he outed that we’d been doing this whole thing.”
“Then Ryan pretended that he was really upset because ‘we were getting along so well’, but we hated each other.” Ai ai ai!
Jonathan Troughton and Scarlett Cooper – Season 4
Spice-o-metre: PLAIN…ISH
Somehow, Married at First Sight Australia managed to avoid a major cheating scandal for its first few seasons.
However, in season four, the show had its first cheating-adjacent scandal after Jonathan Troughton was caught texting Scarlett Cooper by his wife, Cheryl Maitland.
The pair exchanged flirty messages, but it never evolved into anything more.
Cheryl was (rightfully) still pissed and told her hubby: “I hate disloyal people. I heard you last night saying you got paired with the wrong person. And then you swapped numbers, and you have been talking to each other.”
The rejected bride later had a second shot at love after Jono’s texting faux-pas, reentering the experiment with groom Andrew ‘Jonesy’ Jones.
But let’s be real, this was NOTHING compared to the MAFS cheating scandals that followed it.
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