One of the most joyous yet truly absurd things Married at First Sight (MAFS) 2025 manages to consistently deliver to viewers each year is introducing us all to some quirky participants who turn the dating experiment into actual TV gold, whether that’s in good or bad ways.
One couple who has people talking is Jacqui Burfoot and Ryan Donnelly, who both had certain expectations for their future spouses, but are struggling to make things work. They’re both, somehow, speaking the same (bizarre) language – Jacqui’s looking for a man who will take the lead and let her lean into her “feminine” while Ryan has a “warrior mentality” and woefully asked in his very first episode, “where did all the men go?”
Yet, somehow, the two of them so far haven’t been able to fully hit it off, despite their love for TikTok-style relationship lingo.
From Ryan dropping Jacqui on the dance floor and begging producers to cut out the footage so it wouldn’t embarrass his new wife, to Jacqui’s disgust at Ryan’s shoes on the lounge and bed, the relationship has already been through its teething issues. Things were not made any better by Ryan then ranking Jacqui as third in the Confessions Week photo ranking challenge in last night’s episode, leaving his new wife distraught.
“I deserve someone who makes me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world and that’s not Ryan,” Jacqui said in her voxxie after. “He’s a low-effort man who deserves a low effort girl. And that’s not me.”
MAFS fans convinced Ryan and Jacqui are production plants
The bizarre back and forth of Ryan and Jacqui’s dynamic, with the couple being relatively fine one second before clashing the next, has left fans quite baffled. Now, many fans have started taking to social media to speculate if the two are actually actors, especially after Jacqui’s ability to burst into tears at random points.
“I am convinced she’s an actress,” one MAFS viewer said on an Instagram post, with many agreeing. “Absolutely believe they are both actors, trying to get recognised by Home and Away,” another person joked, while some tried to allege Jacqui was “fake crying”.
“Ok so are these two actors? Very bad acting. Has to be fake so scripted,” another disbeliever commented.
MAFS groom on whether Jacqui and Ryan are actors
In an interview with MAFS groom Adrian Araouzou earlier, we decided to ask him about his stance on Jacqui and Ryan and if, well, they’re two actors taking the piss.
“It’s funny, I’ve seen those comments too,” Adrian said to Chattr about the rumours. “I wish I could tell people they were actors. But that is Jacqui and that is Ryan.
“In a weird way, they somewhat work together,” Adrian continued. “Because you’re like, wait a minute, how can anyone be like Jacqui? Then you get Ryan, and who the hell is like Ryan?! It’s like the perfect pair. And that’s a 0.0001% chance to find a perfect match like those two, and the experts found them.”
Married At First Sight 2025 airs Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for more entertainment news.
