Just when we thought Final Vows were about to descend on us, that cheeky little experiment Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2025 threw one last curveball our way, introducing one final challenge.
For the first time ever, the experts have introduced the ‘Is the Grass Greener On The Other Side?’ challenge, designed to test the relationships of our couples before they make their decision as to whether they want to continue on the outside.
Each MAFS participant will be given an option to meet up with another compatible match allegedly hand-chosen by the experts, and someone who has been deemed ‘scientifically better’. Whatever that means.
The challenge has already been widely reported on, so if you’re hearing it for the first time, it turns out a lot of our 2025 MAFS faves ‘failed’ the challenge by opting to see if the grass really was greener on the other side. As reported by The Daily Mail earlier in March, only one couple remained strong with Jeff Gobbels and Rhi Disljenkovic opting not to meet their match.
Carina Mirable and Dave Hand also decided against it, while their partners Paul Antoine and Jamie Marinos both agreed to meet their back-up option.
In less surprising news, Awhina Rutene and Adrian Araouzou, Jacqueline Burfoot and Ryan Donnelly, and Teejay Halkias and Beth Kelly also met their backup matches.
So who are these backup matches? Let’s dive into it.
Everything we know about the 2025 backup MAFS matches
Tara-Lee Preston
After saying yes to the challenge, Teejay met up with Sydney sales consultant Tara-Lee, with the two reportedly “hitting it off”.
A production source told The Daily Mail that Teejay was “loving the chemistry”. “They just vibed instantly,” they said. “He had more spark with Tara in one day than he had with his actual bride in weeks.”
Interestingly, Tara is following Teejay on Instagram. Could there be more to come? Watch this space.
Oisin Scully
Beth went ahead and met Irish personal trainer Oisin, but reportedly wasn’t convinced he was a better match for her than Teejay. Oisin was apparently close to making the full-time cast this year, so perhaps we’ll see him back in 2026?
Hannah Dawson
Little is actually known about Hannah who went on a date with Paul, while his wife Carina opted out of the challenge.
A source told The Daily Mail that Hannah was confused as to why Paul was meeting up with her if everything was fine in his marriage. “She told him, ‘If you were happy, you wouldn’t be here’,” the source revealed.
Let’s see how that all goes down with Carina!
Tim King
Tim is set to go on a date with Awhina, but can he win over the mother of one?
Tim spoke to The Daily Mail himself, saying he was meant to be an original participant but his bride bailed.
“I went off to Europe, then they called me back as an intruder groom, but two days before I was meant to go on, I got a call saying they went with another guy,” he said. “I was called back again when my original bride decided to come back, but I was still in Europe, so they found a replacement groom for her.”
While Tim says he and Awhina hit it off, he offered a sympathetic ear to her concerns. “She was nice, but she wasn’t my type. I just played a counsellor role. I didn’t want to be the homewrecker,” he said.
Maxi
Meanwhile, Adrian was matched with ‘wannabe influencer’ Maxi, and it appears the two may still be in contact, as they’re still following each other on Instagram. Is it all innocent? You never know with Adrian!
Married At First Sight 2025 airs Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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