In what was dramatically billed as a “world first,” Married At First Sight Australia viewers will be introduced to four new participants on tonight’s episode, with two new sets of brides and grooms set to walk down the aisle.
In the wake of last night’s explosive commitment ceremony, which saw Bronson and Ines and Sam and Elizabeth leave the experiment after Sam and Ines’ affair was revealed to the group, two new couples have been added in to the cast.
So let’s meet the new brides and grooms looking for reality TV love. There’s no shortage of heartache in their stories. But one groom’s inclusion is set to overshadow them all, as details of his criminal charges have just come to light.
Susie, 25
Meet Susie, 25-year-old nurse from Brisbane, Queensland.
Susie, who is mother to a three-year-old daughter called Baby, found herself single when her partner moved out 18 months ago.
Typically finding herself attracted to bad boys, Susie admits she is struggling to find someone who can see who she is beyond the young single mum.
It begs the question, is controversial groom Sam Ball, who has just left the social experiment, her type?
“Yes, unfortunately!” Susie told TV WEEK with a laugh.
“Everything I saw Sam say or do, I thought, ‘This is something I’d be drawn to.’
“For me, the initial thing I go for is sexual attraction. I melt over a very good-looking boy. A lot of the guys I find attractive are covered in tattoos and have a bad attitude.”
Susie is hoping to find her Mr Right after splitting with her childhood sweetheart. It’s the first time she’s been single since the age of 14, so she’s understandably nervous.
“It’s taken me a while to find my feet as a single person!” she says.
Tamara, 29
Tamara, a 29-year-old from Melbourne, is tired of being the third wheel. Her twin brother is engaged to her best friend, and it’s time for her to meet her own partner.
Tamara’s mum died from motor neurone disease just three years ago. Understandably, the brunette admits her wedding day on MAFS wasn’t easy.
“It’s crazy how emotional it got, because I didn’t even know the guy,” Tamara, 29, told TV WEEK. “I just wished Mum was there. She was the first person I’d turn to for advice, and she wasn’t there to do that. Every bride wants their mum with them on their wedding day.”
Tamara says her mother would have been “mortified” at the thought of her daughter marrying a stranger on TV.
“She’d have rolled her eyes and said, ‘Are you joking? Why can’t you find a nice quiet boy?'” Tamara says with a laugh.
Billy, 28
Billy is a personal trainer and model from Lennox Heads, New South Wales. He’s determined to make a more constructive life for himself after his mother’s cancer diagnosis.
As an only child, Billy is incredibly close to his mum. And when she was diagnosed with cancer, Billy realised family was more important than ever.
“I had to face the fact that I needed to keep my family close and that my mum could pass away,” the model, 28, told TV WEEK. “I had to re-evaluate everything”.
Fortunately, his mum is now in remission. As for Billy’s father, he’s been out of the picture since he was a baby – but Billy isn’t fussed.
“I have no daddy issues whatsoever,” he explains. “I had a choice to meet him when I was 18 and did. I accept he’s my father, but I don’t have any real need to see him. My mum is enough. She was my mum and my dad.”
Daniel, 35
Charismatic and confident Daniel is a single dad from Queensland’s Gold Coast.
He’s excited to meet his partner on MAFS because he wants to settle down for good with his soulmate, but for Dan’s ex, the mother of his four-year-old son, it’s particularly gut-wrenching.
“We were supposed to get married years ago, but I got cold feet,” Dan, 35, explained to TV WEEK. “I called it off, so she was a bit upset about me going on TV and getting married.”
The car broker says his son is his number-one priority.
“Because I have a son, it’s hard for me to let my walls down,” he says. “I don’t want to let him down. I still haven’t introduced a girl to him, so it’s a big thing for me. It’s hard to find someone who’s willing to take on a kid.”
What MAFS producers didn’t, perhaps, realise when they cast Daniel is that he was before the courts on charges relating to a multi-million scam.
According to Nine News Queensland, the 35-year-old former rugby player has been charged with aggravated fraud after allegedly taking part in a huge telemarketing scam on the Gold Coast, which reportedly robbed $20 million from innocent local families.
He was one of seven people charged in 2016 over the ploy, which saw the syndicate allegedly cold call over 600 people in 2014.
A source tells Now to Love that as part of his bail conditions Daniel had to “check in at the police station every fortnight and had to fly home from filming MAFS to undertake these check in to ensure he wasn’t breaching his conditions.”
His case was heard in the Brisbane magistrates court last Friday, however Daniel was not present for the hearing.
