MAFS' Awhina Rutene finally confirms she is dating co-star Billy Belcher after weeks of denying their romance

Awhina has been linked to Billy since February, when this year’s season 12 of the hit Channel Nine dating show finished airing in Aus. At the same time, it was also revealed that the TV bride had split from her on-screen husband Adrian Araouzou as although they left the experiment together and took their romance in to the real world things hadn’t worked out for them. Billy, meanwhile, split with his wife Sierah Swepstone after just a few weeks in the experiment.

At the time, Awhina told Daily Mail Australia, that she is just friends with Billy. “[He's] a WA guy. We have built a friendship. He happened to be at my birthday, but it is a purely platonic friendship,” she said.

But, then in April they appeared to confirm they were an item by posting a series of photos and videos of them together on their respective Instagram pages. Awhina captioned one of the videos she posted to her Instagram Stories: "Our exes ate a plate of meat, but who really ate?" The caption was a nod to the fact it was revealed on the show that Adrian and Sierah had gone out for a meal behind their spouse’s backs - and when confronted they admitted they had shared a plate of meat.

Back in May, Awhina continued to deny there was anything more than friendship between herself and Billy. In an Instagram Q&A one fan asked Awhina: "[Are] you dating anyone after the show?" The TV bride replied: "I haven't actually gone on a date with anyone post show or hung out with any guy I wasn't already friends with. So I'm very single, and I'm sorry to the 1929928338838 questions about Billy and I but we are friends."

Most recently, Billy filmed a video with Awhina's son which started the rumours again. Then earlier today, Thursday June 5, Awhina and Billy officially launched their relationship on Instagram. But, they still managed to tease fans.

Awhina posted a series of photos to her Instagram page along with the caption “I’ll keep this one”. But, it was not a traditional mirror photo. Awhina facing away from the mirror while Billy is facing towards it but also has his back turned to the camera. He has his arm around her waist, while she tenderly holds his arm. His face is, however, visible in the mirror so that his identity can be confirmed - just.

The other photos include one of their hands together on a table during a dinner date, and also images of each of them during the date but with their faces somewhat obscured. In Awhina is hiding her face behind a wine glass while in Billy has put the menu in front of his.

Fans have flooded the comments with joyous messages. “ Yusss, I love how he is with your son. As a mum that’s the ultimate most attractive attribute,” one said. A second person said: “I am living for this.” A third wrote: “We said the whole way through that you two should have been paired up!!!!”

As a massive MAFS fan, I’m also delighted to see Awhina and Billy happy together. However, they’re not the only pairings who have met on reality dating shows who have also been cryptic about the nature of their relationship. There’s also Love is Blind’s Sara Carton and Joey Leveille and now Sneaky Links’ Angelique Wilcox and Logan Ventura.

The cynic in me thinks that this is a purposeful move to ensure they stay in the spotlight for as long as possible after their show ended. But, at the same time, I can understand why these couples would want to keep their budding romances quiet when there’s so much focus already on them. If they announced their relationship too soon, when they were still in the early days of dating, too soon this would put a lot of pressure on them for it to work out and I can understand them wanting privacy to make sure it’s right before they properly tell the world. Either way, I wish all the couples happiness and love.

Check out which of the other MAFS Australia season 12 couples are still together and also couples have found love with a bride or groom who wasn't their match on MAFS.