Married at First Sight star Ryan Gallagher slept 'under the house in the dirt with [his] dogs' to get away from his dad when he was a child

Ryan Gallagher, who appeared on season five on MAFS Australia back in 2018, has taken to his Instagram Stories to candidly speak about his childhood which he says included “alcohol and abuse”.

The 36-year-old father-of-one, who is rumoured to have split from fiancée and mother of his son Emily Seebohm, took to his Instagram Stories to open up after watching a clip of American mixed martial arts fighter Sean Strickland talking about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father.

In a post to his Instagram story, Ryan said that the “video hit home”. He explained: “My dad didn't do or say the same things, but drinking and abuse was a daily thing.

“I used to sleep under the house in the dirt with my dogs to get away from him while my mum was working night duty nursing. Or sleep in mum's car in the carpark at the hospital at night while she nursed, then go to school just like this guy, zoned out and blamed.”

Ryan, who shares one-year-old son Sampson with Olympian Emily, went on to say that his childhood informed his parenting choices when it came to his own son. “It's why I don't drink and [have] never done drugs,” he said in his post.

“My father taught me what not to do as a father, it made me the father I am. I'm patient, beyond loving and supportive but most of all Sampson has a present dad who wants to be with him every second.”

Ryan's post comes weeks after speculation first began that he has split from Emily, just over a year after they got engaged and had a baby.

The MAFS star popped the question to Olympic swimmer Emily Seebohm back in December 2022 - just four months after they met on the set of The Challenge Australia. They then welcomed their son Sampson in September 2023.

But, recently fans have noticed that they have unfollowed each other on Instagram, and have also each been posting photos of themselves alone with Sampson.

Ryan has also seemingly removed previous photos of himself and 32-year-old Emily, including a photo of the pair with their newborn child shortly after his birth. Emily’s page does still include photos of herself, Ryan and Sampson, but the last image was uploaded at Christmas-time.

Ryan rose to fame on hit Channel Nine dating show MAFS when he was paired with Davina Rankin. He was at the centre of one of the show’s most talked-about moments when Davina had an affair with a fellow groom Dean Wells.

Emily, who made her Olympic debut at the age of 16 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is a three-time Olympic gold medalist.