MAFS cheating scandal: 15 of the most shocking affairs on E4 dating reality show Married at First Sight

The E4 dating show sees couples matched by relationship experts, meet for the first time on their wedding day and then embark on a fast-tracked relationship. The unions don’t always go as smoothly as the experts have envisaged, and there’s always plenty of disagreements and drama on the show.

Each week, the couples meet for a dinner party and are also encouraged to spend time together while carrying out various tasks intending to strengthen their marriages. The problem is that, sometimes, brides and grooms who are not happy find connections outside of their new relationship. Eyes will wander, and then affairs can begin - leading to broken hearts and some of the most explosive scenes.

In the current MAFS UK series, which is airing on E4 now, bride Hannah Norburn will cheat on her husband Stephen Nolson with another groom, Orson Nurse. This leads both Norburn’s marriage in tatters, along with Nurse’s marriage to Richelle Cade.

Keep reading to find out some of the other most shocking MAFS affair scandals, from both the UK and Australia editions of the show.

Sara Mesa and her ex-boyfriend

MAFS Australia 2024 Sara Mesa cheated on her husband Tim Calwell with her ex-boyfriend. The drama unfolded when she allegedly texted fellow bride Eden Harper asking her to borrow some clothes, admitting to her that she was going to meet her ex. Eden confinded in her husband Jayden Eynaud, and the pair confronted Sara at a dinner party.

They took both Sara and Tim to the side, and Eden gave her an ultimatum: "I'm going to give you the opportunity to tell Tim what you did last weekend otherwise we will do it.” Referring to her husband, she said: “He's seen the messages, we will tell him if you don't tell him."

Sara initially tried to say that she "ran into" her ex before admitting that they had in fact arranged to meet up - but tjhen she tried to say that it "wasn't a date". Tim, however, wasn't convinced - espcially when Jayden then gave him some more details and explained that she had texted his wife asking to borrow a top so she could "look good" for her ex. The pair did work through it, but ultimately broke up.

Jonathan McCullough and Ellie Dix

Another couple who caused a stir in MAFS Australia 2024 were Jonathan McCullough and bride Ellie Dix. The pair were each matched with other people, but found that they preferred each other. Ellie’s marriage to Ben Walters came to an end after a few weeks as the couple struggled to agree on their relationship goals and Ben blew hot and cold with his wife.

Jonathan, known as Jono, meanwhile, had experienced an up-and-down marriage with Lauren Dunn. They had made it to the final dinner party, however, and were looking forward to final vows - that was until Jono’s cheating was exposed. It was during that dinner party that fellow bride Tori Adams confronted him about messaging Ellie without Lauren knowing.

It also emerged that Jono had been texting Ellie during a week when Dunn had to temporarily leave the experiment to have a medical procedure. He initially claimed the pair were “just friends” and insisted that she “wasn’t his type” - but just weeks later at the reunion the Jono and Ellie walked in hand-in-hand and announced their relationship to the group. They then insisted that their relationship had not started until after they had each left the experiment.

Rebecca Zemek and her ‘brother’

Season eight MAFS Australia bride Rebecca Zemek briefly left her husband Jake Edwards along in their shared apartment to return to her home in Perth when her family told her that her dog was sick.

During their separation, Rebecca was filming herself, but she revealed more than she intended. Thining that she had hit the 'stop' button after recording one of her updates, she accidentally recorded a man approaching her - and they were then heard kissing passionately off camera.

When the footage was then shared with Jake, and the entire cast, Rebecca tried to explain the mystery man by telling her spouse that he was her brother. The whole group told Rebecca they didn’t believe her and then, when pushed, Rebecca came clean and admitted: "My dog needed transporting and I reached out to an old burn, who actually took Oscar to the clinic for me. When I saw him, emotion kind of sparked with us. And we did. . . We shared a kiss." The pair ended up splitting up.

Carolina Santos and Daniel Holmes

Carolina Santos and Daniel Holmes blindsided the whole experiment in season nine of MAFS Aus when they began a flirtation behind the backs of their spouses, Jessica Seracino and Dion Giannarelli - and then walked into the commitment ceremony holding hands.

After Jessica ended things with Daniel, he pursued a connection with Carolina, who was still in the experiment with Dion - although she later admitted the only reason she had stayed in the experiment was so that she could see Daniel. When Carolina and Daniel arrived at the commitment ceremony together it caused so much outrage that it led to a mass walk-out from the other couples.

They asked the experts if they could remain in the process as a new couple, but the experts declined. The pair did, however, stay together for a while afer the show finished filming, and even moved in together, but they have now broken up.

Whitney Hughes and Matt Murray

Whitney Hughes never reakky got along with her husband Duka Cavolli during MAFS UK 2022 and decided that she liked another groom, Matt Murray, better. The only issue was he was married to Gemma Rose.

Matt was struggling to find a connection with his wife, however, but easily found one with Whitney when the pair met at the annual couple’s retreat. They ended up spending the night together - despite their respective partners being under the same roof.

When the betrayal was exposed it was a big shock to the whole group, especially their spouses. Gemma cried and shouted abuse at them over the dinner table. The experts agreed to let Matt and Whitney continue in the experiment as a couple - against the wishes of their fellow castmates. Things progressed quickly for the new pair, with them declaring their love for each other. He even got a tattoo for her, which said ‘I appreciate you’, a saying they shared during their romance. Things ended almost as quickly as they started, however.

Tayla Winter and Cam Woods

Tayla Winter entered MAFS Aus 2023 as one of the annual bombshell couples, and it was quickly apparent she didn’t really like her groom Hugo Armstrong. She was then accused of cheating on him with fellow Cam Woods during the reunion.

The pair apparently began flirting via text messages during filming, and things between the pair then became sexual while they were on a video call after filming for the show ended, although their relationship never progressed.

Cam's wife Lyndall Grace found out about X-rated exchange, and confronted the pair at the reunion. Cam replied: “I went back home, obviously and was having a bit of a friendly banter with Tayla. So it was just a back-and-forth text, like it was nothing serious, I don't think. It was just a friendly chat. I'm a friendly person.” He went on: “Um, so if you call that sexting, then… Sorry, I've sexted. I don't see why this is a big issue because what happens outside of the experiment is not really anyone's concern.”

Tayla eventually came clean about the rumours during an interview on The Kyle and Jackie O Show. When asked about how the situation unfolded, Tayla said they had both been drinking and she'd "dared him" to do it. "I didn't think he actually would," she said. She then went on to say she and Cam have never been intimate with one another and likely never will be - adding they are "really good friends".

Claire Nomarhas and Adam Seed

MAFS Aus 2023 bride Claire Nomarhas admitted to kissing fellow bride Janelle Han's husband Adam Seed on a night out, despite being married to Jesse Burford. To make matters worse, the pair denied kissing each other when rumours began to swirl among the group that something had happened between them as they had been flirting.

Jesse even confronted Adam about the kiss, but later apologised when he believed it hadn’t happened - even buying a gift basket for him and Janelle. Days later, however, Claire admitted they had cheated. While she took responsability for her actions and was remorseful, Adam initially continued to deny anything had happened. When he then did own up to the kiss he wasn’t regretful and told Janelle it was because he had been drinking, and he and his wife “weren’t in a good place”.

The eventual admission caused drama for both couples, and ultimately both relationships ended shortly afterwards.

Jordon Mundell and Megan Wolfe

In the 2021 series of MAFS UK, Bob Voysey and Megan Wolfe were married, but Megan wasn’t feeling her husband and kept saying she saw him as more of a friend, despite his attempts to turn their connection romantic. Fellow couple Jordon Mundell and Alexis Economou struggled to find that spark too and they argued a lot. It didn’t help that, after meeting Megan at the first dinner party, Jordon admitted she was more his type.

It seems the feeling may have been mutual as, at the first commitment ceremony, Jordon then announced to the experts that he and Megan had secretly shared a kiss behind Bob and Alexis’ back. Bob was left in tears after learning the news.

Jordon and Alexis opted to leave there and then, but Bob and Megan remained in the process and tried to get their relationship back on track. Megan said that she had "lapse in judgement' and apologised for what she had done. They did leave the experiment a few weeks later, but they left as friends.

April Banbury and George Roberts

April Banbury and George Roberts were one of the couples on MAFS UK 2022. Things seemed to be going well between the pair as they had an instant attraction to each other on their wedding day. But, then things started to go wrong on their honeymoon in Jamica.

The problem came when April kissed a stranger. Speaking to camera about the incident the morning after it happened, George revealed he had woken up that morning "numb and cold". He said: "Yesterday we ended up having a lovely evening. Then I went away for a short while, I came back and realised there had been an incident. I don't know if I feel comfortable doing this. It was heartbreaking and a massive kick in the teeth. She's been intimate with somebody else. I've been cheated on.”

It later emerged that April had kissed another woman in the hot tub as part of a dare, and she felt George had massively overreacted. The pair managed to put the kiss behind them and stayed together until the end of the show, but they split a few weeks after filming ended.

Jessika Power and Dan Webb

Jessika Power was one of MAFS Australia’s most controversial brides ever as she didn’t seem to be able to keep her eyes on just one man. She married Mick Gould in the 2018 series, but as their relationship hit the rocks, she turned her attentions to one of the other grooms, Dan Webb - who was married to Tamara Joy.

The feelings were mutual, and their affair was announced by Jessika during a commitment ceremony. Mick was very angry by his wife’s deception. He said: “[You] made me look like an idiot and go mental, so you could play footsies and flirt with him. You are the most selfish Brat EVER. You spoilt brat! You selfish b****. Unbelievable.” Jessika and Dan were then allowed to stay in the experiment as a new couple. This new pairing seemed to be going very well, but that hit the rocks too when the experts showed Dan a scene where Jessika flirted with another of the grooms, Nic Jovanovic.

Although this brought up lots of trust issues for Dan they still managed to make it to final vows, where they agreed to stay together in the real world. However they didn't last long outside of the experiment, and broke up a few months later during a live TV interview on Talking Married as rumours continued that Jessika was still flirting with Nic. Dan told her: “Look I don’t think I can continue this. It’s toxic, you’re not being honest with me. I can’t have a relationship with someone if they’re not honest with me.”

Coco Stedman and Cameron Dunne

During the 2021 season of MAFS Aus, Coco Stedman and Cameron Dunne were at the centre of an explosive cheating scandal. Coco, who was paired with Sam Carraro, sought comfort in Cameron’s arms after multiple clashes with her husband, who she said was uninterested in her. The issue was that Cameron was married to Samantha Harvey.

Coco and Cameron flirted with each other for a while before sharing a kiss behind their partner’s backs. The affair was exposed during a dinner party which saw Sam get into an argument with Cam. . . well, partly, as Samantha was told Coco and her husband had an attraction to each other, but she wasn’t told they’d already kissed.

At the time, Samantha gave Coco her blessing to continue getting to know Cam, but she wasn’t made aware of the kiss until the final reunion episode. Both original couples still decided to leave the show shortly after Coco and Cameron’s attraction was revealed as, unsurprisingly, Samantha and Sam weren’t willing to stay in the experiment so their spouses could be together.

In this instance, Coco and Cameron wern’t invited to stay in the experiment as a new couple and their romance soon fizzled on the outside.

Sam Ball and Ines Basic

After weeks of secret text messages and flirty meet-ups, Ines Basic and Sam Ball enjoyed a drink together at a hotel bar in the 2019 season of MAFS UK before spending the night together in a hotel room.

Their partners Elizabeth Sobinoff and Bronson Norrish were unaware, but the truth came out at a commitment ceremony. Ines told the producers at the time: “Falling for Sam just feels natural. It feels right. Like I can see myself with him outside of the experiment. Yeah, it was like my favourite date of all time.”

Lizzie later said the pair were “disgusting” and “belong[ed] with each other” - but their illicit romance didn't last outside the experiment. Ines was keen to give things a go on the outside world, Sam stood her up at the MAFS reunion finale. It was later revealed Sam had blocked Ines on social media so she could not contact him.

Ella Morgan and JJ Slater

Ella Morgan made history as the first transgender bride on MAFS UK in 2023. She was matched with Nathanial Valentino, but their relationship soon became strained as she feared his lack of physical affection meant he didn’t fancy her.

She later caused controversy, however, by leaving Nathanial in favour of starting a romance with fellow groom JJ Slater, who also ended his marriage with Bianca Petronzi to be with her. Bianca and JJ struggled from the start as he admitted she wasn’t his type and he didn’t fancy her - but he found an instant physical attraction with Ella.

The pair re-entered the experiment as a new couple, and though they made it to final vows JJ decided he did not want to take the relationship any further - causing heartbreak for Ella.

Dean Wells and Davina Rankin

The most talked-about moment from season five of MAFS Aus was the affair between Dean Wells and Davina Rankin. The pair betrayed their respective spouses, Tracey Jewel and Ryan Gallagher, by sneaking away at dinner parties to be together and then meeting up for a secret coffee date.

“I want to kiss you so bad,” Davina repeatedly told Dean in private. Meanwhile, Dan told the cameras: “There is that fire in the belly with Davina that I haven’t had with Tracey.”

Dean and Davina agreed to leave their respective partners and requested to continue the experiment together, but then Dean got cold feet and back-pedalled. He still announced the affair at a commitment ceremony, and promised renewed commitment to his bride, Tracey. Despite initially trying to convince Ryan to stay in the experiment, Davina ultimately chose to leave.

Jayden Eynaud and his girlfriend’s friend

Okay, so this one didn’t see a partipant cheat on their MAFS spouse, but it was really shocking so we’ve decided to include it . . . In season 11 of MAFS Aus earlier this year, Jayden Eynaud appalled his wife Eden Harper by talking about his attitude to cheating during a task set by the experts, in which the participants are asked to write confession letters.

In his letter, Jayden explained that his ex-girlfriend had cheated on him several times during their relationship. When he found out, he says she asked for another chance with him. He then admitted that he told her he would give her another chance - but only if he slept with one of her friends . . . and she watched. Shockingly, he also revealed that his ex agreed, as did one of her friends, and the act actually took place.

When asked by Eden if he regretted his revenge act, Jayden said he didn’t at all. After seeing the upset his lack of remorse caused Eden, who had also been cheated on in the past, however, Jayden changed his mind and said he did regret it after all.