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Who is Tara-lee Preston?

Tara-lee is a sales consultant for a building company in Sydney, New South Wales. 

She also looks to be a bit of an entrepreneur, as she launched her own blazer clothing line called Preston The Blazer in November 2024. 

“Two years in the making,” she wrote on Instagram. 

Her company was born out of the need to feel “strong, confident, seen, heard and important” in a male-dominated corporate environment. 

“An Australian label with an international vision created to give you a one-stop shop for fashion’s most versatile power piece,” the website says.

Is Tara-lee Preston an influencer?

Tara-lee has just over 2,000 followers on Instagram, but this could jump once she makes her MAFS appearance. While she doesn’t have a large following, she appears to be friends with other influencers.

Bec Gorton, who has 142,000 followers, and Rhiannon O’Loughlin, with 87,000 followers, have commented on her Instagram posts. She is also followed by influencers Bella Davis and Ilana Collins. 

Will Tara-lee Preston be on MAFS 2026?

It’s unclear if any of these backup matches from the Grass is Greener challenge will be on MAFS 2026, but it would make sense for producers to see if any potential brides or grooms seem popular. 

MAFS 2026 casting is still taking place, so it’s possible Tara-lee could be back on our screens next year!

Jacqui is paired with a man called Rory and the pair get along really well. 

“Rory was the man that the experts thought would be a backup match for me. So during the — close to the end of the experiment we get the opportunity to go on a surprise new MAFS  challenge whereby you can go on a date with someone who the experts thought was an alternative match to you, leading up to Final Vows,” Jacqui said on TikTok.

The bride revealed that Rory has a similar personality to herself, saying he’s the “male version” of her. If this is true, it’s going to be television gold!

“He’s really chill, really down to earth, really easygoing, go with the flow kind of guy. He’s so easy to get along with, I literally have the best day in this experiment so far — the first day I didn’t have to spend it with Ryan,” she added.

Do Jacqui and Rory start a relationship?

It doesn’t sound like romance blossomed between the two, especially seeing as Jacqui is now loved-up with Clint Rice. 

“I treated it like I was just making a friend, I was meeting someone who was potentially gonna come on the experiment with us cast members, and he was from another state and he was just really nice. I was like, this is just a really nice guy, and that was it,” Jacqui said.

Ryan Donnelly apparently also opts to meet his match during the challenge, but an insider told Chattr he accuses Jacqui of cheating by taking up the challenge. Doesn’t really make sense, but nothing about that couple makes sense!

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.

Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for more entertainment news.

Jacqui and Ryan

Scott isn’t entirely buying that Jacqui wanted to stay to work on things with Ryan, telling Chattr: “Jacqui’s excuse of writing stay to try talk about it was a complete fabrication and in no way does she think Ryan or the relationship was worth fighting for.

“She means some more airtime was worth fighting for, as she just wants to have a chance at a meme-centred Final Vow speech.”

Teejay and Beth

When it comes to our intruder couple, everyone’s a little surprised to see them staying until the bitter end and it’s hard to imagine they’ll even make it to Final Vows after Teejay said he wanted to leave the experiment due to his romantic connection with Beth not growing.

Scott pointed out Teejay’s use of language during the Commitment Ceremony, saying it didn’t hint towards any kind of happy ending with the pair. “When John pressed Teejay he said, ‘we’ve had a connection’ not ‘we have’,” Scott said. “They sat knee-crossed across blocking each other immediately.”

Jamie and Dave

Scott also pointed out Dave’s use of past tense when it came to talking about his relationship with Jamie, after Dave said, “We have had such a good time” not “we are having a good time”.

However, Scott does think Dave is genuine when he’s talked about wanting to improve things. “Dave was legitimate when he said he wanted to work on improving things… that could be as a good friend dynamic, but his non-verbals aligned with his words there.”

Paul and Carina

While the two raved about their homestays, Scott isn’t as convinced that they’re solid and happy, calling Paul and Carina’s couch time “fake overkill”.

“Paul sat separate from Carina [and] just had his hand on her knee, I didn’t see a solid connection there,” Scott told us. “At times Paul was also leaning away from Carina and she was doing the same.”

Adrian and Awhina

While it appears things between Adrian and Awhina are back on track, despite the fact they have no idea how they’ll navigate their relationship long-distance, Scott isn’t buying that Awhina is feeling content.

“Awhina said she didn’t want to put her walls back up [but] what she meant is she wants to avoid conflict,” Scott said. “Adrian said ‘we can sit here comfortable’ but she was anything but. Dipped chin, raised shoulders, withdrawn lips etc.”

Rhi and Jeff

Not everything sucks! Scott believes Rhi and Jeff’s connection is genuine, so thank goodness we can back one couple this year.

“They sat replicating knee cross and head tilt – strong connection,” Scott said. “Good non-verbals and even tone throughout.”

Married At First Sight 2025 airs Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.

Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for more entertainment news.

It’s the last Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2025 Commitment Ceremony, which means John Aiken can finally stop falling asleep on the couch. Let’s recap! There’s not many left now.

Jamie and Dave: Jamie’s no longer in love! And I’m a fire hydrant! I think it’s just a dignity-saving tactic. Anyway, they both stay because Dave reckons his feelings are growing now.

Rhi and Jeff: The exes say they are “on their way” to falling in love and, I’m sorry, but isn’t everyone who’s in a relationship either in love or on their way there? Isn’t that the whole point of being in one?

Teejay and Beth: Teejay doesn’t see a romantic connection with Beth building over the next two weeks and wrote ‘leave’. Perhaps Beth could take a leaf out of Jamie’s book with the whole dignity-saving thing, because she, for some reason that rhymes with Shmintagram Shmollowers, wrote stay.

Adrian and Awhina: Adrian believes that God redirected his path to be with Awhina – well, in around 1-2 years from now when he’ll be willing to have the conversation about moving to Perth. Quick question: does Awhina write Adrian’s ‘Stay’ cards? They’ll be going to final vows, so I’m sure the show will be preparing the subtitles in advance.

Carina and Paul: Paul is willing to get cosy with the Lord, and for that, Carina feels blessed. They are basically congratulated for the forgiveness they’ve given in this relationship, which makes me uncomfortable.

Ryan and Jacqui: When Ryan says he doesn’t feel accepted by Jacqui, she rolls her eyes and starts laughing before John tells her off.

She feels like she’s compromised on a lot, like her sleeping/wake-up times and letting him watch TV in the room. Everyone’s laughing at her (even though I too see these things as compromises), so she starts crying.

She cannot focus on Ryan’s feelings without bringing up her own. At this point, I just want him to apologise for this “scolding” so we can stop hearing about it.

Ryan writes leave, but Jacqui writes stay because their relationship’s a bit cooked like that. She allows him to leave if he really wants,, but she’d like to chat at least.

She thinks he’s worth fighting for! Even though she doesn’t think he’s great. I can’t wait to see how cooked their final vows are, tbh.

If they get there.

These MAFS 2025 recaps also appear on the Talking Schmidt Substack and have been reproduced here with permission.

Married At First Sight 2025 airs Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.

Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for more entertainment news.

“I spent hours trying to persuade my client not to go on this show,” he said. “Look, I’m telling you. I look at contracts all day, and I look at big contracts. We’re talking sales of multimillion-dollar properties and whatnot. This is a big, scary contract. It’s intimidating.”

He told Tahnee and Selina that the first page was in plain English, and compared it to a warning on a can of bug spray. He claimed the contract lets contestants know they will be portrayed however they see fit, because the network “owns” them. 

“That to me, was something quite unusual,” he said. “I mean, good on them for at least putting the label up front and letting you know.

“But things like, you know, ‘We’re going to record you, you may not be aware that we’re recording you’, is a part of that particular contract — it’s staggering. Like it’s really genuinely staggering.”

Jahan compared the job of a MAFS contestant to a “galley slave”, claiming they’re required to work 12, 13, 14 hour days on set for “basically minimum wage”.

“They are telling you like ‘Based on how we feel, we very well may portray you in a way that is completely disingenuous to who you actually are. And we may very well destroy your life.’,” he claimed. 

MAFS’ Richard reveals clauses from the MAFS 2024 contract

MAFS’ oldest groom ever, Richard Sauerman, recently shared some clauses from his contract on Instagram, and it’s surprising. He claimed that the entire contract was 37 pages long — which is a doozy!

Describing the clauses as “the seven rules of the game”, he showed viewers what cast members have to agree to, which include:

• You may or may not be shown in a way that you consider favourable or unfavourable.
• You may be shown in a way you consider to be embarrassing.
• You and your Partner may not result in a successful or compatible match.
• You may receive a lot of public attention, including on TV, in newspapers, social media and by paparazzi and other commentators, that may be untrue, negative or unwanted.
• You are not guaranteed financial rewards or fame by participating – this is a program where the main goal is to find love.
• Your appearance on the Program may result in others seeing or treating you differently in your personal, work or professional life.
• You may experience these things during and after your participation in the Program and its broadcast in both Australia and internationally.

Our source tells us the couples are all separated and given the challenge, letting them choose if they want to meet another match that the experts had lined up for them. Without being able to discuss it with their partners, the participants have to decide if they will go through with the date.

“The experts reveal that there’s more than one match out there, and asked if the contestants wanted to meet another person,” the insider spills.

“A lot of people took it as like, ‘Oh, we can meet someone who’s a potential match for us’, because Final Vows were right around the corner and you needed all the information possible to make sure you’re making the right decision.”

However, some participants considered it cheating, with Carina Mirabile left devastated when her husband Paul Antoine went on the date. 

“Paul took up the challenge and Carina thought it was cheating, so she cried about it. This challenge basically broke up their relationship,” the source explains. 

“Carina felt really uncomfortable, and she was saying at the Dinner Party, ‘How could you do this knowing how uncomfortable I was with the Couple Swap, and now you go and take up the challenge?’.”

Who else chooses to take up the MAFS ‘grass is greener’ challenge?

Awhina Rutene, Adrian Araouzou, Jacqui Burfoot and Ryan Donnelly also chose to meet their potential matches, but there was something odd about Adrian and Ryan’s alternative brides.

“Weirdly, Adrian and Ryan’s matches were both told to tell them that they were supposed to be the first choice brides on the show, but they couldn’t be there for filming because they were overseas,” the insider reveals.

“This raised suspicion as to whether or not these ‘matches’ were actually actors, or some of them were actors.”

There’s also going to be drama in Jacqui and Ryan’s relationship as well, as Ryan accuses Jacqui of cheating on him — even though he also took the chance to meet his potential match. Make it make sense?!

Chattr also heard that when Jamie took up the challenge, her potential match ghosted her, while strong couple Rhi Disljenkovic and Jeff Gobbels opted not to. Both Beth and Teejay Halkias met their alternative matches.

Beth regrets taking part in MAFS’ Final Test Week challenge

Beth opted to meet her backup match, and after the rocky relationship she’s been having with Teejay, nobody would blame her.

She tells Chattr she knew Teejay would go on his date, and that’s why she decided to go. Plus, she was “really hurt” by his past actions.

“I thought, well, you know what, Teejay doesn’t really seem like he wants me. It’d be stupid for me to sit here and not go and see my other potential match,” she explains. 

“To be honest, I instantly regretted it. The whole time I was just thinking about Teejay and I was just thinking about how much better our banter was, how much more comfortable I felt around him than this new guy. My whole mind, the entire day, was on Teejay.”

She reveals that going on the date actually made her “feel worse”, because she was faced with the knowledge that she had really strong feelings for Teejay. And as we all know, his feelings aren’t as strong for her.

“I  did regret going… I came home feeling even more sad, because it just made me realise that [the] connection I had to Teejay was a lot stronger than I maybe thought [previously],” she explains.

Jamie explains why she took up the ‘grass is greener’ challenge

At this stage, Jamie and Dave Hand‘s relationship is clearly on the rocks. The fact that she opts to meet her alternative match seems to make sense, but Jamie knows there could be some backlash.

“Some people aren’t going to agree with my decision,” Jamie tells Chattr.

“I was dealing with a lot of hurt [and] rejection and kind of losing hope, and I wanted to be able to remind myself why I was partnered with Dave.”

She reveals that she was wanting to get “clarity and encouragement” from the task, instead of looking to find a new partner.

“I didn’t go in with [the] intention of starting something with someone else. I was very clear in that, that’s not how I operate,” she explains.