MAFS’ Ryan was caught texting this bride behind Jacqui’s back

She told Ryan to keep it a secret.
Filed under feature.
MAFS 2025 Jacqui Ryan Sierah texting

Turns out there’s a whole Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2025 texting scandal that viewers never got to see. Jacqueline Burfoot just revealed that Ryan Donnelly was caught secretly texting Sierah Swepstone for a week, and even met up with her behind Jacqui’s back.

Considering how furious Ryan was when he found out Jacqui had texted Jeff Gobbels — which Jacqui now claims everybody knew about — it feels a bit hypocritical, no? Pot, meet kettle!

“Ryan texted Sierah for about a week, it was the week before Sierah left,” Jacqui tells Chattr. “Sierah had been basically trying to gather allies, and told Ryan not to tell me that I was texting him. So he agreed, and he kept the secret from me for a week.”

At first, Ryan claimed that it was only a few messages sent between the pair, but when Jacqui asked to see them, she discovered that there were “more than a few”.

“He had been lying to me basically,” Jacqui adds. “He was doing it behind my back and I felt like it was an issue about him being a hypocrite and having double standards.”

MAFS 2025 Ryan and Jacqui commitment ceremony

Just like there was no romantic relationship between Jacqui and Jeff, she confirms that Sierah and Ryan didn’t have a secret romantic dalliance either.

“There was nothing going on between him and Sierah, so I didn’t really care [about that]. Everyone’s texting everyone [during the experiment],” she explains. 

“But I was just pissed off that he was doing it in secret.”

Jacqui admits she’s ‘not okay’ 

This comes after Jacqui shared on her Instagram Story that she’s struggling with MAFS while it’s playing out on air.

“I’m gonna be honest, I’m not okay. I’m struggling watching [MAFS],” she said.

“It’s particularly hard because it’s just so edited out of context and I feel like… originally I was going along with Channel 9’s media plan, but then when they want you to speak about the show, you have to follow the storyline.”

MAFS 2025 Jacqui Burfoot Instagram
Image: Instagram

Jacqui said she decided to go rogue to give viewers context as her storylines were heavily edited.

“I think I have to do that because I need to stand up for myself… I don’t want the whole of Australia thinking I’m absolutely nuts,” she continued.

Can’t wait for Jacqui to keep spilling more tea on Instagram as MAFS airs!

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

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Tagged: Featured, Reality TV, TV, Nine, Married at First Sight

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Rachel Choy

Rachel Choy is a Chinese-Kiwi writer who loves nothing more than to yap about all things pop culture. You can find her bylines on Yahoo Lifestyle, Pedestrian.TV, Punkee, Refinery29 Australia, RNZ and ...
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