Rachel Gilmore didn’t have the easiest slog on Married at First Sight (MAFS).
Rachel’s journey on MAFS 2026 was nothing short of a dramatic, emotional rollercoaster. Matching with Steven Danyluk, they initially appeared to be the wholesome, drama-free golden couple we craved. However, their slow-burning relationship quickly grew rocky, plagued by intimacy issues and a lack of accountability from Steven, as he remained tight-lipped over his true feelings for Rachel throughout the experiment.
Despite packing her bags at one point, the couple persevered and committed to each other at Final Vows. Unfortunately, the romance lasted just three weeks on the outside and at the Reunion, they announced their split.
On the latest episode of The Ella Era podcast, Rachel has given her most revealing interview to date. During the chat with MAFS alum, Ella Ding, Rachel shed light on her time in the experiment, namely that weird moment on her honeymoon when she seemingly burst into tears because Steven teased her for being a footy enthusiast.
Rachel claims there was a lot more to this scene than meets the eye. “Every time I’m blowing up, I’m usually being absolutely blindsided or put down,” she said.
“[On the] honeymoon, I did not cry because I was caught out being a Collingwood fan. There’s a whole bit missing there, but that’s fine.”
The Melbourne recruitment worker went on to say that Couples’ Retreat was another case of Steven making her look bad. “Hearing the way he speaks about it, like [saying] ‘Rachel was overreacting.’ Yes, sweetie, because you never were honest and said, actually, babe, I actually need you to own this right now.'”
Rachel believes that Steven had much more culpability in the ‘finger-banging’ saga that took over Couples’ Retreat. On an episode of Stan’s After the Dinner Party, unseen footage was played before Bec’s ‘finger-banging’ toast, showing Steven participating in the banter behind the scenes.
“He let Bec take the fall,” Rachel said. “It would have just been handled so much more differently. But because it was like fuel being thrown on a fire — it became a bigger thing than what it was. I think the one thing that Steven really struggled with was taking accountability, and it would then get him into more trouble.”
Rachel addresses Steven’s ‘party persona’ since MAFS ended
During airing and since MAFS ended, Steven has frequented several club events and boat parties, which has come in stark contrast to the quiet lad we met on the show. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by his ex-bride, Rachel.
“I don’t go to the clubs, man. I want to be at the pub with a pot and a palmy,” Rachel joked.
“I remember having a friend call with Steven and I said, ‘I’ve got to be honest with you. What I’m starting to see, I’m starting to not recognise you. I’m actually starting to go, this is not the man I fell in love with’,” she recalled.
“That’s so fine, go get it, go live your life. But don’t call me, telling me how much you regret things and all of that, and putting up TikTok videos going, I regret this and I regret that, when that’s how you’ve behaved. You’ve been out and doing that,” she told the host.
“It’s a little bit cringe.”
Rachel claims that Steven didn’t relate to her body positivity values
Rachel went on to say that she didn’t believe that she and Steven were aligned in how they viewed their own bodies.
“It was very clear to me early on that Steven was not physically attracted to me,” Rachel shared. “Steven’s on a very big fitness journey himself, a body transformation. He lost a lot of weight before coming on.”
“So when I was sharing that with him, I was like, I’ve done the whole eating nothing but chicken and broccoli. I’m the girl that was actually a size eight in high school, and now I’m a curvy, vivacious woman… speaking to him, I could see he was quite taken aback by that.”
However, Rachel believes attraction grew between the pair over time.
“Steven really connected to my personality and me. I think that’s when the skin deep really fell away. And so we were able to really connect because he was able to truly see the heart of who I am and how I will treat and be with him as a partner,” she said.
“He valued that more than the way that I looked. And I’m not saying that he never found me beautiful or anything like that, I think that grew.”
Rachel shares where she stands with Steven since MAFS ended
Rachel has admitted that she isn’t speaking to Steven right now. “It’s not that we’re not friends. It’s just that I’ve asked for distance. I need time to heal,” she said.
She went on to say that Steven’s inability to ‘compromise’ on their future together spelled the end of their short-lived relationship.
“When he’s not able to compromise on his business, or like where his business was located, that’s in Sydney. I was like, okay, that’s fine. I can move to Sydney,” she said.
“There was just a lack of compromise, compromise, compromise. And even the things that we had discussed, where compromise could be made, like me staying in Melbourne for six months, doing long distance, he would come see me in Melbourne, I would go back to Sydney, all of those things. Even at the first opportunity of showing compromise, he couldn’t compromise.”
Stream Married At First Sight Australia 2026 on 9Now.
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