MAFS 2025: Groom tries bail on honeymoon after marrying 'nightmare bride': 'Stitched up'

Ahh MAFS. Every year we swear we are done with the drama and will no longer watch complete strangers uncover each other's neuroses and damage their ability to trust or love again beyond repair...and every year we also grab the popcorn, plonk down on the couch and feel smug about our own love lives as we watch the chaos unfold.

While it's already been revealed that the 2025 season of Married at First Sight has had its fair share of drama behind the scenes, an insider close to the show tells Yahoo Lifestyle that there "has been quite a few hiccups filming the reality show for next year, with early reports of walkouts, tantrums and recasting rumours already plaguing the 12th season.”

That's on top of the fact that two exes were "accidentally" paired at the altar and that two couples nearly got into a physical altercation at the first dinner party - phew!

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Meanwhile, our source says “Melbourne groom Dave Thomas is amongst the casualties of the 2025 season" and that he "was left devastated after marrying a nightmare bride.”

“Dave was calling friends and family frantically sending distress messages to his inner circle," the source tells Yahoo Lifestyle. "Protesting and wanting to bail on the marriage ALREADY during his honeymoon on one of the popular islands off the coast of Australia.”

MAFS groom believes he was 'set up' by producers

The groom allegedly believed that he was being "stitched up" and wanted to leave the show - after marrying his bride at Carriageworks in Sydney back in July.

“He was calling people left right and centre and detailing his disappointment," the insider reveals. “The Melbournian specified during the application process that he loved animals and that his ‘whole life’ was his pet dog but when he found himself trying to get to know his new wife she was adamant she hated all animals and was freaking out with the birds on their honeymoon. The tension was unavoidable and it was almost comical to watch their disdain for each other.”

In what sounds like a mismatch to rival that of Josh and Melissa - the couple could be forgiven for thinking that they had been deliberately set up to fail - while giving MAFS viewers the dose of drama they have come to expect from the series.

However, the production team put it down to a simple oversight, according to our source.

"When asking producers why the ‘relationship experts’ had thought they were a match, Dave was told by production that there were a few oversights in the rush to get him down the aisle and that it was an honest mistake. However, there were plenty of other reasons why they were paired.”

Interestingly, Dave and his mystery bride’s wedding location was Carriageworks in Sydney, which is where season 10 couple Tahnee Cook and Ollie Skelton got married.

An insider tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the producers’ decision to film at the same location bodes well for the new couple as Tahnee and Ollie were a success story in the experiment - although they split in December last year.

“Producers clearly have high hopes for this couple as they’ve put them in the same venue as one of the former success stories,” the source shares. “It’s obviously very early days in their relationship but it’s a good sign of things to come.”

The honeymoon is over, baby

Regardless of the high hopes of producers, the relationship obviously has not gotten off to the best start, if Dave has been expressing doubts so early on.

“An island honeymoon is the perfect setting for two people to fall out as you can’t get off the island easily and you feel trapped," our source says. "It purposely forces even the strongest personalities to confront the early problems in the marriage. It makes for entertaining viewing but these sorts of issues have to be set up.”

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Of course, we've seen before that a pair who seem doomed to fail then go on to be the most loved up and successful (see: Jack and Tori, Bryce and Melissa and so on) so there is no telling how Dave and his bride's story might end up.

“It speeds up the intensity to have couples polarised by each other and if they can compromise and get past their early discomforts maybe they will survive the relationship experiment," the source says. “Time will tell but don’t count them out on making it.”

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