MAFS’ Eliot reveals why he decided to come back to the show

Married At First Sight 2025 participant Eliot sat down with Yahoo Lifestyle to chat all about the new season.

Video transcript

Thanks so much for joining us, Elliot.

Yeah, thank you.

Thanks for having me.

If we jump straight into it, I guess why did Elliott decide to go on maths?

I never, like, intended to go on a show like this.

I, I never applied.

It was never even in my, you know, paradigm.

Um, I was approached by a, um, like a talent scout on Instagram messaged me and said, Hey, we wanna, um, we want you to audition for like the most popular.

Um, uh, TV show in the country.

And like, I always thought it was the block, and I was like, Oh, you beauty.

Like, that's my thing.

Like, I work in, like, home renovations.

Um, and so, yeah, I applied, found out it wasn't it on a, you know, uh, just a Skype interview.

Um, and, um, I've just found the, the kind of concept of it really interesting.

Um, they, they delve a lot into like, my psychology and asking me a lot of questions like that, and I, I thought that was, like, I'm kind of interested in, like, uh, you know, human behaviour and, and, and things like that.

Um, so, I, yeah, I kind of just went, well, I'll just at least see what they think of me, you know, I'll like go through the process, like without any real, uh, you know.

Like, without meaning to like, go through with it, um, and then, yeah, they just like, uh, came forward and they're like, well, we actually wanna offer you, uh, you know, a spot on the show.

I eventually just went, you know what, at the end of the day, like, I'm probably not gonna meet the person there, but it could be a really interesting experience.

And it was that, what if?

And so I kind of went in with this idea of, well, you know what?

I got nothing to lose.

If I just go in.

And I meet her, and she's not the one, and I pack my bags and go.

I'm like, and that, that was like my, if you see like the process going into it, that was my whole mindset.

I was like, Oh, dude, like, I'll just leave if it's not the right person for me.

Like, I don't wanna be part of this experiment.

I don't wanna be here to try to entertain people, or like, you know, I, I went and watched a couple of episodes and I was like, these people just like fight all the time.

I was like, I, I have no interest on, of doing that.

But if it's the person of my dreams, then I could meet her and then who knows.

It's interesting with your first time around, you were obviously a villain alongside Tim.

Really?

I, I hate to break it.

But it was interesting cos a lot of people said they were comparing you and Tim, and they said, well, at least with Elliot, he said if I didn't like the girl I would leave, whereas Tim said, I don't have a type, and then he kind of changed his mind, so there's a difference there.

It's like better the devil you know than the devil you don't, right?

True.

But then I guess the other question is, obviously maths isn't a box checking exercise.

John loves to say that along the way.

So a lot of people would say online, why did he go on the show if he couldn't, if he had such a specific time?

OK, my, my, my, uh, rebuttal to that would be why doesn't it have to be?

Like, why can't I do maths the way I wanted to do it?

OK. Like, like, why do I have to do it the way they say to do it?

Like, I'm a, you know, I, I'm free to do whatever I want.

Like I can come and I can go.

And, and like, I'll actually point out, like, my journey ended up being more interesting and, you know, because I was like, look, I'm just gonna do what I wanna do, not what people say, oh, that's what you should do, or this is what it's about, like, and also, like I came into it and I kind of realised I was like, oh like this isn't really.

Yeah, the way I thought it would play out.

Like, do you think producers would have lent into you being on the fence and you might leave as kind of a storyline?

Yeah, yeah, well, the, the term that I hear so much now is non-negotiables.

And it's something I never used until I was in the audition process, and they, that's what they classify it as.

They say, Elliot, what's your non-negotiables, um, like, what are the things you, you're not willing to compromise on?

And then I kinda like took that and ran with it, but and then they made that like my whole personality was like, oh Elliot and is non-negotiables, but like I, it's not like I rocked up to the show and I was like, these are my non-negotiables.

I kind of rocked up 1 ft out the door, but it wasn't about like, Necessarily about ticking boxes or anything, but the way I looked at it, kind of like how you brought up Tim, I saw it like, look, if they're gonna match me, I'm gonna give them as much information as I can for them to get a suitable match, and that way at least I can say, well, I told you, You know, this wouldn't work out or whatever.

I and then I wouldn't be the team going, I don't know the type, uh, but it has to be a petite blonde or whatever, you know, like I could say, well, look, I said I really wanted to have a bigger family, like that's something that's important to me.

You know, why do you match with this person that doesn't really align with that.

Do you think that you and Lauren were kind of stitched up by being matched together?

Oh, her 100%.

OK. No, I felt awful.

Like, the, the, the, the part that they don't show is I was like, really apologetic when I left.

I, I said to her, I was like, Look, I feel like I'm in a horrible position here.

I have to either go back on the thing that I said I would do, or I have to, you know, walk out on you.

Like, it's like, it's, it's, it sucks, and I, I, I don't want this to be about, like, I'm better than you or anything like that.

It was more just like, we didn't click, it's very, very obvious early on, like, um, Not even anything about box ticking, just the chemistry was like way off, like it was like very awkward, a lot of silence, it just felt, trying to be on camera with someone that's like, Not really, you know, they give you really like, pointy answers, and you're kinda like, it's really uncomfortable.

Like, you feel like, oh my God, like, where do we go from here?

Uh, where you don't have any kind of banter, you can't, like, have a laugh about things.

It's, it's really tough.

OK.

So you think if you lasted to the first commitment ceremony, you probably would have left then.

No doubt in my mind.

Yeah, yeah.

And part of me, like, I'm a bit of a, You know, like, stubborn person.

I, it's like part of it was like, well, if they wanna put me in this situation, then why should I play their game?

You know what I mean?

Like, it's, it's mean of them on Lauren for them to do this.

Do you know what I mean?

But that, that's what I felt.

Um.

And, and I, I see that in a few couples, you know, like again, like bringing up Tim and Katie, like.

And, and I, I don't know the specifics of, uh, you know, his audition process, maybe he wasn't very forthcoming with what he was after.

Uh, so, so it's hard to say, but, uh, like, like that sucks.

Watching Katie there get torn apart on TV is like, that's awful.

Like, and, yeah.

And then, uh, it's funny because they don't show any, like, Tim, and I don't know Tim very well.

I don't really know what happened.

I wasn't even there when it happened, but like, he could've been showing remorse about having being like, Oh shit, I said this, and Should, that was so dumb, but they will not show that at all.

You know, like they, they, people always say like, oh, it's edited, but you still said it.

And it's like, yeah, but there's a huge amount of latitude for, uh, uh, modifying the message in what you, you, you know, what you show and what you don't show.

Um, I did a TikTok recently to show that with, uh, me and John at, uh, Sitting down for our one on one chat.

And it shows like how much you can manipulate that scene to have someone, you know, say something that they don't mean, or, or that, yeah.

Well, with the Lauren relationship, before we get into your comeback, I guess, how accurate would you say that storyline was compared to what it was like in real life?

Obviously, we don't see everything, but look, I, when I left, the funny thing was, like, it In the beginning, it was more of a mutual thing, and this was one thing that really frustrated me that I didn't shows, like, we sat down at dinner and we actually said to each other like, oh this, this, this, and it was there was no like malice or anything, like it was kind of like, oh, that's really weird, like we kinda.

You know, for example, like, she wanted, she said to me, like, I want a guy that makes like, uh, I think it was like $50 million a year.

And like, I'm not, I'm, I'm not making half a million dollars a year.

Like, I, you know, I'm not doing poorly, but like, I was like, Oh, OK, interesting.

Like, that's, you know, not me.

That's not something that, like, I'm like, Value that much.

Um, and, um, and there were things, you know, for example, like we're talking about kids and that was a whole big thing, um, you know, I made that the biggest reason, you know, the biggest kind of non-negotiable, to use that words.

Um, and that that really didn't line up.

Like she kind of, the first way she explained it was like, I don't even know if I wanna have kids, but if I did, I would have one and not a single one more and I was kinda like, uh, you know.

That's not really the, the energy that I'm, I want someone that's like, yeah, I really wanna have a family, like, that's important to me, that's a priority to me.

And that kind of message got lost there, definitely.

Um, but, um, yeah, no, in terms of what else, uh, there's a lot.

Like there's, I don't wanna go and bring up the nitty gritty, but there's so much dialogue that's from another day that's been posted before, and I'm not even saying it to her, but they've got it.

You know, me packing my bags in another room, and I just put the audio over the top, like as if I'm saying it to her when I'm not, and, and it's, yeah, it, it paints a very different picture.

Like, if two people are kinda like agree they're not a good match, and then you say, well, listen, I, I don't really wanna stick around just to do this, you know, drama, you know, where everyone, you know, you're arguing every day and it's yelling at each other like I don't really wanna do that.

And you walk out, it looks very different to just someone being like, uh, you know, you're too old by and walking out, like it's, you know, you'd have a very different opinion of that person.

OK.

So you pack up, you leave, you go home, yep.

How do the producers convince you to come back?

Um, look, I, yeah, it's funny because Lauren came forward and she's like, oh, they begged me to come back and like, I, I wouldn't say they begged me, they called me and, and like, after the, like, aftermath, um.

Of doing the one on one with John, which was, I was very unhappy with how that was edited.

It, it just, they cut out anything of substance that I said and just had me kind of like bobbling my head, like, after that, and I could kinda see the way, you know, he's got his earpiece in and he's just doing what they say, and like, I could kinda see, uh, jeez, I'm kind of very exposed here.

Like they could do whatever they want to me.

I was a little bit like, ugh.

And then, um, yeah, I got a call from the head producer and she said, Listen, Um, we have another match for you, what would you think about coming back?

Um.

And yeah, obviously I was like, oh, fuck, again, like, really, like, uh, I can't make that mistake twice.

And, um, I thought about it, and, um, I thought, you know what?

Maybe it's a chance for me to engage with the experiment in a bit of a different way.

And that's the way I saw it.

I didn't come back being like, I'm a new man, I'm changed or whatever.

It was more like, look, maybe I tried, You know, I was looking at the experiment in the wrong way.

Maybe I should maybe treat it a bit more like an experiment.

And, uh, you know, maybe that'll give me an opportunity to kind of show who I actually am, rather than them just cutting out the bits that they want, you know, for a villain.

Yeah.