MAFS' Stephen sparks fierce debate online after 'cheating' allegations

Married At First Sight’s Stephen Stewart has divided fans on social media after his partner Michael Felix caught him flirting with another man during Monday night’s episode.

The pair were taking part in an off-camera publicity shoot for the reality show when Stephen struck up a conversation with his hairdresser, which later continued via text when they exchanged numbers.

“Today was meant to be a fun day,” Michael said in his piece-to-camera interview. “We had a publicity shoot and Stephen was getting his hair done, and I could see my husband flirting with the hairdresser.”

Michael eventually confronted Stephen about the incident, who said he didn’t intend to hurt his partner and had no desire to pursue anything with the stranger but felt “really confused”.

“I had had a 30-second conversation with someone and I felt it was so much easier to get flirty with them than I did with you after knowing you for two and a half weeks,” he admitted.

“Absolutely, we had a spark there and it was playful and it was a little bit flirty, 150 per cent. And I know that that’s a s**t thing to hear, which is why I feel so guilty.”

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Stephen went on to say in his piece-to-camera interview that the interaction with someone he’d never met before was like a “lightbulb moment” that made him realise he and Michael were “fighting a losing battle”.

“Feeling that instant attraction to someone was like a clarity like, that’s what’s missing,” he remarked. “No matter how many exercises you’re given, if it’s not there, I don’t know how to get it there.”

Fans weigh in on the 'cheating scandal'

Viewers were clearly divided over Stephen’s admission, with some people arguing that there’s “no excuse for cheating”.

“Any flirtatious behaviour behind your partner’s back is cheating in our books. Hugely disrespectful,” one person wrote, while another added, “I felt so bad for Michael you could see his heart was breaking poor man”.

“It’s not okay. Leave the experiment and go back to the bloody hairdresser to get his number. It’s not hard to have respect for the man you’re matched with,” a third replied.

“If someone is flirting with a person they just met, then grabs their phone number and starts texting them, that’s already a betrayal and it would obviously lead to them hooking up,” someone else remarked.

Meanwhile, others applauded the way Stephen was “open and honest” about his attraction for the other man and said he hadn’t done anything wrong because he’s not “married” to Michael.

“Give him a break. He’s just not into Michael,” one fan shared, followed by a different user who said, “Maybe he could have been a little gentler about it, but honesty still wins every time.”

“Sounds like Stephen was upfront immediately after it happened and at the end of the day he’s a free agent,” another remarked, with someone else writing, “It’s not cheating. They’re not together and not sexually attracted to one another”.

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“If a ‘partner’ said that they weren’t sexually attracted to you but then they found another person that they were attracted to and they wanted to take it further would you be all that surprised?” another person commented.

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