MAFS spoiler: Six participants knew each other before filming in series first

EXCLUSIVE: Carina Mirabile and Paul Antoine aren’t the only contestants with history this season.

MAFS’ Paul Antoine and Carina Mirabile / Carina and Paul at their wedding.
MAFS’ Carina Mirabile and Paul Antoine already knew each other before their wedding in Monday night’s episode. Photos: Supplied/Matrix / Channel Nine

It appears that someone on the Married At First Sight casting team may be in hot water this season after a monumental error occurred during filming late last year. The highly-anticipated eleventh season kicked off on Monday night with two new couples walking down the aisle: Carina Mirabile and Paul Antoine, and Lauren Hall and Eliot Donovan.

While the series is meant to be about strangers meeting for the first time on their wedding day, Carina admitted in the premiere episode that she had previously been on a date with her new ‘husband’ Paul. The revelation has been touted as a ‘MAFS first’, however, Yahoo Lifestyle can reveal they aren’t the only cast members this season who have history.

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As Yahoo Lifestyle first revealed in July, bride Rhi Disljenkovic was equally shocked as she walked down the aisle to find her ex-boyfriend Jeff Gobbels.

A source told us that the pair were seeing each other in late 2023 after being introduced by a mutual friend, Australian Survivor star and TV presenter Abbey Holmes, but “never became official”. Instagram posts shared during their time together show Jeff interacting with all of Rhi’s stunning selfies.

Since parting ways, the pair has “kept in touch” and still attends the same group classes at their shared gym in Melbourne. Yahoo Lifestyle can reveal that they also followed each other on Instagram before their MAFS wedding.

MAFS 2025 couple Jeff Gobbels and Rhi Disljenkovic at their wedding.
Jeff Gobbels and Rhi Disljenkovic also knew each other before meeting at their wedding. Photos: Matrix/Supplied

Meanwhile, Daily Mail revealed in October that outspoken bride Jamie Marinos rocked the experiment by revealing to the group that she’d previously slept with intruder groom Teejay Halkias.

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The publication claimed that Jamie dropped the bombshell while attending Teejay’s wedding to bride Beth Kelly and “the whole atmosphere changed instantly”.

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While Carina initially doubted her marriage to Paul because he had previously ghosted her after their date, the pair cleared the air at the end of Monday night's episode.

“We both weren’t in the right headspace and dealing with our past, but time has passed,” Carina said. “We’ve both healed. We’ve worked on ourselves - I definitely have - so I’m good now, no hard feelings.”

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