“You’ll Be Exposed”: MAFS Stars Share Their Best Advice For The 2026 Cast

From the throwing of wine at dinner parties to the dropping of truth bombs at the commitment ceremonies, the Married At First Sight (MAFS) experience is one big rollercoaster. Amidst all of this drama, it seems it's easy to get distracted from the initial point of the show, which is for contestants to find love with a stranger, and hopefully a fairytale happily ever after.

No one's better placed to understand the uniqueness of this social experiment than those who've participated in it in the past. With MAFS 2026 heading to our screens shortly, cast members of previous seasons have shared some advice for the newcomers.

MAFS 2025 bride Carina Mirabile, who was paired with Paul Antoine, wants future cast members to stay in the moment. "Capture all the memories you create during your time there; the good, bad and ugly, because it's a one-off experience and it's a crazy whirlwind of a ride that's over within the blink of an eye!" Mirabile tells Refinery29 Australia. She also reiterates that the rules put in place by producers are there to help participants, not harm them. "Don’t disobey the nightly curfews because they’re implemented for a reason, the filming is long, long hours and lack of sleep affects your mood and relationship with not only your partner but everyone around you," she says.

Sara Mesa, who was paired with Tim Calwell during MAFS 2024, has some more sobering advice. "Keep your cards and feelings close to you. Trust no one and just focus on yourself and your partner," Mesa says. "Try not to let producers get in between and stand your ground with silly tasks or things they tell you to do."

Fan-favourite MAFS 2025 bride Jamie Marinos warns future cast members to be authentic. "My advice always remains the same: just be yourself. I think that's the only advice I could give anyone. If you go on the show to be what you think the audience will like, well, then nine out of 10 times the audience will sniff you out, and you'll be exposed," she says. "You can only have your mask on so long, but if not, eventually, people will figure out who you are, even if it's post-show. But I just don't think it's fair to your partner, the audience, or anyone on the experiment to come in and be a fake version of yourself. I value authenticity, and I encourage everyone to be authentic."

Sandy Jawanda, who was paired with Dan Hunjas on the 2023 season, agrees that authenticity is the key to surviving the experience. During her time on the show, she faced many ups and downs. In one episode, she told producers that Hunjas disappeared for six hours after they consummated their marriage, on the same night that Hunjas told the show's experts he wasn't sexually attracted to her. "Just be yourself and be authentic because you can’t hide it. The camera knows and it all comes out," Jawanda says. "If you make a mistake, own it."

Claire Nomarhas advises new contestants to not betray their partner's trust. She cheated on husband Jesse Burford with co-star Adam Seed. "Don’t do what I did," she says. "But I would also say just be vulnerable, be resilient, [have] trust in yourself and have fun with it... it’s not as serious as [you think] it needs to be as well. You can have a laugh, you can enjoy every moment and not be hard on yourself."  

Seed's wife on the show was Janelle Han, who again encourages cast members to just "be yourself", and says: "At least you know you were genuine, you knew who you were as a person, and that way, you can walk away feeling proud of what you’ve done."

Tahnee Cook says cast members shouldn't "fake" anything. "The audience is going to see it, and you’re going to feel better about yourself coming out of the experience [just] being you," she explains.

Meanwhile, her ex Ollie Skelton says there's value in listening to your instincts when navigating the reality TV experience filled with lots of loud characters. "Trust your gut," he says. "Trust your intuition because if you feel like you should say something and you say it, then it’s going to be rock and roll. It’s going to be all good."

One of the surprising outcomes from 2023 was seeing Evelyn Ellis and Duncan James become a couple after the show ended. Ellis had initially been paired with Rupert Bugden, while James was with Alyssa Barmonde. James warns that there's "going to be some downs" but also "plenty of ups", and that "the show’s what you make it".

"If you go in with a negative attitude, you’re going to have a crappy time. If you go in with a great attitude, you’re gonna have ups and downs but you’re going to come out and be like, 'That’s a really cool thing that I did'," he says." And I got to meet Ev," he then laughs, beaming about his fresh romance.

MAFS will return in 2026, which will once again consist of strangers meeting at the altar for the first time and getting married in front of their close family and friends. Here's hoping some of these tips reach the next batch of love hopefuls.