It’s a tale as old as time. Each season of MAFS Australia, viewers (and some participants) accuse particular brides and grooms of being a production plant, and of only going on the show for clout. Three MAFS Australia 2026 participants have already confessed that they didn’t apply for the show, but producers scouted them.

Chris

Uh, there may be a very good reason why Chris sometimes seemed as if he couldn’t be asked with MAFS Australia. He applied to be on a totally different show.

A MAFS insider told Pedestrian.TV: “Chris was never chasing love on TV. He applied for Australia Survivor. MAFS wasn’t even on his radar.”

Chris hasn’t explicitly confirmed whether this is true, but this does match up with what he’s said about MAFS. He told Pedestrain.TV: “I was on Hinge and Raya, going through, having a couple of dates here and there. And that’s all. I got to a point where, where the opportunity came about, I just thought, ‘Why not? Sort of a perfect time. Nothing else is really happening in my life.’”

Luke

He should’ve known better than to chew gum at the altar, then
(Image via Channel 4)

I never would have guessed the MAFS Australia 2026 producers scouted Luke. He seemed really invested in the experiment. However, he admitted he was scouted on the It’s a Lot with Abbie Chatterfield podcast. Luke said: “I got a message from a casting agent saying, like, ‘We think you’d be great for the show. Can we do a Skype sometime, a Zoom sometime?’ Something like that. And I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I’m always glass half-full. I’m always just like ‘yes’ to things. I love new experiences, all that kind of stuff.

“So, I said ‘yes’. I did the Zoom meeting. She was happy with whatever I said.”

Luke didn’t just get hitched to Mel the next day. Apparently, he went through about eight more stages over two months, before somebody rang him with the news that they’d found him a match and they’d love him to be on MAFS.

Scott

Scott at that trainwreck of a dinner party last week
(Image via Channel 4)

Apparently, MAFS producers tried very hard to get Scott to go on the show. He told the Daily Mail Australia: “I actually said no a few times. But then I thought, ‘If I don’t do this, I’m never going to find someone.’ It forced me to compromise and make time for someone.”

Although Scott has appeared on reality TV shows before, he said the decision to go on MAFS was much trickier. “This is your whole life. You’re investing your relationship and your time into someone… I put my business on the line for a long time. That’s a lot for me to do. So, obviously I’m serious about it. If people don’t believe that, I don’t really give a sh*t.”