Group chats have been integral to the drama of MAFS Australia 2026. Bec, Brook and Gia were rude about Alissa on a WhatsApp group ahead of the second dinner party, then never stopped arguing about it. But apparently, this was even more scandalous than we’d thought, as MAFS Australia cast members broke rules by having group chats in the first place.

In a lengthy TikTok video, Gia explained: “You’re not allowed to have group chats. When they [the producers] found out we had group chats, they literally sat us all down and were like, ‘Remove yourself from the group chats.’ Obviously, like, you’re still gonna do it here and there, but we had to do that.”

This rule may sound dramatic, but it does make sense. On MAFS and many other reality TV dating shows, participants are discouraged from talking to each other off-camera, in case something juicy happens and we all miss it. For example, Love Island couples aren’t allowed to eat meals together.

Gia was able to whip out her phone at the third dinner party (but this doesn’t seem to have been the norm)
Image via Channel 4

Gia outlined the other strict rules for the MAFS Australia cast’s phones. It sounds as if the 2026 cohort could use their phones during the time of the experiment, but not while they were being filmed.

She continued: “The reason they take your phones as well is because they don’t want you filming content, or taking photos of people, or videos, or anything like that.  You’re not allowed. And they don’t want you calling people and telling them, ‘Hey, this is what happened!’ And you did sign an NDA. Obviously, you can call your family when you’re not filming and tell them what’s going on, but you’re not supposed to.

“The minute they come in to film you, your phone is gone and you don’t get it back ’til filming is done.” Gia claimed that when she filmed some dinner party episodes, she would be without her phone from 10am to 6am the next day, “which was very frustrating, obviously, because I have a daughter”.