Named this year’s cutest couple, Married At First Sight Australia’s Rachel Gilmore and Steven Danyluk had a slow-burn romance – they focused on getting to know each other rather than rushing the experience.

Going into Final Vows, Rachel shared she had a “deeply connected relationship” with Steven, but was worried he wouldn’t leave his life and business in Sydney to join her in Melbourne. Despite her concerns, she ultimately told him: “I want this. I want you, Steven.”

In Steven’s vows, he opened up to Rachel, saying: “I am falling for you. Rachel, I choose you and I’m diving in head first, fearless.” He even made it official asking her to be girlfriend, which she happily agreed to.

Despite their magical Final Vows, Rachel and Steven’s relationship come crashing down shortly after they left the experiment hand-in-hand.

 
Rachel and Steven were loved up at Final Vows. Picture: Nine

In an interview with New Day, Rachel revealed that Steven ended their relationship just a few weeks after Final Vows, right before they filmed the reunion.

Rachel admitted she started to see red flags when Sydney-based Steven began using “every excuse” not to visit her in Melbourne. She confessed: “I was willing to put in the effort, but ultimately it happened exactly the way I was concerned it was going to happen.

“Steven went back to life in Sydney. He was busy with work, and I became a burden.”

The MAFS bride shockingly shared that Steven said “some outrageous things” to her and always changed his plans. She said: “There was always something that would come up, another priority, something more important than me and our relationship.”

When Steven finally visited Rachel in Melbourne, he told her he didn’t believe he was the man she needed him to be and that she should find someone else.

Steven asked Rachel to be his girlfriend. Picture: Nine

Shortly after the break up, Rachel went on a girls trip to Thailand with fellow bride Alissa Fay, where she learned Steven had seemingly misled her several times during the experiment.

Rachel claimed that Steven would tell her he going to the gym, but he would actually be getting a coffee with groom Danny Hewitt. She said: “If you’re lying to me about your whereabouts, what else are you lying to me about?”

After watching MAFS back, Rachel has come to terms that she was more interested in Steven than he ever was in her. However, she’s relieved she didn’t uproot her life and relocate to Sydney for him, saying: “It was Steven’s life, and I had to adapt to it. He wasn’t ready for a relationship.”