Filip who decided to end things. He’d been wrestling with it for a while and eventually realised they just weren’t on the same page about what they wanted out of life,”
I MADE A MISTAKE… – MAFS STAR STELLA HAS BROKEN HER SILENCE FOLLOWING HER SHOCK SPLIT FROM FILIP, SHARING AN EMOTIONAL MESSAGE THAT HAS FANS TALKING.
Stella Mickunaite has broken her silence following her split from her fiance, Married At First Sight co-star Filip Gregov, sharing a raw and reflective message with fans.
The pair were considered one of MAFS 2026’s biggest success stories, leaving the experiment engaged and seemingly building a life together long after filming wrapped. But weeks shy of their one-year anniversary, the Daily Mail have revealed the couple have quietly ended their relationship, with the pair unfollowing each other on Instagram after insiders confirmed the split occurred several weeks ago.
‘It was heartbreakingly loud’
Now, Stella has addressed the breakup directly for the first time, posting a lengthy message to Instagram.
“It would be easy to tell this story by deciding who was right and who was wrong,” she began, adding that she had no interest in pointing fingers or protecting her ego.
Stella admitted she’d made mistakes and had regrets, but said those truths had turned into a gift – “but only if we choose to receive them that way.”
She called the past week a hard one, saying she still had “feelings to be felt.” Life, she said, delivers its lessons in different ways – “sometimes gently… and sometimes, when we miss the gentle lessons, life delivers one that’s heartbreakingly loud.” This one, she said, “was loud. Boy, was it loud.”
Stella went on to reflect on qualities she’d always seen as strengths – her urgency, directness and drive – before admitting the relationship had shown her something else was sitting alongside that ambition: fear.
“Fear has a remarkable way of disguising itself,” she wrote, saying it can look like ambition or hide behind being “driven.”
She admitted that when fear takes over, “the people we love don’t always experience our intentions” the way she means them. “Sometimes they experience pressure,” she said. “Sometimes they experience control. Sometimes they experience someone who is so focused on tomorrow that they unintentionally miss the beauty of today.”
“That has been one of the hardest mirrors I’ve ever had to look into,” she wrote, adding that the experience taught her love isn’t only about having a good heart – it’s about the impact left on the person standing opposite you.
(Credit: Nine)
A different tune weeks ago
It’s a big shift from just weeks ago, when Stella spoke to Woman’s Day about her future with Filip in glowing terms.
Discussing her decision to turn down rib contouring surgery, which fellow MAFS bride Bec Zacharia recently went through, Stella told Woman’s Day at the time that Filip had helped guide her through the choice.
“I do believe in my body, my choice,” she said. “But when I talked to my partner [about rib contouring] he was like, ‘who cares? I don’t care. Do you care? Is it the top of your mind?’ and I was like, ‘no, it’s never been at the top of my mind!’”
Stella also opened up about conversations she’d had with Filip around egg freezing, revealing she’d set herself a timeline for the future.
“I haven’t done it [egg freezing] for myself yet, but these were the topics that I was talking [about] with Filip,” she said. “I said to Filip that in the next 12 months if I’m not pregnant, I will have to do that, as I will have to ensure my own future self and my own future self’s possibility.”
When the conversation turned to Filip directly, Stella asked to pause any relationship-related questions – but remained upbeat about what was to come.
“I do have certain things to share,” she said at the time. “It’s very exciting.”
(Credit: Phillip Castleton)
What really happened
According to a source close to the former couple who spoke to the Daily Mail, it was Filip who made the difficult decision to end things.
“It was ultimately Filip who decided to end things. He’d been wrestling with it for a while and eventually realised they just weren’t on the same page about what they wanted out of life,” the insider told the outlet. “There wasn’t some huge explosive fight. It was more of a slow realisation that they were heading in different directions,” they explained.
