The 2026 series of MAFS Australia is FINALLY airing in the UK and can we all just take a second to imagine how wild it must be to work on the casting team for such a show?

Year after year they manage to pick the most chaotic bunch of people that are ready to get married and cause mayhem, and this year is no different.

The show has been on in Australia for a while now, which means they are way ahead of us in terms of who is married/quit/fallen out etc. However, in the UK, viewers have finally seen the first couple to split and quit the experiment – Rebecca Zukowski and Steve Powell. So let’s deep dive into their relationship…

Despite a positive wedding day, cracks soon began to show in their relationship when Steve failed to say any green flags during the Green Flags, Red Flags challenge with the other grooms.

‘Green flags is really simple – there’s multiple. Now red flags, Rebecca is consistently that person where she needs to be talking all the time there’s no down time,’ he explained to the grooms.

‘Rebecca’s humour, I don’t understand some of her humour. Sometimes it’s got a bit of a sexual innuendo and I’m very conservative and it just seems rude to me.

‘Rebecca is not my usual type and what I mean by that is her personality is less conservative to mine… It’s just been a lot, Rebecca has just been a lot in general.’

Steve and Rebecca ©channel 4

His co-stars were confused and Rebecca seemed none the wiser, telling producers during the same challenge, ‘I’m happy with where we’re at. We’re gold and we’re going to get to platinum in a couple of days so I’m ready to go back to my husband, give him a hug and say, “We’ve got this, like please, we’re doing so well.”‘

Despite being upfront with his co-stars, Steve failed to tell Rebecca herself and even during the first commitment ceremony he told the experts, ‘We’re very solid and comfortable.’

After the experts gave them advice for their relationship, they agreed to take it on board but Steve not only went on to have a heated discussion with Alessandra Rampolla (when she was again trying to give him advice), but he also accused Rebecca of being on MAFS for the opportunities and fame.

Following an argument where Steve said Rebecca was ‘too much’ for him, he then went on to declare that their marriage was over and admitted, ‘I’m quite confident that I’ve done nothing wrong, I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of and I can hold my head up high.’

steve claimed rebecca was ‘too much’ ©E4

Then during the second commitment ceremony they both wrote ‘leave’ with Rebecca telling the experts, ‘I came into this experiment wanting to find love, I was open, authentic and I was here for all the right reasons.

‘When I first met Steve we had a connection and I thought the experts had got it right, we had a great wedding and honeymoon but as soon as I started saying “I need this from you” – me voicing my needs and wants – I felt unheard in the relationship.

‘I felt like every time I tried to voice how I was feeling I was getting shut down and spoken over. I feel like he wasn’t vulnerable he didn’t show up for me and I feel like I was matched with someone that hasn’t been in all with me.’

it wasn’t to last between these two ©E4

Later, as the experts tried to get Steve to point out what he’d contributed to the downfall of their relationship, he failed to say anything.

‘I don’t know,’ he told them before going on to say, ‘I don’t know the other reasons so from your expert point of view, tell me what you’ve seen that I need to do.’

Safe to say they both agreed enough was enough and left the experiment.

No chance of the duo rekindling their romance on the reunion episode then.