"Muzzle Your Woman," a Hole in the Wall, and British Humour: MAFS Australia's Worst Men, Documented
From secret texts to punched walls to the manosphere on prime time — twelve seasons of MAFS Australia, and Nine Network keeps casting the same man. We have the receipts.
We need to talk about the men of MAFS Australia. Not the love stories. Not the final vows. Not the matching Instagram posts that last approximately four months before the unfollowing begins. The men. What they say. What they do. What they get away with. Season after season after season on a show that calls itself a social experiment and has apparently decided that the society it is experimenting on is women.
We have been watching this show for a long time. We have taken notes. The notes are extensive. The notes are, frankly, disturbing.
Here they are.
Season 4 — In the Beginning, There Were Texts
Jonathan Troughton establishes what will become a proud MAFS tradition by exchanging flirty messages with another contestant, Scarlett Cooper, while technically married to Cheryl Maitland. It never went further than texts, apparently. The show considered this fine. The template was set.
Cheryl was not fine: "I hate disloyal people. I heard you last night saying you got paired with the wrong person. And then you swapped numbers, and you have been talking to each other."
Jonathan looked appropriately sheepish. The show continued. Twelve seasons of material followed.
Season 5 — Dean Wells, Self-Described Innovator
Dean Wells was matched with Tracey Jewel on Season 5. He spent the experiment attempting to swap partners with Davina Rankin — while still technically married to Tracey. This is not a recap detail. This is what he did. On camera. On a show about marriage.
Years later, Dean launched a podcast called Dangerous Ideas with Deano and described himself as an "innovator" for being one of the first contestants to cheat on the show. His words. He also invited Harrison Boon and Tyson Gordon onto the podcast to discuss women and relationships. The three of them, together, in one place, talking about women and relationships.
We needed a moment after learning that. We have had it. We continue.
Season 6 — Sam Ball, Dan Webb, and the Commitment Ceremony Announcement
Sam Ball was matched with Elizabeth Sobinoff. On their wedding day, he described her to cameras as "a little bigger" than the women he usually dates, and announced his plans to take her running. He made jokes about her weight and appearance to other contestants throughout the experiment. He then cheated on her with Ines Basic.
After the season aired, Sam said he stood by everything he said. "I'm an honest guy, and that was the honest truth," he told TV WEEK. He also described Elizabeth as "very big in every aspect" and said he felt "a little cheated" by the match. He later described seeing Elizabeth walk into a room as like watching "one of those dementors out of Harry Potter entering, just sucking the life" out of the space.
He then apologised. Then defended himself again. The cycle continued for years.
Dan Webb was married to Tamara Joy. Jessika Power was married to Mick Gould. These are facts that both of them knew and chose to set aside while conducting what can only be described as a very public affair — inside the experiment — while both were still technically married to other people.
Jessika announced their new relationship at a commitment ceremony. To the group. While Mick sat there.
WHILE MICK SAT THERE.
Mick's response, delivered through what we can only assume was a fully clenched everything: "You made me look like an idiot and go mental so you could play footsies and flirt with him. You are the most selfish brat ever."
He was not wrong. The experts allowed Dan and Jessika to continue in the experiment as a new couple. Because apparently that is an option that exists. They broke up shortly after. Mick processed his experience on national television and moved on with his life, which is more grace than this show deserved from him.
Season 8 — Bryce Ruthven and the Petition
Bryce Ruthven spent an entire season treating wife Melissa Rawson in a manner troubling enough that viewers launched a formal petition on her behalf. Not a tweet. Not a comment. An actual petition.
Bryce and Melissa are still together today and have two children. Which means whatever we saw on screen is only part of a story we don't have full access to, and we will say nothing further on that front.
What we will say: Nine Network filmed it. Aired it. Called it television. And started casting for the next season.
Season 10 — Harrison Boon Arrives to Gaslight a Nation
Before Harrison Boon appeared on MAFS Australia, he spent years on Facebook watching previous seasons and publicly commenting on other men's behaviour. Among his targets: Bryce Ruthven, whom he described, in writing, as a "gaslighter."
Harrison then arrived on MAFS 2023 and gaslighted wife Bronte Schofield for an entire season.
He admitted — eventually, reluctantly, under pressure — that he had been seeing another woman the night before his wedding. He positioned himself as the victim of Bronte's emotional responses to his behaviour. He blamed his edit. He said the edit was "completely on Bronte's side." He appeared on a red carpet with a new girlfriend approximately five minutes after the finale aired.
The word "self-awareness" exists in the English language. Harrison Boon has never encountered it.
Season 11 (2024) — "Muzzle Your Woman"
Jack Dunkley told fellow groom Jono McCullough to "muzzle his woman" during a dinner party argument. The woman in question was Lauren Dunn. Lauren was speaking. Jack did not want Lauren to be speaking.
That is the sentence. That is what happened on Australian television. In 2024.
Expert John Aiken called it "one of the worst things I've heard" on the show. Women's Aid released a formal statement. Jack said he was "ashamed" and had "lost sleep." Jack also, in the same breath, suggested that Lauren had "snapped" him into saying it.
"From where I am sitting, Lauren didn't snap him at all. And there it is — blaming the women around him."
— Expert John Aiken, MAFS Australia 2024Also in Season 11: Jono McCullough spent weeks sending hundreds of private messages to Ellie Dix behind Lauren's back. Lauren found them herself. On his phone. That she had to ask to see.
Two men. One season. Neither removed from the show.
Season 12 (2025) — The Season That Triggered a Government Investigation
Adrian Araouzou was paired with Awhina Rutenee. Viewers watching their interactions immediately recognised what the show's relationship experts appeared not to notice: the signs of a controlling dynamic. Former contestant Tahnee Cook wrote publicly that their dynamic "would have looked familiar to anyone who has been in a narcissistic relationship." Abbie Chatfield called the show "a how-to on DV without any actual lessons taught."
It later emerged that Adrian had previously faced accusations of domestic violence and assault. He was found not guilty. A criminal record does not disqualify MAFS applicants — though they are supposed to disclose relevant history. Whether the network knew is unclear. The application process does not include police or court background checks.
Fourteen complaints were filed with the Australian Communications and Media Authority after one episode aired. Overnight.
Then came Paul Antoine. Paul punched a hole in the wall of his hotel room during an argument with fellow contestant Carina Mirabile. Off-camera. Carina explained it on-camera. A police investigation was launched.
SafeWork NSW subsequently opened a broader investigation into Nine Network and production company Endemol Shine. Improvement notices were issued covering psychological safety and incident reporting.
Former contestant Jacqui Burfoot went public with what life on set actually looks like:
"They record us when we use the toilet. They force us to have mics on when we're taking a shit. If you break the rules, they make the rules even stricter — which is called coercive control. There's gaslighting, there's abusive men on the show. You're basically threatened the whole entire time."
— Jacqui Burfoot, former MAFS Australia contestantNine Network continued filming Season 13.
Season 13 (2026) — The Manosphere Gets a Prime Time Slot
Three grooms. One season. Three entirely different categories of the same problem.
Tyson Gordon was introduced as an intruder and made his worldview clear immediately. He wanted a "submissive" wife. He had concerns about Stephanie Marshall's "body count." He found stay-at-home dads "feminine." He disliked "woke" women.
Stephanie's response on their wedding day, delivered with the exhausted precision of a woman who has heard this before: "It's giving manosphere."
She was not wrong. Researchers described Tyson's appearance as the "normiefication" of the manosphere — the process by which fringe misogynist ideology enters mainstream entertainment and quietly shifts what audiences accept as normal. His ex-wife broke her silence to say she does not support or agree with the behaviour he showed on television.
Tyson later appeared on a podcast to clarify his use of the word "submissive." He suggested it had many different definitions depending on whether you asked Oxford, AI, or Google. We asked all three. "Very obedient or passive." Every time. The dictionary did not help him.
Then came Chris Nield.
Chris, 31, construction supervisor, Melbourne. In his audition tape — shown to viewers in the first episode — he stated: "If I turn around and see a short, overweight blonde girl with fake tan, with just caked-on little pink cheeks and the orange hands, I'm gone." At the bucks party, when asked about his deal breakers, he confirmed: "Overweight. It can be harsh but I'm not afraid to say it." He added that looks were "massive" for him. That personality alone was not enough. The other grooms sat in silence around him.
Nine Network's response to casting a man who announced on camera that he would leave a woman based on her body? They paired him with Brook — a Gold Coast model.
Brook refused to give Chris his first kiss at the altar.
We did not invent this. This actually happened. One viewer's response: "You can tell MAFS is a big joke because you have a man who says 'I don't like fat people' — and how do they reward him? By pairing him with a model." Another: "This is ON you, producers." Another, simply: "Chris is the literal worst."
Then came Danny Hewitt. In footage that did not air during the main series but was shown on spin-off show MAFS: After The Dinner Party, Danny was filmed telling producers they were "shit at their jobs" for not bringing him better women. He then said he could walk into Coles supermarket right now, go to aisle four, and the first woman he found would be better than Bec Zacharia — his wife.
He also predicted that after the show, women would be "queuing up" for him. That he wouldn't be able to "walk down the street" without them throwing their pantyhose at him. In a separate clip, he referred to fellow contestant Stephanie Marshall as a "fucking little skank."
Bec watched this footage during a commitment ceremony. She cried. She asked: "If that's how you feel about me, why did you sit there for three months straight?"
Danny's response: British humour.
What Nine Network Knows and Chooses Anyway
Here is what is not in dispute. Nine Network has been producing this show for over a decade. The pattern of misogynistic behaviour from male contestants is not new, not isolated, and not accidental. Every season, one or two men are cast specifically because of how they will behave. The clips go viral. The outrage generates discourse. The discourse drives ratings. The ratings justify another season.
Former contestant Lachlan Rofe, who appeared on the very first season of MAFS, died by suicide in 2025. His death prompted a NSW politician to raise the welfare of participants in parliament, calling MAFS "the most extreme of the reality TV shows that seek to break people down and gain ratings from unhinged personalities."
Nine Network has not cancelled the show. Season 14 is expected to begin filming shortly.
The Verdict
MAFS Australia does not have a men problem. It has a network problem.
The men on this show are not anomalies. They are not one bad batch in an otherwise well-intentioned experiment. They are the product of a casting process that actively selects for behaviour that generates viral moments, complaint spikes, and another week of must-watch television.
Every season a woman sits on that couch and is told by experts to give him another chance. To look past the surface. To commit to the process. Every season a woman goes home and tries to build something real with a man who told a production crew she wasn't worth the trouble.
Nine Network calls it an experiment. We call it what it is. We have been calling it what it is for twelve seasons. We will be here for Season 14. Taking notes.
🍷 Daily Drama Verdict
Season 4 gave us the first secret texts and the template was set. Season 5 gave us Dean Wells — who cheated on his wife, lost, and later called himself an "innovator" for it on his own podcast. Season 6 gave us Sam Ball comparing his wife to a Harry Potter dementor and Dan Webb conducting an affair while Mick sat at the same dinner table. Season 8 gave us a petition. Season 10 gave us Harrison Boon — who spent years calling other men gaslighters on Facebook before arriving on MAFS to gaslight his own wife for an entire season and somehow found this unremarkable. Season 11 gave us "muzzle your woman" and hundreds of secret texts and zero removals from the show. Season 12 gave us a punch through a wall, a police investigation, a SafeWork NSW inquiry, and a former contestant explaining that production microphones contestants in the bathroom and calls the rule enforcement coercive control. Season 13 gave us three grooms in one year: one who wanted a submissive wife, one who wouldn't date anyone overweight and got paired with a model by the producers themselves, and one who told a camera crew they were shit at their jobs for not bringing him better women — then predicted pantyhose would be thrown at him in the streets. Nine Network has not cancelled the show. Season 14 is coming. We will be watching. We always watch. This is our burden and we accept it. 🍷
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