Season 13 ended in mid-April. The reunion aired. The couples imploded on schedule. And before the Season 13 cast had even finished updating their Instagram bios, the Season 14 rumour mill was already running at full speed — because apparently producers did not wait for the credits to finish rolling before they started making phone calls to former cast members.

Those phone calls are now public knowledge. The names are out. The fandom has opinions. And the rumours about who might be walking back down that aisle for Season 14 are, at this point, completely out of hand — in the best possible way.

When Does Season 14 Premiere?

Channel Nine has not confirmed an official premiere date, but based on the show's established pattern, Season 14 is expected to land in early February 2027 — right on schedule after the Australian Open. Filming is currently underway in Sydney, with weddings reportedly already shot. UK viewers on E4 can expect the usual four-to-five week delay after the Australian premiere.

The Biggest Change: Losing Mel Schilling

You already know. Twelve seasons, a battle she fought with more grace than the show ever deserved, and a hole in that couch that no casting decision is going to fill. John Aiken and Alessandra Rampolla have both described filming Season 14 without her as "bittersweet." That feels like an understatement.

Meet the New Expert: Dr Lurve

Channel Nine is not leaving that third seat empty. According to reports from the Daily Mail, South Australia-based relationship coach Brigitte Zonta — known professionally as Dr Lurve — has reportedly signed on as the newest expert for Season 14.

Zonta describes herself as "Australia's leading love and relationship coach" and a "modern-day cupid" for those navigating self-love, new relationships, and long-term partnerships. She is not stepping in to be Mel. Nobody is pretending otherwise. A source close to production said it plainly: "No one can replace Mel, and that is not what they are asking Dr Lurve to do. She has her own voice, her own energy and her own way of connecting with people."

Both John and Alessandra have acknowledged that this season already feels different — John noting the contestants are being "really tested" in terms of openness right from the jump. In MAFS speak, that means the dinner parties are going to be exactly as feral as we need them to be.

The Cast: What We Know So Far

Channel Nine has not officially unveiled the Season 14 cast, but the leaks have been running well ahead of the network's schedule — as usual. Based on paparazzi sightings at wedding venues, insider tips, and reports from New Idea and Daily Mail Australia, here is what has surfaced so far:

• 20 participants / 10 couples — same size as Season 13.
• A former Bachelorette Australia contestant making her second reality TV appearance.
• A female couple — the first on MAFS Australia since 2020.
• A participant previously seen on Dating Naked UK — which is a sentence that now exists.
• Sarina Monastirli, a Victoria-based theatre performer, confirmed by New Idea as one of the brides. She was reportedly chosen specifically because of her low social media presence — a deliberate casting priority this season.

The production team is sticking hard to its post-Season 13 vetting stance: no criminal records, no prior court appearances, and a hard pass on anyone who shows up with an influencer strategy already mapped out. Whether this holds in practice — given that Season 12 ended with a punched wall and a police visit — remains to be seen.

The Twist Nobody Asked For (But We're Absolutely Here For)

Here is the detail that sent the fandom into orbit. According to insiders who spoke with PEDESTRIAN.TV, producers are in quiet negotiations to bring back "one or two" former MAFS brides or grooms to participate in Season 14 — not as a full all-stars cast, but woven into the regular experiment alongside the new faces.

The names reportedly being discussed: Domenica Calarco, Ines Basic, Lucinda Light, and Jessika Power. Each one a legend. Each one someone viewers have very strong, very complicated feelings about. Which is, of course, the entire point.

The internal pitch, apparently, is this: Why didn't it work the first time — and why could it work now? Producers are reportedly targeting people whose original relationships collapsed due to timing, immaturity, or the chaos of the experiment itself, rather than a fundamental lack of chemistry. Redemption arcs. Pre-built emotional investment. The audience already knowing exactly who just walked into that dinner party.

A full all-stars season has been taken off the table — executives reportedly worry it would become "too self-aware and chaotic." One or two returning faces is the smarter long-term play, they believe. Keep the format intact, spike the drama, bring back the viewers who switched off after Season 13.

One thing insiders insist on? Whoever returns will not be boring. "Nobody's coming back quietly," a source confirmed. And that is exactly what producers are banking on.

The Ongoing Mess Nobody Is Pretending Isn't There

Season 13 closed out with some of the show's messiest off-camera headlines yet. By the time filming wrapped, the production company had received three formal safety notices from SafeWork NSW, become the subject of a BBC investigation, and faced allegations that brides had not been informed of their grooms' significant criminal histories. A cast member was arrested on separate charges. The timeline of all of this lands squarely between the Season 13 finale and the first day of Season 14 filming.

Channel Nine's response was to begin filming Season 14 in July 2026. The paperwork gets updated. The cameras keep rolling.

How to Watch MAFS Australia Season 14

In Australia, the show will air on Channel 9 and stream free on 9Now. For UK viewers, it lands on E4 and streams on Channel 4 — typically at 7:30pm across four nights a week. If you are watching from outside those regions, a VPN connected to an Australian server and a free 9Now account remains the simplest route.