Awhina and Adrian were – to say the least – one of the most tumultuous couples from the 2025 season of Married at First Sight.
At first, everything seemed perfect.
Awhina became ecstatic when she quickly learned that Adrian was an identical twin — just like her!
Meanwhile, Adrian couldn’t keep the smile off his face when chatting to MAFS producers.
“She’s exactly my type; she’s loud, she’s bubbly. She’s everything I could’ve asked for,” he said.
Sadly, things fell apart halfway through the ceremony.
In Adrian’s vows, he said that he had a six-month-old before revealing he was jokingly referring to a pet dog.
“Don’t worry, I don’t have kids,” Adrian then added.
And Awhina was obviously “taken aback” by that comment as she does — to quote Alyssa from MAFS Season 10 — “have a child”.
From here, things went from awkward to even more awkward.
Awhina really wanted to pull Adrian aside and tell him that she has a six-year-old son but as anyone who’s been to a wedding knows, it’s hard for a bride and groom to steal a private moment during a busy family and friend-filled reception.
And so, when Awhina’s parents described her as “an amazing mother” in their wedding speech, Adrian looked shocked.
Awhina interrupted her parents mid-speech and asked Adrian to accompany her outside.
Here, she confessed to having a child.
“I don’t know how I feel about that,” was Adrian’s response. Yikes.
After processing it a little more, Adrian told Awhina, “It’s not ideal. But I’m 100 per cent committed and will be open-minded.”
And she was pretty content with that.
“It’s great he’s open to it; the only way forward in a relationship is if you’re open to me and my son,” Awhina said to producers.
So, are Awhina and Adrian still together?
Well, the couple patched things up after their awkward wedding and seemed happy during the first day of their honeymoon.
But when the expert’s honeymoon box arrived, it stirred up some trouble…
A question about the importance of family led to Adrian confessing:
“Having a kid is a special moment in your life. I don’t know how I feel about you [already] having that experience with someone else. And, my biggest thing, I wanted to share that special thing as a first with someone. And if I’m being 100 per cent honest, I don’t know if I can love your kid as much as my kids.”
“You don’t think you could love them equally?” Awhina challenged.
“I don’t know that,” he said.
Adrian then clarified to producers that he just doesn’t want to lead her on while he figures out how he feels about potentially being a stepdad. “I want her to know exactly what I’m thinking, so she can make a decision,” he said.
But he didn’t clarify that with Awhina, and so, she understandably got upset.
“What’s the point in pursuing someone that has issues you can’t get over?”
Adrian ended up callously saying, “Smile, it’s free.”
So it’s no surprise that Awhina stormed off after saying, “I feel extremely disconnected from you.”
And as the season continued, things went from bad to worse for the couple. It was particularly horrible when Adrian had dinner with another bride without telling Awhina.
Or when he temporarily left the experiment because he wasn’t included in a MAFS promotional video.
Or when Adrian’s sister and friend Jasmine (wrongfully) accused Awhina of not putting enough effort into the relationship.
What was hardest to watch was Adrian brush off all of this bad behaviour and not apologise once to Awhina; in fact, viewers began voicing online that they believed Adrian was emotionally abusing Awhina, and coercive control was potentially at play.
Somehow, Awhina forgave Adrian though and the couple rekindled their romance during the Couples Retreat.
But during the final week of the experiment, Awhina and Adrian fell victim to the last task set by the experts.
They were offered the chance to meet another potential match; a chance both Awhina and Adrian jumped at.
She met Tim and he met Maxine. And while nothing too scandalous happened, Awhina realised that she and Adrian mustn’t be in a serious relationship if they were open to meeting another match.
This led to the two having a huge fight at the last dinner party of the season and at the Final Vows, Awhina and Adrian mutally decided to end their relationship.
“You’re not my future right now. This is where our journey ends,” Awhina said in her vows.
“I think it’s best for both of us if I walk away,” Adrian said in his.
But in a shocking twist, once the vows were finished, Awhina randomly convinced Adrian to keep seeing each other outside of the experiment. They even kissed and left hand in hand.
The couple then told confused producers that they were going to stay together and ‘see how they go.’
Despite the outcome of their vows, Awhina has confirmed to several outlets that she and Adrian are no longer together; we’re hoping to get more details about their split during the reunion episode, which is yet to air…
The final two ‘Reunion’ episodes of Married at First Sight will air on Channel 9 and 9now on Sunday, April 6 and Monday April 7.
