Rachel and Steven were the sweetheart couple on the 2026 season of Married At First Sight Australia. Unfortunately, their relationship didn’t survive the real world.
While speaking on Abbie Chatfield’s It’s A Lot podcast, Rachel revealed how her relationship unravelled “nearly immediately” after final vows.
“On the last commitment ceremony, I expressed my concern that Steven was going to go back to his normal life, and I would become a burden and it’s going to be easier to let me go, which I very much feel like that’s what’s come to fruition,” she said.
Rachel claimed Steven was focused on his work, noting that many of their discussions revolved around him.
“I said, ‘Do you think about our relationship when you’re thinking about these things?’ And it was, ‘Well, of course I do Rachel,'” she recalled.
The 35-year-old then shared some insight into the reunion commitment ceremony, airing on Monday. Sitting in front of the experts, they tried to understand why Steven was pulling away.
“And [Steven] was asked repeatedly, ‘Do you want to be with Rach? Do you want to be with this woman?’ He’s like, ‘You’ve got to stop stringing her along. Do you want to be with her?’ And [Steven’s] response was always, ‘Yes, but…’”
“He didn’t love me for me, because he didn’t love me,” she said.
Final Vows
Rachel and Steven were among the final few couples who walked into final vows. By no surprise, they decided to pursue a relationship in the real world.
“It has been a slow burn but it’s allowed something rare to grow between us, a deep emotional connection. One I’ve never had with a man before,” Rachel said. “You accepted me in ways I didn’t know I needed, from getting emotionally attached to our fish, to singing the same line of a song on repeat, you’ve never asked me to tone it down, be less or shrink myself to fit beside you.”
“I want to walk out of this experiment hand-in-hand with you, ready to keep building something messy, something beautiful, something real and entirely ours.”
Then, it was Steven’s turn to reflect on their rollercoaster journey.
“Coming into this experiment, I had convinced myself that I was unlovable, too stubborn, too guarded and too complicated,” he shared.
“I had hope but I also found it hard to imagine anyone ever loving someone like me. Rachel, you really changed that for me. You taught me that my heart wasn’t broken, it was just waiting for the right person to see it and that person is you, Rachel.”
However, their biggest challenge would be long-distance.
Intimacy Progress Derailed
After a rough start for the pair, Rachel and Steven’s relationship had finally progressed physically. Rachel excitedly told the group during the Couples Retreat, but intentionally left out the details.
All was well, until Bec’s crass language struck a nerve.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I just wanted to call us here tonight, it’s the first night of retreat and we’ve had ‘I love you’s’, we’ve had a couple that I thought could not come back from the brink of hell, and we’ve had finger bangs,” Bec said in a speech.
While Bec felt the term was a joke, Rachel and Steven were visibly uncomfortable with the former noting, “I didn’t think it was funny.” Unfortunately Bec’s apology didn’t feel sincere, with the conversation esculating quickly.
“You’re very quick to turn. I’ve been here, my husband has been here, Rach you’re very quick to turn. We all celebrate you!” Bec shouted. “I mean, whose husband helped you get there? Mine. How do you think it got to this point? My husband, going off for beers with him. Get over it, she needs to calm down. She pops off so quickly, I’m sick of it.”
A moment which could have passed quickly soon dominated the entire couples retreat.
Fantasy Night Fail
Fantasy night is a dream for the MAFS brides, excluding Rachel… In a Love Actually inspired moment, Rachel holds up a sign that asks him to kiss her passionately.
“I can kiss you Rachel, I can kiss you but I’m not sure that it’ll make you feel something,” he replied.
Naturally confused and heartbroken, Rachel leaves the apartment in tears.
“What a slap in the face,” she said.
The Wedding Giggles
While the MAFS wedding isn’t technically legally binding, Steven’s mum was tearing up before the ceremony even began!
But she wasn’t the only one experiencing a lot of emotions. The officiant could barely get through his speech without Rachel breaking out into a nervous laugh. At least the guests and her husband thought it was endearing.
“I’m actually shocked no one has snatched him up. I’ll take him,” Rachel said of her husband to producers.
There was just one problem, though. Rachel waited all day to receive a compliment from her husband. Instead of sitting on her feelings, she faced it head-on.
“It probably seems really small, but I was like, ‘Oh, maybe he’s not that into me,” she explained.
Steven responded: “I’m really sorry you felt that way. You do look gorgeous today, you look fantastic. I’m really sorry that I didn’t say it when it mattered… I really dropped the ball there as the groom.”
It was Steven’s willingness to understand Rachel’s insecurities that “silenced all that inner saboteur talk.”
Meet Rachel and Steven
Prior to the experiment, they both dealt with relationship woes in the modern and superficial world of dating apps.
Rachel, 35, is a team leader from Victoria. Her bubbly, vibrant energy with an infectious laugh makes her an absolute catch. But unfortunately, Rachel hadn’t been in a serious relationship for 14 years.
Her previous dating experience was a ‘situationship’ that lasted seven years.
“I felt like a dirty secret. I felt like I wasn’t good enough, he wasn’t proud to be with me,” she said tearfully after describing the relationship as “toxic as hell.”
Steven, a 34-year-old Marine Technician from New South Wales. Dating has never come easy to Steven, feeling it impossible to meet the “checklist” women have.
“I want to find love. I want that connection,” he shared, revealing he hasn’t been in a serious relationship in 10 years. “You know that saying, ‘nice guys finish last’, well, I think today’s going to be different.”
