Married at First Sight bride Awhina Rutene has opened up about why she decided against introducing her young son to groom Adrian Araouzou during Homestay Week – saying the visit was not ‘safe’ to do so.
The 31-year-old aged care worker from Perth revealed that ahead of appearing on the show, she had already made up her mind that she would not allow whoever she was partnered with to meet her boy, who is six.
‘There was so much uncertainty in my relationship with Adrian [and] yes, we are in a better and healthier place’ she told Yahoo Lifestyle on Tuesday.
‘But I’ve never introduced anyone I’ve been intimate with to my son before, and there was no way we were at a place that we were strong enough, or our connection was strong enough to kind of introduce him to my son’ she added.
Awhina went on to say that she wasn’t sure that her relationship with Adrian would be strong enough to survive the challenges they have faced.
‘And at this stage, I didn’t know if it ever would be’ she said.
‘So it was like, without all these external pressures and we’re struggling, it just wasn’t a safe space to invite my son into’.
Adrian created controversy early on in the experiment when he admitted that he was not sure he could love another man’s child.
Awhina expessed similar concerns in a chat with Daily Mail Australia as she discussed her trip home to Perth during Homestays.
‘I was quite fortunate that I got to go home a few times throughout the experiment and usually I’d be so excited, even if it was just for 24 hours,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘But this time was different’ she continued.
‘I imagined bringing my partner home, introducing him to my son, my family, my friends, but because of where we were at in the relationship that just wasn’t going to happen.’
She added that their relationship was simply too uncertain to bring her son into it.
‘You don’t just introduce someone to your child when you don’t even know where the relationship is going. It wouldn’t have been a safe environment,’ she said.
During Homestays Week, Awhina’s twin sister Cleo didn’t hold back in her assessment of her relationship, calling it fake, and surprisingly, Awhina agrees.
‘She has a point,’ Awhina admitted.
‘Cleo’s not in the experiment, so she can see it from the outside.
‘When you’re in the experiment you’re living in a fake world – it’s not reality’ she explained.
‘You wake up every day and do random challenges, stay in an apartment all day and just watch movies with your partner. That’s not real life.’
‘In reality, I have a son, a job, school drop-offs, after-school sports, friends, a schedule and Adrian has his own life in Sydney.
‘We weren’t having those conversations about what life would look like outside the experiment. So yes, Cleo was right. It wasn’t real yet.’
Awhina has since undergone a dramatic hair transformation.
The mother-of-one, known for her signature platinum blonde locks, has ditched her bright peroxide locks in favour of a more natural, sun-kissed caramel shade with darker roots.
Photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia show Awhina flaunting her fresh new look while basking in the golden-hour light, with her new honey-toned tresses framing her face.