Married At First Sight 2025 is set to be thrown into chaos as a real-life cheating scandal erupts.
Jacqui Burfoot has moved on with intruder groom Clint Rice, who is set to walk down the aisle with his on-screen wife Lauren Hall in Tuesday night’s episode.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Jacqui, 29, has wasted no time ditching her TV husband Ryan Donnelly and has already relocated to Tasmania to start a new life with Clint, 44, a former pro golfer turned successful businessman.
The scandal is said to have left Ryan blindsided, ruined Clint and Lauren’s yet-to-air wedding storyline, and thrown the entire season into disarray.
The first sign of Jacqui’s new romance emerged when she posted a cryptic Instagram update on December 2, teasing a ‘new chapter’.
Just days later, she was spotted getting cosy with Clint at a wildlife park in Tasmania.
While the couple are yet to be publicly spotted together, Jacqui and Clint’s relationship has escalated at lightning speed.
Jacqui has quit her job, packed up her life in Sydney, and moved into Clint’s luxury estate, which boasts a tennis court, golf simulator, and home theatre.
Sine then, Jacqui has wasted no time teasing her new romance on her Instagram account.
An insider confirmed: ‘Jacqui and Clint have a natural chemistry. She’s empathetic, a great communicator, and driven – Clint is exactly the same.’
‘They share so many common interests – tennis, wineries, documentaries, even their love for dumplings. They’ve barely spent a night apart since filming wrapped.’
The couple are even planning to launch a business together, using Clint’s experience from selling a successful golf distribution company in 2023.
While Jacqui and Clint appear to be enjoying their new romance, Ryan was reportedly left completely blindsided at the reunion.
‘Ryan had no idea. He heard rumours, but seeing it unfold like this left him feeling betrayed,’ an insider told Daily Mail Australia
‘He considered Clint a mate—now he feels like they both lied to his face.’
Meanwhile, Lauren, is said to be ‘happy’ for Clint and Jacqui’s new romance.
‘Producers are furious. This completely ruins Clint and Lauren’s wedding episode,’ a source said.
‘Viewers haven’t even seen them get married yet, and now they already know Clint ends up with Jacqui.’
Despite the fallout, Clint has no regrets.
‘Clint is an introverted extrovert – calm, confident, and fiercely loyal. He doesn’t tolerate nonsense, but when he’s in a relationship, he’s all in,’ a close friend revealed.
‘He signed up to MAFS to find a wife, and with Jacqui, he may have finally found exactly that.’
This isn’t the first heartbreak for Lauren, who was originally paired with businessman Eliot Donovan at the start of the season.
Their marriage was doomed from the beginning, with Eliot reportedly struggling with commitment and refusing to open up emotionally.
‘Lauren and Eliot had an instant attraction, but cracks appeared almost immediately,’ a source close to production revealed. ‘Eliot had one foot out the door from the start, and Lauren could sense it.’
Despite trying to make it work, the relationship ended in disaster, with Eliot ultimately walking out on Lauren before they even made it to Final Vows.
Now, history seems to be repeating itself, with Lauren set to be humiliated again.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that the pair began talking just after Jacqui and Ryan dumped each other at Final Vows.
It is understood that Clint then slid into Jacqui’s DM’s and then she immediately decided to give the relationship a shot and fly down to Tasmania to spend time with him.
While they don’t walk into the reunion together, their blossoming relationship will come to light at the reunion.
Insiders tell Daily Mail Australia that producers did everything they could to try and get the couple to do a ‘Jono and Ellie’ and walk in together – but the couple ‘knew better’.
What went wrong for Jacqui and Ryan?
From the outset, Jacqui and Ryan exhibited significant differences in their daily habits and preferences.
Jacqui, a former beauty queen, expressed frustration over Ryan’s casual approach to household norms, notably his habit of leaving the bathroom door open, which she found disrespectful.
During the photo task where participants ranked each other’s attractiveness, Ryan placed Jacqui third.
This decision deeply hurt Jacqui, leading to emotional outbursts where she questioned her self-worth and expressed feelings of inadequacy.