"He kept the secret from me for a week" — Married at First Sight Australia star Jacqui reveals Ryan was texting another bride behind her back

Married at First Sight Australia participant Jacqueline "Jacqui" Burfoot recently shared that her partner, Ryan Donnelly, was secretly texting another bride named Sierah Swepstone for a week. In an interview with Chattr on March 4, 2025, Jacqui said:

“Sierah had been basically trying to gather allies, and told Ryan not to tell me that I was texting him. So he agreed, and he kept the secret from me for a week."

Jacqui added that Sierah had asked Ryan not to tell her about their conversations, and he agreed. At first, Ryan claimed it was only a few messages, but when Jacqui checked, she found out there were many more. She said the issue was not about the texting itself but about Ryan keeping it a "secret" and acting differently toward her when she had messaged Jeff.

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Married at First Sight Australia star Ryan’s secret texting and confrontation with Jacqui

Jacqui mentioned that Ryan had been in contact with Sierah for a week before Sierah left the Married at First Sight Australia experiment. She explained that Sierah had reached out to Ryan, and he agreed to keep their messages private. Jacqui only found out about this when she noticed changes in Ryan’s behavior and questioned him directly.

“Ryan texted Sierah for about a week, it was the week before Sierah left,” Jacqui said.

When Jacqui confronted Ryan, he initially claimed that it was just a few messages. However, when she insisted on seeing the texts, she realized that there were far more messages than he had implied. She then expressed her disappointment in him, particularly because he had previously criticized her for texting Jeff.

“He was doing it behind my back and I felt like it was an issue about him being a hypocrite and having double standards,” she shared.

Jacqui also added that there was no romantic connection between Ryan and Sierah, just as there had been none between her and Jeff. Her frustration was because the secrecy rather than the content of the messages.

“There was nothing going on between him and Sierah, so I didn’t really care [about that]. Everyone’s texting everyone [during the experiment],” she added.

She believed that honesty should have been maintained throughout the Married at First Sight Australia experiment, especially since transparency was something Ryan had previously demanded from her.

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Jacqui’s struggles with the show’s editing

Beyond the texting issue, Jacqui also spoke about her struggle to watch the episodes of Married at First Sight Australia air on Channel 9. As reported by Chattr, she wrote on her now-deleted Instagram story:

“I’m gonna be honest, I’m not okay. I’m struggling watching [MAFS]."

Jacqui claimed that much of the Married at First Sight Australia show had been taken out of context, leading to misinterpretations of her actions. Initially, she had followed the network’s media plan but later decided to speak out to provide additional context. She explained that she did not want viewers to form opinions about her based on the edits.

“It’s particularly hard because it’s just so edited out of context and I feel like… originally I was going along with Channel 9’s media plan, but then when they want you to speak about the show, you have to follow the storyline.”

Jacqui said that she thought she had to do that because she needed to "stand up" for herself, adding that she didn’t want the whole of Australia thinking she was "absolutely nuts."

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Married at First Sight Australia 2025 airs from Sunday to Wednesday on Channel 9 and 9Now.