Cleo Rutene, the twin sister of Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2025 bride Awhina Rutene, has unpacked the effects of her sister’s ‘marriage’ to Adrian Araouzou, describing their on-screen relationship as “heartbreaking”.
Throughout the MAFS 2025 season, Cleo has not been subtle in how she ~truly~ feels about her sister’s reality TV husband. Following a colossal argument during Family and Friends Week — where Cleo and Awhina got into a verbal scrap with Adrian’s friend, Jasmine, and his sisters, Elita and Nikola — the bride’s twin has shaded the Sydney-based groom on social media numerous times.
From Instagram Stories to a TikTok leak of Awhina’s MAFS audition tape, it truly is no doubt that Cleo is the president of the Adrian Is Over Party (and honestly, with what was portrayed on TV, I totally get it).
In a recent interview with Yahoo! Lifestyle, Cleo has reiterated her disstain towards Awhina and Adrian’s relationship, recalling how she saw “all the light sucked out” of her sister during the shebang.
“It was heartbreaking to see all the light sucked out of my twin sister at the last dinner party,” Cleo lamented.
“My sister deserved better.”
Further in her chat with the publication, Cleo responded to critics who slammed Awhina for wanting to stay in the experiment with Adrian up until Final Vows.
“It’s easy to say ‘why stay?’ but in reality, this happens a lot in these kinds of relationships, and I know it’s triggering for a lot of people watching this who have suffered in relationships like this,” she shared.
With Final Vows closing in this week, we can finally kiss goodbye the tumultuous rollercoaster that is Adrian and Awhina… That’s if they say no to each other.
But I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. After all, MAFS is MAFS, and they love putting viewers THROUGH IT when it comes to plot twists and reality TV drama.
Regardless of what they pick, I personally hope that Awhina rides off into the sunset without that man. She truly deserves better as Cleo has shared.
Married At First Sight returns tonight on Channel Nine and 9Now.
