This week, Married At First Sight (MAFS) star Jacqui Burfoot welcomed her on-screen husband Ryan Donnelly — and the rest of Australia — into her home during Homestays week. However, it turns out that the beautiful property in Sydney’s beachside suburb of Manly wasn’t Jacqui’s real home. Instead, it was a $200 per night Airbnb.
According to an insider speaking to the Daily Mail Australia, the reason why the production team made the switcheroo was because her place was “too small” and she lived with roommates.
Relatable queen.
“She had roommates living at her house and it was in a messy state, and she didn’t feel comfortable with it,” the source told Daily Mail Australia.
“Ryan and Jacqui were instructed not to make any mention that it was a fake house and just to pretend that it was actually Jacqui’s.
“Which is pretty hypocritical because when they went to Ryan’s, Jacqui was given full freedom to attack his living conditions.”
Just like many folks living in Sydney’s most sought-after suburbs, the insider says her bedroom was a bit too small to fit the camera crew needed to capture the drama.
“Her real bedroom was tiny, and the camera crew couldn’t fit in her apartment,” she insider continued.
“Her roommates’ stuff was everywhere and they would’ve had to be asked to leave for filming.”
When PEDESTRIAN.TV reached out to the 2025 MAFS bride, she directed us to her Instagram Story and noted that she was “not embarrassed at all” by the claims.
“Production hires these for participants who have housemates to protect their privacy. It’s been happening for years. Like with Eden Harper last year” Jacqui wrote.
“Production are in control of filming locations and sets — the content is the focus and they try to create things as accurately as possible.”
Seems pretty fair to me!
