As loyal viewers of MAFS 2025, we were all awaiting this final task, supposedly a shocking, couple-ruining challenge that would blow our minds. Well, my mind was not blown. If anything, I was confused as to why it was even a big deal at all.
To recap: each remaining MAFS couple was separated and given individual cards – they could meet another match the MAFS “experts” (producers) were considering for them prior to the series beginning, or they could just…. stare at the wall in their apartment for 24 hours.
It was meant to be some sort of loyalty and commitment challenge – the people who refused to meet this other person were the most-loyal-perfect-partner-ever, the ones who did choose to meet them, terrible-awful-cheaters.
For some couples who are literally just two strangers waiting for this damn show to finish so they can start doing sponsored boxing matches with other has-been reality stars (Teejay and Beth), the choice was a no-brainer. They met their other matches and had no relationship drama about it, since they have, well, no relationship.
For everyone else, chaos ensued.
The couples who both went to meet their other matches were Jacqui and Ryan, and Awhina and Adrian. Individually, Paul decided to meet his match but Carina didn’t, and Jamie went to meet hers, but Dave didn’t.
Poor Jamie got the shit end of the stick when her date didn’t show up to the Plan B Date. (Credit: MAFS)
Firstly, I refuse to call these “dates.” The final task was posed to participants as “there’s another person we were going to match you with. Would you like to meet them?” This isn’t the same as swiping on a dating app, finding someone hot and bantery, and then choosing to go explore that connection. It’s a literal stranger, but one that producers thought you might gel with.
The meetings were also short, clinical, and completely tame. To be honest, they seemed like job interviews. It was hardly a Bachelor-style, 1000 candles in a room romantic experience. There was no time at all to really flirt or explore a connection.
If the setup had been a weekend away with a new match, I would understand the uproar from these people’s other halves. I would not want my pseudo-TV-husband to be jetting off to the Whitsundays with another woman for 48 hours. But it wasn’t that at all. It was like an hour in a bar with 45 cameras up your nostrils.
The fact that the cheese board went untouched is a dead giveaway that the vibes were well and truly off. (Credit: MAFS)
So why the outrage? From both their respective partners, and from MAFS fans? Sorry, but if I got that card, even if I was in the most loved-up relationship ever (Rhi and Jeff style), I’d be curious! In a completely unromantic, unsexual way! Nosy people, as Jamie herself explained, just want the mystery removed. I’d want to meet this person so I could reflect on why producers thought they’d be a good match for me. I’d want that whether I hated my on-screen husband or planned to IRL marry him.
Now, I get that it’s a *little* different when it comes to Paul. Carina has already shown that she gets very threatened by her partner being put in any scenario with another woman in an intimate setting. Whether that’s a psychological issue she needs to deal with is irrelevant. He knew this from her reaction to the partner swap task, and yet he chose to go meet this person anyway. He also came back and was REALLY weird and intense about it, comparing Carina to this other woman. Even though he was all, “You’re amazing; she was the worst”, which grossed me out BTW because it doesn’t have to be a competition, I can see why she blew her lid. It wasn’t about the task, it was about his history of completely ignoring her boundaries.
But that, for me, was the only exception. Awhina and Adrian? Why the drama? I understand that Awhina was upset that they BOTH chose to meet their respective other people and that, for her, that said something about the quality of their relationship. But is it that deep? I can’t believe it, but I was actually on Adrian’s side during that entire exchange. Well, until the dinner party when he was being a dick to her. But initially, I was like, why are you defining your relationship by a choice to see who this other partner was?
What really grinds my gears is everyone talking about the final task participants like they’re cheaters. Bad decision-makers? In some cases, absolutely. Cheaters?? How!? It’s not emotional cheating because they had never met these people. It’s not physical cheating because they barely even shook hands. I get that it’s a little bit of a grey area because you’re choosing to meet someone you *could* have had a connection with, but all that means is, at worst, you’re putting yourself in a situation where you MIGHT have a spark with someone else and THEN have to choose whether you want to explore that or not.
I will say that Jacqui giving her match her phone number was crossing a line. If Ryan finds out, I would understand his upset – because that’s actually making a choice to explore a connection.
But the final task in general? It’s not that deep!
