THE COUPLES BARE ALL
brides and grooms revealed
Married At First Sight
LIZZIE ‘MY WEIGHT DOESN’T DEFINE ME’
Lizzie Sobinoff may look very different now to her first stint as a TV bride last year, but she’s adamant that who she is inside hasn’t changed.
“It’s still very much me. I know people are going to say, ‘Well, you look completely different to how we saw you last year, [but] don’t always focus on the outer shell,” she tells WHO of her 10kg weight loss. “This has always been me. We grow, as people. I don’t glorify weight and being like, ‘’I’m better now.’”
As one of 2019’s most controversial brides, Lizzie was cheated out of her shot at a happy ending thanks to her ‘husband’ Sam Ball, who cruelly criticised her weight at their wedding and had an affair with another bride in the early days of the experiment.
Since then, Lizzie has been focusing on herself and her health, occasionally following the 5:2 diet and aiming to work out a few times a week as it’s “good for stress”.
But the outspoken 28-year-old insists she’s no damsel in distress and is simply hoping that this time on MAFS, her relationship will go the distance.
“I have faith in the experiment,” she says. “I’m always the optimist.”
SEB ‘I’VE BEEN SINGLE FOR EIGHT YEARS’
“Brunette, tanned, beautiful eyes, beautiful lips and medium height.” That’s the description former AFL player Sebastian Guilhaus gave the experts for his ideal woman. Lucky for Lizzie, she matches that description to a tee. But after eight years as a single man, her new husband may find it takes time to get used to married life.
“My first long-term relationship – beautiful girl – it was just mistiming. It became so toxic because we drew it out,” Seb, 30, tells WHO. “After that I didn’t really date, I just withdrew.”
The natural sportsman has spent a significant portion of his time focusing on his health, becoming a personal trainer and adopting a “healthy body, healthy mind” motto.
“The [bulk] of my happiness comes from health and fitness,” says Seb, who trains between one and three times a day, and consumes about “a million calories”.
The MAFS latecomer is also eyeing a career change, and is currently studying creative arts to become a drama and PE teacher. “Engagement with people, entertaining, making people smile and making jokes
– that’s me,” he says.
CONNIE + JONETHEN ‘WE LOVE TO GET OUTDOORS’
When he’s not taking part in a social experiment on national television, project officer Jonethen, 27, makes sure he dedicates a good portion of his time to his wellbeing and health.
“I live an active lifestyle of surf, skating and the gym, two to four times a week,” says Jonnie, who names celebrity trainer Luke Zocchi – the man responsible for sculpting Chris Hemsworth’s ripped body – as his fitness idol.
“I can’t stress enough how important exercise is for stress and mental health.”
His wife Connie, 27, shares his love of the outdoors, and as a keen traveller, often documents herself taking part in adventurous activities such as kayaking, snorkelling, cycling and hiking around the world.
“I attend boot camp classes three to four times a week and take my dog for a walk every day,” Connie tells WHO.
ALEKS + IVAN ‘WE’RE TOTAL OPPOSITES’
Perth girl Aleks isn’t one to hit the gym – but, she tells WHO, the stress and chaos of being on a reality show led to an unintentional body transformation.
“I think I lost about 5kg!” the bride reveals. “The experiment clearly stressed me out.”
But the recently blonde real estate agent is pretty comfortable in her own skin, insisting she “rarely” works out and simply limits portion sizes to keep her weight in check.
“I have a gym membership but never use it,” she admits. “I admire women that can work out every day!”
Her relaxed attitude towards health and fitness couldn’t be more opposite to that of her energetic husband, fellow real estate agent Ivan.
The 30-year-old says he prefers “highintensity adrenaline activity” such as dirt biking or jetskiing to stay fit, but those hobbies are a little harder to fit into his daily schedule.
“I try to get to the gym a few times a week,” he says. “Ideally, it would be five to six days, but I can’t seem to find the balance.”
CATHY + JOSH ‘WE’RE GYM JUNKIES!’
This bubbly couple have been getting along like a house on fire since day one, and a passion for staying fit and active is just one of the things they have in common.
“I love to get outdoors as much as I can, whether it’s for a walk or a swim at the beach and gym during the week,” Josh says. “Avoiding driving past KFC usually helps as well. If I can avoid fast food during the week, I’m doing all right!”
His weight-trainingobsessed wife, who lost an impressive 20kg several years ago, is slightly more methodical about her meal preparation, which features an abundance of musclebuilding protein to fuel her four to five workouts a week.
“Did I mention that everything is weighed by scales too?” she says of her food diary.
Josh, 28, and Cathy,
26, have their individual preferences when it comes to how they like to exercise too, with Cathy insisting “give me a squat rack any day”, and Josh preferring to “sweat through a HIIT session, for sure”.
“I did yoga once and fell asleep!” he says of slower workouts.
But despite her hard work, Cathy has also had some help altering her appearance, reportedly spending $20,000 on breast implants, lip filler, a brow lift and Botox.
STEVE + MISHEL ‘IT HELPS KEEP US YOUNG!’
These two may be the oldest couple on this year’s season of MAFS, but they certainly put in the effort to stay just as healthy and active as the other couples.
For 52-yearold Steve, a protein-rich diet and four to five gym sessions a week help him stay feeling as good as possible.
“My business partner is my fitness inspiration; he’s a freak with his fitness,” Steve reveals.
His 48-year-old wife, who has two adult children, has her own wellness regimen worked out. Back home in Brisbane, Mishel exercises regularly with a personal trainer, and is also a fan of teeth whitening and Botox injections to stave off wrinkles.
The teacher makes no apologies for wanting to maintain her youthful looks, adding that it’s the reason she chooses to sleep with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine every night.
“I believe it keeps me youthful, opens up my airways and I get a lot more oxygen while I sleep.”
KASEY ‘I CAN’T WAIT FOR KIDS!’
Kasey ‘KC’ Osborne had just moved home to Australia after a decade in LA when a sudden wave of panic that she wouldn’t meet The One spurred her to do the unthinkable: marry a stranger on television!
“My friends were kind of saying, ‘It’s going to be so hard for you to meet someone here’, and it made me a little bit paranoid,” KC admits. “My perfect man is – on the outside – someone athletic. I have a really big heart and I love hard, so [I’ve been looking for] someone that kind of loves love as much as I do.”
The 32-year-old dance teacher admits she has become “guarded” early on in relationships, revealing: “I’ve been burned in the past for sure. I’ve never cheated but I have been cheated on.”
If all goes well with her new husband, she could be contemplating motherhood sooner rather than later.
“I can’t wait to have kids!” KC says. “I want a little girl. I want to take her to dance class.”
DREW ‘I’VE HAD NO TIME FOR LOVE’
It was major heartbreak that changed Drew Braver’s course in life, but while he didn’t realise it at the time, his fiancée calling off their wedding ended up being a blessing in disguise.
“Six or seven years ago, I was engaged to be married. About eight weeks out from my wedding, it got called off,” he explains. “She had a change of heart. My whole world got turned upside down and I wasn’t prepared for it.”
The break-up spurred Drew to wind up his career as an electrician and go after his dream of working as a musician, as well as starting a mental-health charity called Kick On to help others dealing with personal struggles.
“I work on my charity for 10 to 12 hours a day and then it gets to the weekends and I go play weddings and gigs and stuff like that, so it doesn’t leave a lot of time for love,” the 32-year-old admits.
It seems Drew could be the ideal match for his new bride KC, given the musician does some kind of exercise every day for his mental health.
“Jiu jitsu six days a week, gym three or four… sparring, boxing or Muay Thai when I can,” he says of his fitness regimen.