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MAFS Australia star says Luke forgetting wedding rings was actually staged

23 March 2026, 19:30

MAFS Australia's Eliot on his wedding day and a screenshot of Eliot's TikTok. — MAFS Australia's Eliot saying Luke forgetting the rings was staged and scripted. Picture: Nine & TikTok

By Lily Bell

Married At First Sight Australia's Eliot Donovan has claimed producers ‘clearly set up’ Luke Fourniotis to forget the wedding rings.

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Former Married At First Sight Australia groom Eliot Donovan has claimed that Luke Fourniotis forgetting the rings on his wedding day to Mel Akbay was "absolutely" staged and scripted by producers.

During Luke's journey to the wedding venue, he was asked by a producer if he had remembered the ring. Dumbfounded, he said he didn't know that he was responsible for them. Although he went back to collect them, it caused a significant delay to the day and left Mel waiting alone at the altar.

Despite Luke apologising multiple times throughout the day, Mel didn't seem willing to accept his apology. She has since blamed the incident as a "big factor" in the downward trajectory of their relationship, as she felt like everybody was "laughing" at her.

Now MAFS viewers have watched the infamous moment unfold, former groom Eliot has stepped in to weigh in on the situation, claiming the producers had a part to play.

Read more: MAFS Australia’s Luke says Mel relationship 'left him with PTSD'

Mel pictured waiting alone at the altar. — Mel waited alone at the altar for Luke. Picture: Nine

In a TikTok video captioned: "Staged is a better word than scripted. Luke and Mel wouldn’t have been given lines but production clearly set up and allowed for this storyline to happen"

Eliot said: "Alright, Luke forgetting the rings was absolutely scripted, and I'll tell you why. When you're filming the wedding day for MAFS, you don't film the whole thing in one continuous segment.

"You're filming something, then you're waiting, filming something, then you're waiting, and [the producers] constantly you know on the radio."

Eliot added that Mel was likely already waiting in a separate room, so they could have just had her wait longer for Luke to return with the rings.

He continued: "You've got to understand this whole show is to create and to exaggerate drama and storylines."

Luke pictured apologising to Mel. — Luke apologised multiple times for his lateness. Picture: Nine

Reflecting on his own wedding day to Lauren Hall, Eliot shared that he had a similar filmed experience with producers, who "explicitly" told him, "Do not forget the rings".

At the time, he thought it was "weird" that he was responsible for the rings, when some else could keep them safe.

He said: "I remember noticing they were filming me when they said it, and I thought 'kinda a weird thing, but it's understandable it's a great storyline'."

Ultimately, he stated the ring incident helped "rock the boat" and succeed in creating drama.

Luke pictured with his sisters on the way to his wedding. — Luke's sisters joined him on the way to the wedding. . Picture: Nine

Luke's sisters, who were in the car with him on the way to the wedding, have also addressed this moment and explained that the producers had waited until they were five minutes from the venue to ask Luke if he had the rings.

"It was absolute mayhem. By that point we'd been driving for about 45 minutes, we were pretty much there," one of his sisters said in conversation with showbiz reporter Ali Daher.

"I literally asked in the limo, I was like, 'Surely there's someone else who can get these rings, we need to get to this wedding'," his other sister revealed.