MAFS Australia's Rhi and Jeff's previous relationship revealed

6 March 2025, 20:52

MAFS' Rhi and Jeff dated before getting married on the show. Picture: @mafs via Instagram

By Katie Smith

When did MAFS Australia's Rhi and Jeff date? The Married At First Sight Couple had a relationship back in 2023.

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Imagine signing up for Married At First Sight only to find out the person standing at the altar waiting for you...is your ex. That exact thing happened to Rhi and Jeff, but thankfully there was no bad blood between them.

Yep, MAFS Australia's Rhi Disljenkovic (34) and Jeff Gobbels (39), who got married in episode 4 of the brand new series, already knew each other preeetty well before joining the experiment.

Turns out that the newlywed pair had actually dated for a short time about a year before filming began on the reality dating series and remained friends after. However, neither of them knew that the other had applied to be on the show.

The MAFS experts matched Rhi and Jeff based on their similarities, emotional maturity and shared desires in a partner. They were also dubbed on the "strongest couples" in this year's experiment.

Read more: MAFS Australia's Tim called out by his own groomsman over way he treated Katie
Read more: MAFS Australia's Eliot explains real reason why he quit marriage to Lauren

How do Rhi and Jeff know each other on MAFS Australia?

How long were Rhi and Jeff together before MAFS Australia and when did they date?

Explaining the shock reveal during the episode, Rhi told the camera that they had dated last year (2023, as the weddings were filmed in August 2024) after meeting through mutual friends, but that it "kind of just fizzled" before they amicably parted ways, remaining friends.

Jeff added: "She just came out of a long-term relationship, and I just came out of a relationship. We both sort of decided we were better off being single."

In an interview with 9Entertainment, the couple elaborated a bit more on their previous relationship and why it didn't work out.

"We dated for like a month last year. Luckily we ended on really good terms, as we'd both come out of long-term relationships," Rhi said before Jeff added: "My initial reaction was pure shock. It was the last person I expected to see on my wedding day. We dated for about four or five weeks... the timing wasn't quite right.

"We had a conversation about going our own ways, and it was very grown up and very mature and very mutual. If it wasn't a mutual separation, it would have been very hard in the experiment!"

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The fact that they a) already know each other, and b) had already dated actually set Rhi and Jeff on great footing.

"Jeff is an amazing person," Rhi said. "It was just pretty much a timing thing – that was the reason it did not go forward."

Jeff echoed her sentiment, saying that while it feels purely platonic at the start at the experiment, Rhi's got all the qualities he's looking for and he's willing to give it a shot to see if it works out this time around.

Based on what's already aired in Australia, it looks like Rhi and Jeff emerge as one of the strongest couples in the experiment. Whether or not they're still together remains to be seen as final vows haven't aired in Australia yet. Filming wrapped months ago, but we won't know for sure until the final episode of the season.