MAFS Australia's Eliot explains real reason why he quit marriage to Lauren

6 March 2025, 16:07 | Updated: 10 March 2025, 14:33

Here's the real reason why MAFS Australia's Eliot quit the show. Picture: Nine/E4

By Katie Smith

Eliot also claimed that his comments about Lauren's age were taken out of context and the show cut a key moment between the couple before he left.

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After just three days, Married At First Sight Australia groom Eliot Donovan decided to quit the show, leaving bride Lauren Hall on their honeymoon.

During his initial run on the new season, Eliot (35) made it clear very early on that he wasn't happy with the match. He brought up exhaustive list of "non-negotiables" several times which included him wanting someone "under 30", as well as someone who wanted wanted a “big family” and is “into exercise”.

Speaking about why he didn't want to explore the possibility of a future with Lauren (37), he said: "There’s no upside for me. It’s things that are important to me that just aren’t a match. This is just a result of that."

Now he's explained the real reason why he left the experiment so early, and has said that his comment about Lauren's age was taken out of context.

Read more: MAFS Australia's Eliot's shock return leaves cast in "disbelief"
Read more: When is MAFS Australia on? Days, time and next episode release schedule

Eliot packed his bags and left in the middle of the honeymoon on MAFS Australia. Picture: Nine/E4

Why did Eliot quit MAFS Australia?

Speaking to Yahoo Australia, Eliot explained that he actually went on the show with "one foot out the door" and claims that his exit had nothing to do with his "non-negotiables".

"I saw it like, if they're gonna match me, I'm gonna give them as much information as I can for them to get a suitable match. And that way, at least I can say, ‘Well, I told you this wouldn't work out’,” he admitted.

“Then I wouldn't be like Tim going, 'I don't have the type, but it has to be a petite blonde’ or whatever. I could say, ‘Well look, I said I really wanted to have a big family, that's something that's important to me. Why have you matched me with this person that doesn’t really align with that?'"

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He went on to add that the reason he left was nothing to with Lauren's age, and that his comment was taken out of context for the sake of the edit.

"If I met the girl of my dreams and she happened to be 37 as if I'm going to be like, ‘Nah, sorry, the number’s wrong’," he said. "That was never the way that it worked out. It was more just like, if they phrase the question like, 'So Eliot, what on your non-negotiables didn't line up?' and then they put it on me and I go, 'Oh well she's 37’ and they don't show them asking the question, they show me volunteering information and it comes across very different.'"

He also revealed that he actually apologised to Lauren before he left, but it wasn't shown in the episode: “I felt awful [...] It sucks."

"I don't want this to be about like, 'I'm better than you' or anything like that," he continued. "It was more just we didn’t click and it was very, very obvious early on. Not even anything about box ticking, just the chemistry was way off. It was very awkward, a lot of silence… You can’t have any banter, you can’t have a laugh about things. It's really tough.”

MAFS Australia's Lauren and Eliot quit the experiment after three days. Picture: Nine

In another interview, Eliot also explained: "I left because I didn’t find love. I was there to find love, and I didn’t see a future with Lauren. Yeah, of all the reasons to leave, I think that’s a pretty fair one."

"It wasn’t because of anything physically wrong with her or anything like that," he continued. "It was more just like a long-term thing, and I didn’t want to go through the motions and fight with this person for three months just to milk the opportunity."

Explaining that he was still would've been open to working on other aspects of the relationship, he added: "If it was something like, oh, we argue a lot, and that’s a problem, a hundred per cent I’d be open to hearing their wisdom about ‘oh, look, this is a way that you can communicate better’.

"It was more just like the fact that we had different goals in mind. So it’s either one of us is going to have to change what we wanted dramatically.”