MAFS UK's Joe responds to criticism for leaving Maeve after grandad's death
21 October 2025, 15:05 | Updated: 22 October 2025, 09:09
Married at First Sight UK's Joe has spoken out after leaving Maeve distraught during the latest dinner party.
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Things have been tough for Married at First Sight UK couple Joe and Maeve in recent weeks. Things had been going smoothly for the couple and they even confessed their love for one another.
However, in-laws began to bring doubts to their relationship as their friends and family started asking about the logistics of their marriage outside of the experiment. Shortly after this, Joe found out his grandad had passed away.
Joe went on to leave the experiment for a short amount of time after telling fellow groom Ashley that he wasn't truly 'in love' with Maeve, despite what he'd told her. While Joe did return, he left soon after to attend his grandad's funeral and Maeve had to attend the next dinner party alone.
In emotional scenes, Maeve was seen breaking down in tears to Keye and Grace, as the future of her relationship was left uncertain.
Speaking to Grace and Keye, about the mixed messages from Joe, Maeve said: "If you don't want to be in this, just say, 'I don't want to be in it, it's not for me'."
She tearfully added: "I feel like a f------ mug, don't tell us that you love us and then leave us, like they always do... I've done everything and more for him."
Reacting to the moment, one viewer wrote on Instagram: "I love Maeve. What Joe done is out of order, even if he did have a death in his family - you still communicate with the person you love"
Another said: "what happened they were perfect and hes now done a complete 360 maeve and us have no idea why ??? no wonder shes confused"
After Maeve was seen in tears on the show, Joe took to Instagram stories to address his choice to leave. He said: "Death is hard enough to process at the best of times, but when you've had no communication with family and your under intense scrutiny in the experiment, it threw me off completely and I really lost myself and my thoughts."
He added: "I truly am sorry for being confused in my feelings at this point and for upsetting people, I take full accountability. But family was and always will be my number one priority and I have no shame in that."
Later, he shared another post, saying: "For all of those of you that are hating, I could sit here all day and justify myself but everyone has a right to an opinion... I know who am and so do the people around me and that's all the solace I need."
Joe has also shared an Instagram post saying he has no regrets about his decision. He wrote: "Having had time to reflect on last night. I just want to say that I take full responsibility for my actions, leaving someone on their own in that process is wrong, and I was so caught up in my own emotions that I didn’t realise the impact it was having on others. So for that, I apologise."
But he added: "However, would I do things different? No I wouldn’t. There is no context to any of this and little details aren’t included, but I’m not here to sway opinion."
Fans of the show are still waiting to see if Joe returns to the show, or if he's left for good. After it was shown that he'd left the experiment for the first time, Joe said: "REALITY CHECK‼️ The MAFS bubble is a real thing, and it’s easy to forget about the real world.
"Receiving the news of a family passing was certainly a wake up call and put things into perspective. Balancing this with the MAFS life was something I found very difficult, and I appreciate the love and support ❤️"
Read more MAFS UK news here:
- Which MAFS UK 2025 couples are still together? Who split revealed
- MAFS UK's Julia-Ruth speaks out after backlash over dinner party "freak out"
- MAFS UK's Julia-Ruth reveals real reason for lying about intimacy with Divarni
- MAFS UK's Julia-Ruth breaks silence on Steven relationship amid affair rumours
- MAFS UK fans 'worried' by Steven's outbursts as he apologises to Nelly
