Polarising Married At First Sight Australia duo Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson were never meant to go the distance after meeting and marrying on MAFS in 2021.
But after welcoming twins, legally tying the knot in 2023 and now finally going on a proper honeymoon, they say their TV and real-life relationships are like “chalk and cheese”.
“There is no comparison between them,” shares Melissa, 35. She’s looking relaxed and tanned after 10 days of island-hopping around Thailand’s Koh Samui and Phuket. “We had a choice about everything this time.”
When they applied for MAFS, both singles requested producers send them on a tropical destination for their honeymoon. Instead, producers sent them to freezing-cold conditions on an isolated farming property in Oberon, New South Wales, two hours from Sydney.
“They were testing us,” believes Bryce, 35. “They set us up to implode as a couple. It all started with this very uncomfortable honeymoon.”
Scrambling for highlights from her six-day trip with then-stranger Bryce, Melissa says it was a “dull” holiday.
She laughs, “We did one nice walk through the cow dung in the paddocks and we also had fun flying a kite, but that was about it.”
Laughing, Bryce adds, “At one point, Liss was challenged to paint me as I lay there half-naked like a Roman emperor on a table. But it didn’t fit the narrative because we were having too much fun, so the whole scene was dropped.”
A scripted romantic dinner under a flimsy gazebo was another memorable failure. The temperature dropped to 1°C and the cake was stale!
Bryce and Melissa officially wed in February 2023. They held the ceremony in a dreamy beachside setting in Sorrento, near their home on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula.
It took them 15 months to go on their second honeymoon, but they say it was worth the wait. “We got to choose everything this time and we tailored it to suit us,” smiles Melissa, although she admits to a rough first few days apart from their cute blond toddler sons, two-year-olds Levi and Tate.
“I got cuddles from a lemur at the markets, we swam in and sunbaked around our own private pool and partied at a huge beach bar fire show.”
Bryce and Melissa even got matching kite tattoos on their wrists to remind them of the little fun they had on their MAFS honeymoon.
The couple had such a good time together in Thailand, they’re planning a trip back with the twins. They’re even tossing up the idea of moving there!
“There is genuine love between us, but I’m still training him up,” laughs Melissa. She cringes at her depiction as a timid, submissive wallflower on MAFS. “We’ve settled into our relationship now and agree that I’m the boss. I make all the decisions, from family matters to controlling the money.
“We’re not perfect – we fight and have disagreements – but we aren’t faking our way through marriage. I’m stubborn and will hold every grudge until the kids turn 18. Bryce forgets though, and just wants to make up. We get through it every time.”
Bryce adds, “The show made me out to be controlling, but the opposite is true. She’s got me by the balls! For my part, it’s easier to just go with it.”
