Pictures: Phillip Castleton.
They shocked the experts and fellow participants when they entered the reunion dinner party as a couple. But for Married At First Sight Australia’s Jacqui Burfoot and Clint Rice, there are absolutely zero regrets.
“We’re so happy,” Kiwi bride Jacqui, 30, gushes to Woman’s Day. “We got what we wanted. We went on the show for love and we found it!”
The pair have now become engaged. Clint dropped to one knee to present Jacqui with a five-carat oval-cut diamond set in a platinum and gold ring at a MAFS screening party in Sydney.
“I cannot believe it,” Jacqui tells us. “I’m so excited, I could cry. The ring is so heavy!”
The lovebirds reveal they first began texting during the experiment, after Clint, 43, and his wife Lauren Hall called time on their marriage. And while Jacqui’s bitter on-screen husband Ryan Donnelly claims otherwise, they insist their exchanges remained platonic until “a week and a half” after the final vows were filmed.
Texts turned into lengthy calls, and soon Sydney-based consultant Jacqui was on a flight out to see pro golfer and business owner Clint at his home in Launceston, Tasmania.
“I had gone back to work, but I felt emotionally distressed. So, I left my job and decided to come visit Clint instead,” says Jacqui. The star was born and raised on Auckland’s North Shore.
“I definitely thought that he was marriage material, but we didn’t know if we were going to click. We didn’t speak much in the experiment and we’ve got a 14-year age gap. It felt nerve-wracking to see whether or not we would actually work. But as soon as I got down there, sparks flew and we knew straightaway.”
Adds Clint, “Literally on the car ride home from the airport, we could just tell. Then we got home, had a drink and it was like, ‘Wow! We’re actually here together.’
“You know when you have this energy with someone and you just know you’re on the same wavelength.”
On top of bonding through their “shared negative experience during production” and the fact that their initial partners had “quite similar traits”, Jacqui says, “We both have e-commerce in common, we’re both down to earth, and we love the outdoors and hiking. We’re both insecure and clingy types as well!
“We’re both quite dependent on each other emotionally, which is really good because we align in that need for validation constantly.”
Continues Clint, “I just have so much respect for Jacqui. I was wanting someone that I could communicate with, who was empathetic and kind – and she’s all of that.”
After their first date at Clint’s home, things have progressed quickly. Jacqui moved into Clint’s palatial house just weeks later, and Clint flew to New Zealand to meet Jacqui’s family.
The acceleration of their romance was one of the main talking points at the reunion dinner party. However, Jacqui’s not fazed by the naysayers.
“Obviously, I was quite desperate for going on Married At First Sight,” she says. “I was really looking for a life partner, so it’s no surprise that I’d move in with someone so quickly.
“I’ve still got my stuff in Sydney and I haven’t fully moved down, but I’ve been living here for the past seven months. Everything just seems to tick.”
And things don’t seem to be slowing down either.
“We’ve definitely got marriage and babies on the horizon,” reveals Jacqui. “We also want to focus on growing our businesses. I’m getting into golf as well. Clint’s a pro golfer, so he’s showing me the ropes.”
Interestingly, Jacqui adds that they’re keen to “build a media presence together”, which shouldn’t be hard given Jacqui has already made “nearly $10,000” on the personalised celebrity video message service Cameo.
She explains, “I’d love to do something like Dancing With The Stars too, where there’s no drama. But I probably couldn’t do I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! [an Aussie reality show filmed in the wilds of Africa] as I’d just cry the whole time.
“But it would be great to go on TV again. That way, people can get to know us as a couple and we can maybe rewrite over our false personas.
“I’ve always seen myself as a bit like [Love Island Australia host] Sophie Monk personality-wise. I’m funny, I don’t take myself too seriously and I can laugh at myself. I don’t think it’s fair that people have given me the reputation that I’m crazy.
“I would love to correct that misconception – I really don’t need to go to a psychiatric ward.”
While they’re both thankful they found each other through MAFS, the couple wouldn’t go as far as crediting the show’s producers or experts for starting their love story. They say they believe their compatibility was overlooked for the sake of drama and ratings.
“I think casting need to actually match the right people and give them a real chance to make it,” tells Clint.
Referring to MAFS lovebirds Rhi Disljenkovic and Jeff Gobbels, he adds, “To see that there’s only one matched couple still together out of all the couples is really embarrassing.”
Jacqui adds, “I didn’t like Ryan. I never thought that we’d be able to make it work. I thought that right from when I met him on my wedding day.”
When we point out that some MAFS fans might be confused given she mentioned at the reunion dinner party that she tried to make things work with Ryan, Jacqui hints there was more at play behind the scenes.
“I didn’t feel safe to voice my concerns,” she says, adding that she can’t comment about any producer interference as it “touches on stuff that will affect our legal case”. (She’s referring to an interim restraining order she has taken out on Ryan to stop him posting about her online.)
Jacqui and Clint insist they’re ready to leave the scandals behind to live in their love bubble in Tasmania with Clint’s two dogs, Eski and Nassa.
“We’re just excited to distance ourselves from the drama and move on with our lives, so we can live happily ever after,” smiles Jacqui.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
