{"id":602042,"date":"2026-04-12T12:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/602042\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T12:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:38:23","slug":"mafs-2026-australia-exclusive-rachel-and-steven-reveal-exactly-what-caused-break-up-and-whether-this-is-really-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/602042\/","title":{"rendered":"MAFS 2026 Australia Exclusive: Rachel and Steven reveal exactly what caused break-up \u2013 and whether this is really the end"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: Despite making it through all the highs and lows of their MAFS<\/a> journey, Rachel and Steven<\/a>‘s relationship ended just a week before the Reunion.<\/p>\n

And if you’re confused about what exactly happened, you’re not the only one.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Want the official inside scoop on MAFS, unfiltered and unseen? Watch After The Dinner Party here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to nine.com.au<\/a>, the pair explained that they officially called time when Steven<\/a> was visiting Rachel<\/a> in Melbourne, after only a few weeks of long distance took their toll.<\/p>\n

Why did Rachel and Steven break up?<\/p>\n

For Steven, the sudden shock of being together 24\/7 to then being 900 kilometres away in different cities was a challenge.<\/p>\n

“We spoke every single day,” he stressed.<\/p>\n

“However, I did have a little bit of a mess with my business because I just left it stagnant for three months. Coming into the busy season, I sort of dove headfirst into it going, ‘alright, I’ve got to get my finances underway’.”<\/p>\n

In Pictures<\/p>\n

\"EMBARGO<\/a><\/p>\n

Rachel and Steven’s Final Vows <\/p>\n

“Can I do this?” asked the groom ahead of a very big decision. <\/p>\n

View Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n

LIVE: Every scandalous moment as the brides and grooms reunite<\/a><\/p>\n

When it became clear there was a problem during his trip to Melbourne, Steven realised he “can’t give Rachel what she needs”.<\/p>\n

“I can’t come down to Melbourne every month. I’m a time-poor guy and she wants contact quite a lot,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"EMBARGOWhile they had a fairytale Final Vows, Rachel and Steven’s relationship didn’t survive real life. (Nine)<\/p>\n

For Rachel, it came down to not feeling like a priority.\ufeff<\/p>\n

“I hate to say it, it breaks my heart to say it, but this is the story of my life. This is the story of my dating life and I just had it happen again,” Rachel said.<\/p>\n

“I can’t be the one continuously pushing this relationship forward. I’ve got to have someone who wants to do it with me,” she said.<\/p>\n

She admitted to not fully believing Steven’s blame on the distance, saying “looking back now, it just felt like an excuse”.<\/p>\n

Could Rachel and Steven get back together?\ufeff<\/p>\n

Viewers watched a tearful chat between the pair at the Reunion.<\/p>\n

Steven put his ring back on during their conversation, giving hope that they’d be able to rekindle things.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: From frenemies to ‘friend soulmates’: Inside the complicated MAFS 2026 relationships<\/a><\/p>\n

They are still separated, but Steven said he often thought ‘what if’.<\/p>\n

“I do have that thought in the back of my head going, ‘if I did something slightly different, would we still be together today?'” he said, adding that while they hadn’t given each other “false hope”, he knew there were regrets on both sides.<\/p>\n

\"EMABRGOAt Reunion, the pair both had regrets about their split. (Nine)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Rachel\ufeff said their relationship could’ve worked, but she didn’t truly believe Steven wanted it to.<\/p>\n

“I think he cared for me but I don’t think he actually truly saw a future with me. I just have to live with that,” she said.<\/p>\n

Where do Rachel and Steven stand now?\ufeff<\/p>\n

Despite residual feelings, the pair were amicable.<\/p>\n

“I want nothing but the best for Rachel and hope everything good comes her way. She’s taught me so much about myself and evolved me, that I can’t ever be spiteful towards Rachel,” Steven said.<\/p>\n

“She’s definitely changed my mindset on that I am worth it as a person, I am lovable as a person.”<\/p>\n

\"EMBARGOHappier times! (Nine)<\/p>\n

Rachel said Steven would always have “a special place” in her heart.<\/p>\n

\ufeff”It’s not always easy having that communication with an ex, and going through and reliving these things, especially when we both have different perspectives on how things happened,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But there’s this mutual respect, because at the end of the day we did do this together and there were real feelings there.”<\/p>\n

Have Rachel and Steven been dating after their break-up?\ufeff<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, the complicated end to their relationship means neither have jumped back into the dating pool.<\/p>\n

“I’m not really actively looking right now for a relationship, but it is at the back of my mind that I am turning 36 this year and I don’t want to beat around the bush too much,” Steven said.<\/p>\n

\"EMBARGO(Nine)<\/p>\n

For Rachel, dating was “not even in a realm of possibility” currently.<\/p>\n

“It’s time to really take that step back and heal my heart. I also think for [Steven], he needs to heal a bit too.<\/p>\n

“I’m open to the possibilities. I think that’s what I’ve got to be because I came into MAFS looking for love, I found love, it didn’t work out unfortunately. But the possibility of love is still out there.”<\/p>\n

Want the official inside scoop on MAFS, unfiltered and unseen? Watch After The Dinner Party here<\/a>. Episodes stream weekly, immediately following the explosive Married at First Sight Dinner Party episode on Channel 9 and 9Now.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE<\/a>: Stay across all the latest news from your favourite shows via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Despite making it through all the highs and lows of their MAFS journey, Rachel and Steven‘s relationship…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-602042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}