News Room : Inside the toxic MAFS 2026 cast feud worrying Channel Nine – as it’s revealed newlyweds ‘can’t be in the same room together’

February 1, 2026 Modified date: February 1, 2026

Channel Nine may be billing Married At First Sight 2026 as ‘the greatest season of them all’ – but behind the scenes, executives are quietly dealing with a problem no amount of hype can fix.

The cast hate each other.

Not dislike. Not awkward tension. But outright hate.

Daily Mail can reveal the fallout from the upcoming season has become so toxic that Channel Nine has already called off multiple planned group gatherings, amid serious concerns about putting cast members in the same room.

Insiders say relationships between brides, grooms and even former allies have completely disintegrated, with mass blocking sprees, fractured friendships and couples refusing to be near one another – both during filming and long after the cameras stopped rolling.

‘It’s that bad,’ one well-placed source told Daily Mail on Sunday.

Channel Nine may be billing MAFS 2026 as ‘the greatest season of them all’ – but behind the scenes, executives are quietly dealing with a problem no amount of hype can fix

‘Most of them have blocked each other. Exes, former friends, even people who were close during filming. Nobody wants to be in the same space.’

The hostility was so extreme it spilled into how the cast were instructed to behave on social media after filming wrapped.

According to insiders, contestants were actively discouraged from liking or engaging with each other’s Instagram posts, with some warned it would make them ‘look stupid’ or ‘silly’ if they appeared friendly online.

‘There was a real effort to stop them publicly supporting each other,’ the source said. ‘They were basically told, ‘Don’t like posts, don’t comment, don’t look united – because you’ll look ridiculous once this airs.’

The message was clear – whatever alliances existed after filming wrapped were not to be reinforced online.

After filming wrapped, the situation has only worsened.

After Nine took over their social media accounts, the first task was to unblock one another, simply to meet contractual obligations around interviews and promotional appearances.

‘They literally cannot stand each other,’ the insider said. ‘Nine is worried about getting them together at all. If you think the show was explosive, you should see what it’s like now the cameras are off.’

‘Most of them have blocked each other. Exes, former friends, even people who were close during filming. Nobody wants to be in the same space,’ the insider revealed

The off-camera animosity explains why several post-filming gatherings have been shut down by publicity.

‘I wouldn’t put them in the same room if you paid me,’ another source admitted. ‘Good luck to anyone who tries.’

It comes after Daily Mail revealed the 2026 season spiralled into chaos during filming, with record walkouts, a runaway bride, couples quitting, strict curfews, weekly drug testing and producers repeatedly intervening to keep the experiment on track.

That chaos did not stop when filming ended.

Dinner parties during the season reportedly wrapped in record time, not because the cast bonded, but because tensions were so volatile producers were forced to shut scenes down early.

‘This cast is next level,’ one insider said. ‘Next level loud. Next level toxic. Next level fun to watch – but absolutely impossible to manage.’

‘They literally got what they needed from the cast from dinner parties in a record two hours,’ the spy added.

While Channel Nine continues to promote the season as the franchise’s biggest yet, executives are said to be privately nervous about how the cast will behave in unscripted group settings – particularly interviews, promotional appearances and any reunion-style tapings.

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‘I wouldn’t put them in the same room if you paid me,’ another source admitted. ‘Good luck to anyone who tries’

Several couples are said to be completely estranged, while friendships that appeared solid on screen have crumbled under the weight of off-camera arguments, accusations and betrayals

‘They’re unpredictable,’ a source explained. ‘There’s too much bad blood. You don’t know who’s going to explode, who’s going to walk out, or who refuses to sit next to who.’

Several couples are said to be completely estranged, while friendships that appeared solid on screen have crumbled under the weight of off-camera arguments, accusations and betrayals.

‘There are people who genuinely don’t want to see each other ever again,’ the insider said. ‘This isn’t fake drama. It’s real.’

Despite the dysfunction, producers privately admit the chaos is also what makes the season so compelling.

‘This isn’t PR spin,’ the source added. ‘When Nine says it’s the greatest season ever, they mean it. It’s chaos from start to finish.’

Whether Channel Nine can successfully corral the cast into the same room again remains to be seen.

Married At First Sight returns Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.