Married at First Sight couple Luke Fourniotis and Mel Akbay finally put an end to their strained relationship last month.
And now pictures have emerged that the 30-year-old groom had a ‘secret’ meeting with another bride before quitting the show.
The farmer was seen out about with Bec Zacharia whose pairing with groom Danny Hewitt has proved to be a stormy match all season.
Bec and Luke looked friendly as they stopped by Camy’s Chicken shop in Green Square, not far from the Married At First Sight hotel.
Luke, dressed in a T-shirt and white shorts, looked perfectly at home with the controversial bride.
Bec was seen grinning widely as she shared a joke with Luke, who she once called ‘cute’ on MAFS.
‘I am really happy I met Luke, I hope we can stay friends, but I have decided to Leave,’ she added.
Luke agreed they could continue to see each other – just not romantically.
Speaking to Daily Mail shortly after filming ended, Luke reflected on the toll his relationship had taken on him.
When asked whether he believed he had been paired with the right person, he did not hesitate.
‘I feel like the life just got sucked out of me by the match I was with,’ he confessed.
In a previous interview, Luke admitted the experiment had left him feeling like ‘an absolute shadow of myself’.
‘I lost my confidence and I just really didn’t like it,’ he said at the time.
Despite the public rejection, he had chosen to stay, explaining: ‘It didn’t feel right to leave the show without even giving the experts a chance.’
‘I didn’t want to leave with animosity towards Mel. I didn’t want everyone to look back at the experience and think it was just horrible.’
He also confessed hearing Mel’s comments in front of the group made him feel ‘even more vulnerable’ and ‘almost embarrassed’.
At the time, Luke remained hopeful they could strip their relationship back to basics.
‘Forget about intimacy, forget about romance,’ he said.