Arguably the most turbulent 'Married at First Sight Australia' couple, Jacqui Burfoot and Ryan Donnelly are yet to have their final vows air in NZ - but things have taken a serious turn off-camera.
Court proceedings on Monday saw Jacqui granted an interim restraining order against her 'husband' Ryan, preventing him from making any comments about her online.
According to The Canberra Times, Jacqui and her new lover - fellow 2025 MAFS participant - Clint Rice, showed up to court to file complaints about inappropriate things Ryan allegedly said about her online and in post-show interviews.
Reports suggest her claim revolves around an interview Ryan gave to Daily Mail Australia, in which he addressed a “joke” he made - one that Jacqui allegedly interpreted as being about sexual assault.
The Senior reports that Magistrate Sharon Cure, who was handling the case, admitted she wasn’t up to speed on the latest season of 'MAFS', but was satisfied that Ryan’s social media posts had caused harm to Jacqui.
With the court order in place, there was concern over whether it could impact the show airing its final episodes and international coverage, but Jacqui assured she was “happy” for it to go ahead.
The interim order prevents Ryan from “directly or indirectly threatening, harassing, abusing, or publishing denigrating material” about Jacqui on social media.
“I warn you against publishing material,” Magistrate Cure reportedly told Jacqui after she asked whether she could serve Ryan the order via social media.
“No, using social media to serve restraining orders is completely inappropriate,” she made clear.
This legal drama comes amid a messy online feud between the exes, including Ryan allegedly leaking intimate texts from Jacqui via a burner Instagram account.
One of the messages via Daily Mail Australia listed Jacqui's favourite qualities about Ryan - including some of his more intimate parts.
In response, Jacqui took to her Instagram Stories to tell her followers she'd filed a police report against Ryan.
“FYI, I filed a police report against Ryan yesterday [March 19th] after the sensitive, private, sexual content revenge he resorted to,” she wrote.
“I encourage anyone to disengage with this content as nobody deserves to go through this.”
Meanwhile, 'MAFS AU' continues to face scrutiny, with a NSW police investigation underway into production company Endemol Shine.
Allegations of human rights breaches and aggressive behaviour on the show have only fueled concerns over whether 'MAFS AU' should continue - or at the very least, seriously reassess the duty of care for participants.
