In 2023, Married At First Sight Australia premiered its power couple of the season, Melinda and Layton. While it was difficult to tell if these two could momentarily put aside their ambition for love, they were only one of two couples who survived the experiment.
In October, the pair went their separate ways – this is their love story from beginning to end.
Layton still hasn’t said ‘I love you’.
(Image: Instagram)Diehard MAFS fans will remember their less than perfect first encounter where Melinda said her new ‘husband’ was “punching just a little.”
After laying down the hard ground, Layton convinced Mel he wasn’t lazy nor was his kindness a “façade” and, in the end, he won her heart.
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A few months after the experiment came to an end, the lovebirds were still going strong! In June, Mel and Layton announced the besotted boyfriend was packing his belongings and moving to Brisbane.
While speaking on Al Perkins and Taku Chimwaza’s podcast Back to Reality, the couple revealed the big move is happening “within a month.”
Layton is moving to Brisbane with Mel.
(Image: Instagram)“He’s currently packing up shop now, like looking at doing all that and then moving so,” she said.
“He’s got a lot of friends and family in Brisbane. So it actually worked out pretty well. We’ve been doing some FaceTime, not a lot.”
After ten months together, Layton still hadn’t said those three magic words…
During MAFS, it was heartbreaking to watch Mel confess her love for Layton, who didn’t trust her confession.
“How are you falling in love with me if you can’t communicate?” Layton said during the show. Which followed by Layton denying he was in love.
During an interview with Punkee back in July, Melinda revealed she still hadn’t heard his declaration of love.
“Who said ‘I love you first’, and only? That would be moi, because I’ve never heard it from Layton,” Melinda joked. “He can’t say I love you. He hasn’t and he just can’t do it.”
She assures Layton says he “has love for her” and makes her “feel loved.” In September Melinda was still waiting for those eight letters to roll off his lips. But he did say it in an unconventional way.
Speaking on Nova’s Two Girls One Pod, host Yvie Jones asked Mel: “He’s never told you he loves you. Is that true?”
“He has now… But it was in a love letter,” Mel responded.
Initially, Mel “wasn’t” accepting of this type of declaration, but noted: “I think he was just always fearful of kind of commitment and a forever thing.”
Its clear to see the pair had strong feelings for each other after telling TV WEEK that meeting each other was their favourite part of the MAFS experiment.
“Probably meeting Mel I’d have to say [she’s] my number one,” Layton shared with the publication at the TV WEEK Logies.
“He has to say that,” laughed Mel. “It was our relationship. It really was.”
In October 2023, just over a month on from their one year anniversary, the pair made the decision to part ways.
To read the full statement announcing their split, click here.
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