MAFS 2026 has just started filming and there's already drama

Get your popcorn ready!

I know, it feels like MAFS 2025 just finished, and we’re all still invested in Billy and Awhina’s situationship, but get ready, because a new season of drama is about to begin.

MAFS 2026 has officially started filming: here’s everything we know so far.

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this.

Rebecca Zacharia is already being called the next Jamie. Image: The Daily Mail / Ali Daher, Nine.

RELATED: And the most successful MAFS couple is… Jacqui and Clint?

A shake up to the rules

Following a NSW Police investigation into MAFS Australia, which came after Paul Antoine punched a wall during filming, MAFS producers have apparently promised a ‘fresh take’ on the show’s format.

According to a network insider, the new directive is to go hard on challenging the participants, while keeping the drama out of the courtroom. This insider told Sky News that Safe Word was also heavily involved in reviewing the show’s future.

Daily Mail Australia reported that this also means a new vetting process for cast members: “No criminal records. No previous court appearances. If there’s even a whiff of controversy in someone’s past, they’re out.”

The ‘next Jamie’

That doesn’t mean we won’t still have an entertaining bunch of hopefuls heading to our screens.

Sky News reported that the goal for this highly anticipated season has been bringing the show back to its roots - less influencers and more everyday Australians. But, is that really possible now that MAFS has become an inevitable pathway to a blue tick?

Filming for the new season has only just begun, with only a few names able to be identified so far.

Adelaide-based Rebecca Zacharia was spotted heading to film her wedding at The Eveleigh last week, and has already been coined the ‘next Jamie’.

“She was overheard yelling on her balcony in between takes - it was a whole moment,” one source told The Daily Mail.

“She's wild – think Jamie [Marinos] – just with years of experience.”

However, Joshua Fox of @mafsfunny on Instagram seemed to think this bride was a decoy, or model hired for a promo, and instead spotted two more singles heading to the altar - the bride appearing to be a mum with an adult son.

Another gay couple?

So Dramatic! also revealed that MAFS 2026 will also be featuring another same-sex couple.

The show first featured a same-sex couple back in 2016, with Craig Roach and Andy John.

The first lesbian couple, Amanda Micallef and Tash Herz, made the show in 2020, and the first ever bisexual groom was in 2021, when Liam Cooper married Georgia Fairweather.

The most recent attempt at a match was in 2024, when Michael Felix, after being bailed on, was later recoupled with intruder groom Stephen Stewart.

According to sources, this time, they really want it to work.

“It sounds like they actually want the LGBTQIA+ relationship to succeed this time, as the last ones have failed pretty badly,” one source told So Dramatic!.

“It’s honestly refreshing to see”.

Originally published as MAFS 2026 has just started filming and there's already drama