MAFS exposes ugly truth about dating as a single mum

A seemingly harmless joke at the altar turned into a world of doubt for 2025 bride Awhina, who had yet to tell her new husband about her 6-year-old son.

On reality dating shows, there are a tonne of different tropes to look for in the cast, and so far in this season of MAFS, we’ve already met a bunch of them.

We have the ‘traditional’ Andrew Tate/tradwife duo in Eliot and Lauren, the ‘Nice Guy’ (who is not actually a nice guy) in Tim, and now, as of last night’s episode, we have the single parent in Awhina.

Although the world of MAFS is more than a little different than anything you’d experience out here in real life, being a single mum in the experiment means that regardless of what you might want, you have to bring that side of yourself into it - and it is going to become a major part of your character arc.

Bride Awhina learned this the hard way after getting a shock at the altar with her new husband Adrian, and it’s representative of a struggle every mum on the dating scene has felt firsthand.

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Image: Nine.

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“I didn’t want to break up my family”

Awhina first met her son’s dad when she was just 15-years-old, and they didn’t break up until she was 29.

Speaking with the experts, she admitted that the pair started to drift before she had their son - adding that the now-6-year-old was the glue holding them together.

“We both stayed for, probably, our son. I didn’t want to break up my family,” she said.

“I was just so scared of the future, and I thought if I ended things with him, I’m going to be alone, and I have to do this on my own, and that’s scary. It’s enough to make anyone stay with someone.

“It was definitely one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, but it’s the best thing for me and my son.”

Now age 30, Awhina says that she wants someone who’s going to encourage her to grow, has an ‘aura’ she’s attracted to, and who’s close to their family, as another huge part of her identity is that she has a twin sister.

In comes Adrian - an e-commerce business owner, and - wait for it - a fellow twin! And, he has two sisters who are also twins. Bonus!

31-year-old Adrian is asking for a marriage where they can help each other get better every day, so they should be the perfect match! Right?

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“I have a 6-month-old…”

We next see Awhina and Adrian on their wedding day, which is chock full of double takes. Awhina’s twin Cleo realises Adrian’s a twin. She then realises the sisters are twins. Then, Awhina walks down the aisle and sees he’s a twin too.

Everyone is laughing, smiling, and happy, conveyed conveniently through Awhina’s squeals.

“I’m ready to really get married now!” she says.

Awhina’s vows tell a story of someone who’s close to her family, someone who values honesty, and someone who really wants to make this work. But, they omit the fact that she’s a mother.

Of course, you can’t blame her for this. She’s so much more than just a mother, and has every right to share this with her partner when the time feels right.

But, she never could have guessed what would happen next - and here’s where it goes downhill.

Adrian’s vows start off strong, but take a turn for the worst when he tells Awhina he’s not a ‘one man package’, and instead comes with a ‘beautiful 6-month-old’.

Awhina and her family, knowing that she has a child of her own, take this news gleefully - until he finishes his sentence.

“A beautiful 6-month-old… Aussie Shepherd,” he said.

“Don’t worry, I don’t have kids.”

For Awhina, this statement is clearly heartbreaking, not because he doesn’t have a child, but because now his stance on kids is under question - instilling in her a fear that once he finds out, he’ll jump ship.

“Now I’m a bit scared to have that conversation. Usually, I’m like, ‘What makes me more attractive is that I’m this big beautiful mum’. Because that’s me. I’m a gorgeous mum and I love my son,” she said.

“Now that I’m already this committed and I find him so drop dead gorgeous, I’m a bit worried. Maybe he’s not ready for a family just yet.

“But, I don’t want to hide any part of who I am, so as much as I’m scared now, I’m going to have that conversation.”

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Image: Nine.

“I don’t know how I feel about that…”

Awhina spends seemingly all of her reception waiting for the right moment to bring up her son with Adrian until, in true MAFS fashion, the ‘right moment’ is interrupted by speeches - including one by Awhina’s mother and step-father, who conveniently drop the bomb for her.

“[Awhina] is extremely intelligent, quick-witted, and outgoing,” her mum begins.

“[Awhina] is also a mum herself, and we are so blessed to have a gorgeous grandson.”

Adrian’s face immediately drops, similarly, I imagine, to if he’d found out she was secretly some kind of criminal.

After calling time on the whole thing, Awhina drags Adrian outside, seeing as though clearly there’s no better time to talk about it than the present (thanks, mum!).

She apologises for blindsiding him, saying she feels guilty for letting him find out that way, though adding that she believes being a mum is the best part of her. However, this isn’t met with the response she had hoped for.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t know how I feel about that,” he said.

“I’m not saying anything just yet, just, I don’t know.”

Talking to a producer, Adrian elaborates on his stance, saying that if he had it his way, he would have liked to have that first with someone, and had it been in the ‘outside world’, he wouldn’t have even entertained it knowing that she had a child. Yikes!

Yes, he has every right to feel this way. However, it also feeds into the very real struggle that single mums deal with every day when dating - that having a child is considered a red flag.

“His reaction to my telling him that I’m a mum took me back a little bit. He didn’t seem very open to the idea,” Awhina said.

“At the end of the day, my first thought is whether or not I think he’s going to add value to my son’s life, so as much as I was nervous to let him know about my child, he should be nervous about whether or not he’s good enough to ever meet my son.”

After some extra persuasion from his family and some of Awhina’s friends (namely Lauren, an absolute legend), Adrian reveals that he’s come around to the idea and is open to the experience.

And thank goodness, because I’m rooting for them!

Originally published as MAFS exposes ugly truth about dating as a single mum