MAFS star Coco Stedman reveals her biggest regret

Coco Stedman signed up for Married At First Sight during her “year of saying yes”. Now the former contestant has revealed her biggest regret.

A former Married At First Sight contestant has revealed her biggest regret about appearing on the reality series.

In a candid chat with Jana Hocking, the host of news.com.au’s relationship podcast Kinda Sorta Dating, pilates instructor Coco Stedman discussed leaving her husband after six months of marriage and then finalising her divorce right before she appeared on the show — only to realise she’d made a mistake.

“Me leaving [her ex-husband George Kyriacou] was a mixture of I knew I didn’t love myself — and it’s very, very, very hard to find that love in someone else that you are missing in yourself. So it was half that, and then half, hashtag we’ve all been there, but toxic energy. Do you ever have to admit to yourself that ‘I was the toxic one in that relationship’?” Coco asked Jana, who agreed: “I always say things like that, I’m always like ‘don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my own share of red flags as well, no one’s perfect’.”

Going into MAFS off the back of her marriage breakdown, Coco said it was hard not to get trapped in the thought process that she’d find her soulmate on the show — and if she didn’t, it would be the end of everything.

Sam Carraro and Coco Stedman on the 2021 season of Married At First Sight. Picture: Supplied

Coco with her first husband George Kyriacou. Picture: Instagram

“When you’re in there, you can’t ever think that there’s boys outside. It’s this weird, weird, weird thing where you get conditioned to think that there are the only men that you’ll ever meet,” she explained.

“And I truly thought — and call it naivety — but I was like, ‘I’m going to meet my soulmate here’. So then when I met [MAFS contestant Cameron Dunne] and we sort of got along, it was like you convince yourself that this is what the universe wanted. Maybe this is it, maybe this is what’s come from this, so I’m going to invest all my things into this, I’m going to put all my eggs in his basket.

“And, you know, it’s like you’re in this moment where you can’t see that there’s anyone else outside the experiment.”

Coco stayed in touch with her ex-husband throughout “and when everything broke down between Cam and I and I realised he’s not my person … I stayed in touch with George because he was only person who knows me for me”.

“And I think find somebody who loves you in your darkness, not in your light. Because Lord knows, there are people who’ve been around for me in the good times … but finding someone who will be there for you in the absolute darkness and when you can’t get out of bed and when you don’t want to leave the house is just really, really important,” she added.

Coco has opened up about her time on MAFS. Picture: Instagram

Kinda Sorta Dating host Jana Hocking.

Jana said that admission makes it “sound like you had your person just by the way you’re talking about him now”.

“Do you think there’s a chance you could get back together?” she asked Coco.

“Yes,” Coco admitted. “And I think that is what this whole crazy journey taught me, is that sometimes you don’t know what it’s got until it’s gone, and as I said, love somebody who loves you for you and everything that comes along with that. And love someone that no matter the ridiculous, insane stuff you do in your life, kind of loves you for it, and forgives you for that.

“When MAFS aired, I went through a full mental breakdown … it was so traumatic. My body was in this constant state of fight or flight, it was almost like a snake had bitten me … and you know, he was there for me … and I’m forever grateful for that.

“I think George and I are on a good track.”

That admission is one of many Coco makes over the course of their 32-minute chat.

The Kinda Sorta Dating podcast hits iTunes and Spotify on Thursday | @jana_hocking