The 2025 groom tells Yahoo Lifestyle why he spent so much money during filming.

MAFS’ Teejay Halkias has spoken out about the hidden cost of filming the reality show. Photos: Channel 9 / Instagram/onitoffitpod

It’s well known that Married At First Sight has the potential to turn everyday Australians into high-earning influencers. From brand deals and club appearances to podcasts and O.F, going on reality TV can be very lucrative if you receive a good ‘edit’ and play your cards right post-show.

What’s not often disclosed, however, is how much money participants have to spend while filming the controversial experiment. 2025 intruder groom Teejay Halkias has recently spoken out about the hidden costs of MAFS and revealed that he spent close to $10,000 over two months.

“It’s expensive being on the show. I think I spent close to 10 grand in the two months of my own money, and I was just in Canada and Bali before that, not saving money,” he shared on the On It Off It podcast. “So if you’re not in a position to go on financially, you can get in a hole.”

The former Big Brother contestant says he was paid $150 a day while filming MAFS, which equates to around $1100 a week, including food allowance.

“They pay for lunch, Monday to Friday, but you’ve got to buy your breakfast and dinner, make all your food, your groceries,” he detailed. “Commitment ceremonies, dinner parties, you need two new outfits every week. They don’t pay for that either. And then you’ve got to date this person off-camera as well and go on off-camera dates. You’ve got to pay for that as well.”

Teejay says he spent ‘between $7-10k’ on groceries, dates, Ubers and clothes while filming MAFS. Photos: Channel 9

Can you wear your own clothes on MAFS?

Teejay tells Yahoo Lifestyle that while he’s not sure on the exact figure, he spent “between $7-10k” on groceries, dates, Ubers and “unnecessary items”, including a guitar he purchased on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the money, however, went towards new clothes as there were certain rules about what participants could and couldn’t wear during filming.

“We couldn’t use the majority of our own clothes because of either branding, how it looked on camera, contradictions with other people wearing the colours, or not suitable to be mic’d up on,” he says.

He adds that he wasn’t aware when signing up for MAFS how much money he’d end up spending throughout the experience, although he is “quite the spender”.

How Teejay has made money post-show

Since the show finished airing in April, Teejay has been profiting off his new fame by making nightclub appearances with his co-stars across the country.

He’s also been working on CoPro, a protein drink set to “revolutionise the health industry”, which he hopes to officially launch in the next couple of months.

“CoPro is a new wave in plant-based performance – a clean, dairy-free protein drink packed with 31 grams of faba protein, natural coconut hydration, and zero compromise on flavour,” he explains.

“After over a year of formulation, taste-testing, and fine-tuning every gram, it’s finally here to shake up the functional beverage space. No dairy. No nuts. No BS. Just smooth, crave-worthy fuel for people who move in a 400ml bottle!”

Will Teejay join O.F?

While his co-star Eliot Donovan joked on social media that Teejay was “soft launching” his O.F account by speaking out about the cost of going on MAFS, the model admits he has no plans to join the adult subscription-based website.

“No, I haven’t considered O.F, and I’m not sure anyone would subscribe anyway,” he remarks.