“Adrian’s family never would have met my son.”

While Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2025 is truly done and dusted, the drama around potential couple Awhina Rutene and Billy Belcher keeps growing. The lovebirds have been sharing cute videos with Awhina’s son Landon, but it’s attracted some criticism, wondering why she introduced her son to Billy but not to her ex, Adrian Araouzou. Could these comments be coming from Adrian’s burner? Look, we’ve all had that thought.

Awhina tells Chattr she only introduced her son to two ex-MAFS grooms, Billy and Jeff Gobbels, because she had such a strong friendship with them. She’s very careful with who she brings into her son’s life, and wouldn’t introduce Landon to anybody who wouldn’t be around for a while.

“Billy and I built a very platonic friendship in the experiment. So we were genuinely good friends. So my son, I would never introduce [him] to a romantic partner where the foundation is obviously not there. But when I got back from the experiment, Billy came down and met us down the foreshore, and he met my son as a friend,” she explains.

“These are probably gonna be people that I keep for a while, and they’re good friends. I’d already met Billy’s family, they’re really great.”

Jeff with Awhina’s son. Image: Instagram
Billy with Awhina’s son. Image: TikTok

Awhina’s ex, Adrian, has made comments to the media about her new potential relationship with Billy, but the MAFS bride isn’t here for it. “I don’t even know why Adrian’s even commenting, like no offence Adrian, but I don’t know what he’s up to and I just genuinely don’t care. With Billy and I, regardless, we still have this really beautiful foundation that Adrian and I never had… and Adrian’s family are horrible,” Awhina spills.

“I don’t introduce my child to everyone. Adrian’s family never would have met my son, but Billy’s family are beautiful… if Billy pulled any of the shit that Adrian pulled on me, [Billy’s sister] Pip wouldn’t have attacked me. She would attack him. His family would hold him accountable for his behaviour, unlike Adrian’s.”

How did Billy and Awhina’s connection start?

Awhina reveals exclusively to Chattr that she started leaning on Billy for support when she came back after MAFS wrapped up. She didn’t have the best time with Adrian and was trying to pick herself back up.

“I was feeling really low, like I couldn’t see any value in the experience I had,” she says. “I was like, this wasn’t worth it, I’m feeling so low… I just felt like I’d lost all my shine, and I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.”

However, after spending some time with Billy, she really appreciated all the qualities he brought to the table.

“He’s so positive and happy. And he would show me the post-MAFS joys of the experiment. He’s like, ‘You didn’t get what you wanted in the experiment… but look at X, Y and Z’, and he would be really encouraging on that end. I think I really appreciated how happy and bubbly he was when I wasn’t.”

Awww. These two are adorable! Praying that it’s for real and not just a PR stunt.