A stint on reality TV might not be the most common pathway into politics, but Tim Smith is bucking the trend.

The former Married At First Sight star is busy on the hustings as the 2025 Federal election fast approaches.

Tim is contesting the seat of Melbourne in the upcoming election, running as an independent.

An eagle-eyed TikToker, Bella Dalrymple, spied a campaign poster of Tim’s doing the rounds in Melbourne this week and took to the social media platform to issue their surprise.

‘Is this the MF from MAFS?’ the surprised poster wrote.

The post was met with a furry of equally surprised reactions, with one fan suggesting Tim’s candidacy could be the dawn of a new political era in Australia.

A stint on reality TV might not be the most common pathway into politics, but Tim Smith (pictured) is bucking the trend

‘We’re really in that MAFS to Politician pipeline aren’t we?’ they said.

Bella also jumped in to the comments to point out the charming way in which the Independent candidate affixed his poster to the wall.

‘The way the posters were just sticky taped everywhere was the cherry on top.’

Tim promises to ‘tackle the cost of living’, and ‘support the vulnerable and fight crime’ among a raft of pledges to the electorate.

Tim, who was paired with series favourite Lucinda Light in the 2024 iteration of the reality experiment, will certainly have his work cut out for him entering the political arena.

He is contesting the seat of Melbourne as an Independent candidate, going up against the incumbent Adam Bandt.

The leader of the Australian Greens would have to be the clear favorite, with his party having claimed the seat at the last five Federal elections.

He’s not the only celebrity on the ticket, either with former AFL star Anthony Koutoufides also contesting the seat as an Independent.

Tim who has previously been jailed for attempting to smuggle marijuana from Canada to the US 17 years ago, said in his campaign launch video it was time for a ‘change’.

The former Married At First Sight star is busy on the hustings as the 2025 Federal election fast approaches

An eagle-eyed TikToker, Bella Dalrymple, spied a campaign poster of Tim’s doing the rounds in Melbourne this week and took to the social media platform to issue their surprise

However, an inside source from the Greens party noted to News Corp that Tim doesn’t seem to know what ‘change’ he is fighting for just yet.

‘Usually people make up their minds why they’re running for parliament before they make the announcement, which makes you wonder how committed he’s going to be,’ they said.

‘While [Tim] spent the entire announcement talking about himself and griping about the media, we’ve been spending this month talking about helping parents get their kids to public school with an $800 back to school payment, building homes to fix the housing crisis and stopping new coal and gas mines to stop the climate crisis.’

 The season 11 star’s criminal history was unveiled by A Current Affair in April last year, with viewers shocked to learn the real estate tycoon spent more than a year behind bars.

Smith had been caught using a helicopter to smuggle large amounts of marijuana from Canada into the United States close to two decades ago.

During his prison sentence, tragedy struck twice when both his mother and younger brother died.

Instead of turning their backs on the reality star, fans flocked to social media to express empathy, declaring the groom has ‘done his time’ and is ‘still a good bloke’ regardless of his past.

During his appearance on A Current Affair, an emotional Smith expressed his regrets after being caught smuggling marijuana.

The post was met with a furry of equally surprised reactions, with one fan suggesting Tim’s candidacy could be the dawn of a new political era in Australia. ‘We’re really in that MAFS to Politician pipeline aren’t we?’ they said

Tim, who was paired with series favourite Lucinda Light in the 2024 iteration of the reality experiment, will certainly have his work cut out for him entering the political arena

He is contesting the seat of Melbourne as an Independent candidate, going up against the incumbent and Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt

‘I was a helicopter pilot in North America who did something really stupid,’ he said, revealing he was paid to take flying lessons for the purpose of trafficking.’

Smith was caught by police in Los Angeles when he returned to the country after visiting his sick mother in Australia.

The groom was sentenced for ‘trafficking marijuana over an international border’ in 2006, but Smith said he spent another ‘four or six months in immigration’ detention.

Despite spending his days locked up with hardened criminals, the real punishment came when both his mother and younger brother Dave died while he was in prison.

An emotional Smith said Dave called him during the start of his sentence and said: ‘”Don’t let anyone mess with you,” and, “I’ll be there when you get out,” but he wasn’t.’

Tragedy struck mid-way through Smith’s sentence when his mother died of cancer and his brother took his own life just a few months later.

Smith said he did not tell producers on MAFS he was a convicted drug smuggler when applying for the show