In a season full of cheating scandals and betrayal, one couple managed, somehow, to find actual love in the chaos of MAFS 2025. Jeff and Rhi — the couple who started off the experiment as exes — have emerged as the sole survivors of a season, and we couldn’t be happier for them.

While the drama swirled around them each week, Jeff and Rhi were quietly building a genuine connection to last beyond the chaos. And honestly? We have questions about how they managed it.

Thankfully, the couple sat down with Mamamia to tell us all about it — from their experience as the season’s sole love story, to how they navigated the chaos that surrounded them throughout the experiment and beyond.

“It feels a little bit odd considering where we started,” Rhi told Mamamia. “Looking back on our journey, you would think that we were least likely to work. It took us quite a while to even get out of the friendship pants.”

“But at the end of the day, it’s about your relationship, and we’ve just continued to focus on ourselves, and it seems to work.”

Speaking about their time on the show, Jeff credited both confessions and intimacy week as being major turning points for them as a couple.

“For me personally, I started to look at Rhi a bit differently. We were both pretty vulnerable to each other and I started to get some serious feelings towards Rhi,” Jeff recalled.

And it was precisely these challenges that showed Rhi another side of Jeff, as well.

“The more vulnerable Jeff was, the more attracted I was to him,” she said.

While we watched many of the other couples — even the stronger ones earlier on in the experiment — fight and argue (remember the wall-punching incident?), continuously as the season neared its end, things always seemed to be smooth sailing for Jeff and Rhi on screen. And according to them, that’s really how it was.

Image: Instagram/jeffgobbels

“On the couch session when I said we hadn’t had an argument, that’s honestly true,” Rhi said.

“I think that we both communicate really well. We are both emotionally mature, and I think we’ve both learnt a lot from our past relationships. I’m 35 and Jeff’s 40 — we’ve had disagreements. Obviously, we’re human, but we’ve never had an argument, and considering we’re nine months into our relationship, it is promising.”

Of course, no MAFS experience would be complete without some drama with your fellow brides and grooms. While Rhi and Jeff had a relatively drama-free run, the experiment still had its ups and downs. Perhaps most notably, Jacqui and Rhi have seemingly been on the outs since filming ended, with Jacqui sharing some pretty harsh criticisms about Rhi and the whole “text gate” incident.

“I feel like it has been really blown up,” Rhi said.

“Jacqui and I actually spoke after that and didn’t argue or fight. She’s really held onto the text narrative and gone down that path to create some sort of divide between her and I. But our relationship was not that bad.”

Rhi claimed that after the partner swap, Jacqui even bought flowers and wine for her and Jeff, which made her all the more “shocked” to see the things that Jacqui was saying post-MAFS. To be fair, Jacqui going rogue was the plot twist we also didn’t see coming.

Image: Nine.

“It’s disappointing to see because it’s all false. But, it is what it is. I can’t control it, and I really can’t be bothered retaliating to any of the things that she’s saying,” Rhi explained.

“I’m lucky that if anyone was to ask any of the other cast members, ‘Was I a bully? Was I putting her down?’ or anything like that, I know that everyone can say that I wasn’t. Production can say I wasn’t. All of our conversations were on camera and recorded, so I’m confident in how I treated Jacqui. I was nothing but nice to her.”

When it comes to all the big personalities on MAFS this year, not everything is as it appears on-screen, according to Jeff. Eliot, the man we all loved to hate at the beginning of the season, was apparently very different behind the scenes.

“I think Eliot’s very different on camera. He’s very much an introverted person. But when he gets comfortable around you, he really opens up, and he’s actually quite funny. He’s a good bloke,” Jeff said of his fellow groom.

Rhi also shared that they had actually apologised to Eliot after judging him so quickly based on Lauren’s side of the story, and said that they took it as a lesson that

“That’s why there were a lot of times when I didn’t just jump to one side straight away. The retreat is a perfect example of that,” Rhi explained.

“I was really close friends with Jamie, but I also had a relationship with Lauren, and it was where I really struggled to support both sides. I agreed with everything that Jamie was saying, but then I did want to hear Lauren out because of our friendship at the time.”

Image: Instagram/jeffgobbels

Watching the show back, despite the occasional arguments with other couples and even the most “shocking” moments, Jeff prides himself on knowing he spoke up when he didn’t agree with the behaviour of his fellow grooms.

“I feel quite proud of how I handled myself throughout the experiment. I called out behaviour I didn’t agree with throughout the whole series,” Jeff said.

“I think in the early days, I wish I spoke up a bit more, but all in all, I’m pretty happy with how I handled myself.”

So, Rhi and Jeff made it to the end. The only couple this season to leave the experiment intact. But what now? Rumours have been swirling that the couple will be appearing on The Block next. According to Jeff, it doesn’t seem to be happening this season, but he’s very open to it.

“We’ve been asked so many times about The Block. In all honesty, we would love to go on The Block, so hopefully those rumours are true,” he joked.

“I know this series is already being filmed, but hopefully next year we can get on the construction site. You might see us with a couple of hard hats on.”

Since leaving the show, Rhi and Jeff appear to be stronger than ever, and say that they’re still enjoying their “delayed honeymoon phase”.

“We’re doing really well. We were married on like the 25th of July, which means that this July will be our one-year together, which is crazy,” Rhi said.

Image: Nine.

“Time has absolutely flown, but we’re stronger than ever, to be honest. Since coming out of the experiment, I feel like our relationship has progressed, and we’re still in the honeymoon phase… the delayed honeymoon phase.”

Though they’re still living separately at the moment, they’re planning on doing plenty of travel in the near future and just enjoying each other’s company.

“We spend a lot of time together. We haven’t really discussed too much about the living situation, but at the moment we’re just enjoying each other’s company,” Jeff explained.

“We’re going to go on a couple of holidays together and unwind and see what the next phase of our relationship holds.”

Ah, don’t you just love love? As a reality TV cynic, it feels all the more special when a couple survives the MAFS pressure cooker.

Feature Image: Nine.