The self-proclaimed warrior has undergone quite a transformation over the years.

One of Ryan Donnelly’s Instagram posts from before he appeared on MAFS has resurfaced online. Photo: Channel Nine

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Ryan Donnelly has been one of the most talked-about participants on this year’s season of Married At First Sight. The 36-year-old project manager lit up social media early in the season with his X-rated comments about Jacqui Burfoot, and continued to spark debate with his controversial views on masculinity throughout the experiment.

The self-proclaimed warrior has made it abundantly clear that he values strength and fitness, even prioritising the gym over his sex life. He also remarked during his wedding episode that he believes he will “easily” live to 110 years old because he keeps himself “in really good shape”, and describes himself as a “successful, strong and handsome” man.

Ryan hasn’t always been this way, however, as he admitted to relationship expert John Aiken during their initial meeting that he was bullied in high school for being the “trumpet playing, glasses wearing, Harry Potter bowl cut looking dude”.

“I didn’t know what to do, so I started doing boxing, and that’s where I picked up my love for gym. And that’s when I realised I had that warrior mentality, because I never wanted to be defenceless,” he said.

Ahead of Sunday night’s reunion dinner party, one of Ryan’s old Instagram posts has resurfaced on social media showcasing his impressive transformation from a scrawny teenager to a buff man.

The reality star shared a side-by-side post in 2020 celebrating his growth from the age of 16 to the age of 32.

Ryan shared a post showcasing his transformation from age 16 to 32. Photo: Instagram/its_ryandonnelly

Fans praise ‘crazy transformation’

Not only does Ryan’s transformation showcase a lack of hair and clothing, but also a huge change in his physique.

“From me in all my awkward teenage glory… the bad posture, long as hell board shorts, weird necklace phase, clearly zero clue about training or confidence. To present day the leanest, meanest and most disciplined shape of my life thus far,” he wrote.

“Each of our individual journeys are different – I struggled for a long time to recognise my identity, become self-aware and overcome damaged self-esteem… I strongly believe in energy, in passion, if something resonates with you, seize it, learn from it and be resilient against superficial opinions. Time will reveal all.”

His followers flooded the comments with supportive messages, with one person writing: “Crazy transformation.”

“From surfer boy to big daddy,” another added, while a third said, “Love this mate! You’re an inspiration!”.

“Woooow this is amazing. Well done, giving so much motivation,” someone else replied, followed by a different user who said, “What a transformation brother”.

Ryan has undergone an impressive body transformation over the years. Photos: Instagram/its_ryandonnelly

Ryan’s post-show career plans

While this year’s season of MAFS is coming to an end, fans should expect to continue seeing Ryan on their screens. An insider recently told Yahoo Lifestyle that the TV star gave up his job as a project manager to film the show last year and is now pursuing a career as a full-time actor.

He was recently spotted as a background extra in the new BINGE Original Series The Last Anniversary, which is executive produced by Nicole Kidman. Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle about his cameo, Ryan confirmed he played a “simple police officer guarding the star patient in that episode”.

“Always amazing fun on sets like those,” he added.

The groom also recently teased a range of merchandise alongside his co-star Tony Mojanovski. He shared a post on Thursday evening proudly wearing a black t-shirt with the word ‘Warrior’ printed in red above two samurai swords, although he’s yet to share any details about pricing or availability.

“Tony might have made some merch 👀” he wrote alongside the snaps.