Married at First Sight groom Timothy Smith’s criminal past: He came across as your average reality star looking for love… but was harbouring a dark secret

Married At First Sight Australia groom Timothy Smith was revealed to be a convicted drug smuggler who did time in a US prison on Tuesday night.

The season 11 star’s sordid history was unveiled by A Current Affair, where viewers were shocked to learn the real estate tycoon, 52, spent over a year behind bars. 

Living in Vancouver at the time, Timothy said he used a helicopter to illegally smuggle large amounts of marijuana from Canada into the US.

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

‘It’s something I’m not proud of. I’m definitely not proud of it, but it doesn’t define who I am and I’m not the same person I was 17 years ago.’

Timothy said he would make $100,000 per trip across the border flying a helicopter full of marijuana. 

‘I would take off from a little unmanned airport and I would fly up a valley into a creek where I would meet a four wheel drive… within a minute, the helicopter would be loaded,’ he said.

Timothy 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 they ‘tacked on 4 or 6 months in immigration’. 

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

An emotional Timothy 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 Timothy’s sentence when his mother died of cancer and his brother died by suicide just a few months after her death. 

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

The groom was paired up with fan favourite Lucinda Light during his stint on MAFS this year, but they broke up following a disastrous homestay visit in Melbourne.

The pair called time on their marriage at the following commitment ceremony, with Timothy acknowledging his lacklustre effort to the experts. 

‘I didn’t go into homestay with the best attitude,’ he said at the time, before admitting he found deep emotional exploration ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘overwhelming’.

Despite their romance not working out, Timothy and Lucinda have maintained a close friendship ever since the cameras stopped rolling.

The former on-screen couple have been seen on nights out together, while Lucinda recently gushed over how ‘glad’ she is to have Timothy as a ‘dear friend’.

During the explosive reunion this week, Timothy and Lucinda thrilled viewers when they revealed they had continued to forge their bond after leaving the show.  

They told their castmates and the show’s relationship experts they have stayed in touch and grown closer after a rocky start in the experiment.  

‘I am mostly not as hard as I was,’ Timothy said of how much he had changed thanks to Lucinda’s support. 

‘There is a lot of emotional things that I’ve been dealing with and that I’ve dealt with. It’s okay not to be okay and Lou showed me that,’ he added.

‘She showed me how to just let a few people in. The experiment has been an amazing experience. I’ve loved every part of it.’