Every season of Married At First Sight (MAFS), there’s one couple who manages to make it through the experiment with minimal relationship drama and conflict, making you wonder what the heck they’re doing differently from their co-stars.
Stella Mickunaite and Filip Gregov were undeniably this year’s golden couple, with their relationship going from strength to strength from the moment they met at the altar. Not only were they never shown arguing with one another in the experiment, but they were also the first couple to say ‘I love you’ to each other.
They’ve since been spotted together in public, confirming that their relationship is still going strong post-show, and there are even rumours swirling that they’ve gotten engaged. So, how did they do it?
MAFS’ Filip & Stella reveal the secret to their success
Filip told PEDESTRIAN.TV that he believes their success in the experiment can be attributed to one conversation they had not long after they first met.
“As soon as we got to the honeymoon, I said, ‘Alright, I’m going to do this totally different to anything that I’ve ever done before’ and I aired out all my baggage — the good, the bad, my past traumas,” he detailed.
“I said, ‘Hey, I’m not good with this, I’ve got issues with this, I’ve been hurt with this, if this pops up, just letting you know I’m like this, this is my fight style, this is whatever’. So we kind of laid everything out on the table.”
The carpenter explained that Stella also shared details about her insecurities and triggers, which then made it easier to take on the rest of the experiment with a greater understanding of one another.
“I knew her whole story, she knew mine, and from that, I think a lot of the other couples were kind of behind a mask for the most part,” he continued. “Maybe they didn’t lay everything out, they didn’t clearly define who they were as people, and I think there was a lot of friction. We didn’t have that.”
As for Stella, she credits their success to herself and Filip avoiding the drama with the other participants and instead planning out the future of their relationship.
“My focus was on Filip, and everything else was just noise; it was just fluff,” she said. “It was like two-thirds of us [working out] was having a good connection and keeping away from the drama, and the last bit was Filip taking the leap of faith and trying to make it work in Sydney.”
Filip added that he entered the experiment with “the purest of intentions” and was “optimistically delusional” that it would work out, even though he had never watched MAFS before.
“If I had met Stella two years ago, we wouldn’t have been ready to accept each other. So I think it’s just like with everything, it’s timing,” he admitted.
So, what’s the secret to success in the MAFS experiment? For Filip and Stella, it was open communication, steering clear of drama, optimism, timing and a whole lotta luck. MAFS 2027 participants, take note.
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