- Lauren Bran was dubbed the ‘MAFS runaway bride’ in season four
- She met her new boyfriend a week later, but relationship soured
An ex-reality TV star who famously left her new husband on their wedding night will face-off against her property developer ex-boyfriend, who allegedly breached one of four restraining orders she had against him.
Lauren Bran, 40, married firefighter Andrew ‘Jonesy’ Jones on season four of the reality series Married at First Sight in February 2017, but the relationship broke down outside a Bondi pub just hours after their on-screen nuptials.
He was denied entry to the bar and got into an argument with a bouncer, while she decided it wasn’t worth it, took off into the night and was dubbed the ‘MAFS runaway bride’.
Weeks later, she debuted her new boyfriend Jake Barnett, 39 – a property developer and single father-of-two from the Sutherland Shire – and posted loved-up photos of their Hamilton Island holiday.
Daily Mail Australia can now reveal the relationship quickly soured, ending in a series of apprehended violence orders taken out by police officers on her behalf.
In April, Mr Barnett was charged with breaching an AVO in the Sydney suburb of Zetland, and has been jailed awaiting trial.
Lauren Bran (pictured) appeared on the reality TV show Married at First Sight in 2017
Lauren Bran married Andrew Jones on television in 2017, but left him hours later
According to court documents, Mr Barnett ‘knowingly’ contravened an apprehended violence order between 10.09am and 7.20pm on April 4, 2024.
He has pleaded not guilty to breaching the AVO.
Mr Barnett was represented by his lawyer on Thursday when his matter was mentioned in the Downing Centre Local Court.
Magistrate Sharon Freund set the matter down for a three-hour hearing on September 27, during which there will be three witnesses.
Court records show Ms Bran has had four AVOs taken out against him by police officers on her behalf – dating back to April 2017, just two months after they went to Hamilton Island.
The following three were taken out in 2017 and 2023.
Lauren Bran met Jake Burnett (pictured together) a week after she left Andrew Jones
The couple went to Hamilton Island in February 2017 (pictured) and started working together
The orders were in place for two years, during which time he was banned from approaching her, destroying her property, assaulting or threatening her.
Ms Bran previously revealed she met Mr Barnett one week after she left Mr Jones, when she was at a pub with her mother in the Sutherland Shire.
He approached her table, asked her on a date and bought her mother a tea.
‘We just kind of fell into each other’s lap,’ she said at the time.
‘Jake is also a successful property developer from the Sutherland Shire, and I now work alongside him within a business that has just launched a new $50 million development site.
‘He shares the same drive, ambition, values and morals as I do.’
In 2021, a concrete company successfully bankrupted Mr Barnett over an unpaid $7,000 bill.
