It’s one of the worst-kept secrets on Married At First Sight this year.
After a wedding day filled with chemistry and laughter, Morena Farina and Tony Mojanovski were swiftly embraced as one of the strongest matches of the season.
And while viewers are smitten, storm clouds linger on the horizon for the fifty-something couple when Tony’s past comes back to haunt him.
As Daily Mail readers will already know, Tony was still legally married to his estranged wife when he walked down the aisle with Morena during filming last year.
While the relationship was over, the fact he wasn’t officially divorced left his MAFS spouse feeling deceived, leading to tension between them.
Since the season premiere, my scoop on Tony’s ‘secret wife’ has been republished by other outlets – but what they don’t know is the jaw-dropping fallout of the revelation.
After a wedding day filled with chemistry and laughter, Morena Farina and Tony Mojanovski were swiftly embraced as one of the strongest matches of the season. But it doesn’t last
As Daily Mail readers will already know, Tony was still legally married to his estranged wife when he walked down the aisle with Morena during filming last year
According to insiders who have spoken to me, Tony had been upfront with producers about his marital status before the show began filming, believing the experiment would help him move forward after separating from his wife three years ago.
However, I can now reveal the real bombshell: Tony actually asked the MAFS experts for help reigniting his relationship with his former wife.
He even requested for her to come onto the show. Understandably, Morena hit the roof because she had expected to be paired with a man who was all in.
‘Morena was blindsided on her honeymoon but it’s not going to be shown on TV,’ a source close to production tells me.
‘She had held off bringing it up at the dinner party because she didn’t want to throw him under the bus, but when she confronted him in front of the experts, the whole room went silent.’
An emotional Morena turned to Tony and asked, ‘Why did you take up the space of someone else? Why aren’t you chasing your wife if you love her?’
His response was equally shocking.
‘Tony admitted to everyone that he still loved his wife and that Morena was going to “help him work it all out”,’ the insider reveals. ‘The experts were speechless. John [Aiken] nearly fell off his chair.’
Tony asked the experts for help reuniting with his former wife. Morena (pictured after packing her bags) hit the roof because she had expected to be paired with a man who was all in
Producers tried to hide the truth
Multiple insiders tell me the producers were desperate to keep a lid on the scandal and even tried to stop Morena from bringing it up on camera.
‘From the first dinner party, they told her to stop talking about it. They kept saying it wouldn’t air, that it wasn’t a big deal,’ an insider says. ‘But Morena refused to be silenced. She was furious that they were trying to control the narrative.’
It’s understood this led to significant behind-the-scenes tensions, with Morena feeling increasingly isolated and frustrated.
‘She knew she was being stitched up,’ a friend reveals. ‘She felt like they were gaslighting her, making her feel crazy for calling it out.’
Things came to a dramatic head during one of their private dates when Morena again questioned why Tony hadn’t legally ended his marriage.
‘Tony stormed off. He cracked it and walked away from the cameras,’ a source says. ‘He was furious that she kept bringing it up, but she wasn’t going to let it slide.’
Morena’s frustration boils over
With the scandal now in the public domain, Morena is preparing to tell her truth – despite producers attempting to smother the story.
‘She’s done playing by their rules,’ a source with knowledge of the situation tells me. ‘She wants the world to know what really happened.’
Tony is pictured with his former wife Tatiana, with whom he attempted to reconcile while filming MAFS last year. It is believed she now lives in Las Vegas
It’s no surprise that Morena has become frustrated, given the way the situation unfolded.
‘Morena says she has absolutely no problem getting a bad edit – but just wants the reality of what happened during filming shown to viewers without it being twisted.’
Insiders tell me producers consistently tried to steer the conversation away from Tony’s marital status, telling Morena to instead ‘reset’ and focus on the experiment.
‘It was non-stop. Any time she brought it up, they shut it down,’ another source says. ‘She was told that it wouldn’t make it to air, but she refused to let them brush it under the rug.’
Sources claim Morena grew increasingly anxious about how she would be portrayed on television.
‘She started to feel li
ke she was being made into the villain,’ one insider explains. ‘She was just calling out what was really going on, but now fears the edit will make her look like she was the problem.’
Cast members tell me Tony ‘wanted out’ as soon as he realised he wasn’t over his ex.
‘Tony was seriously reconsidering everything,’ one tells me. ‘He thought MAFS would help him move on, but now he’s wondering if he should go back to his wife instead.’
As the couple’s marriage plays out on screen, producers are bracing for backlash.
With Morena ready to go rogue and tell all, and Tony’s confession sending shockwaves through the experiment, this season is already shaping up to be one of the most dramatic yet.
