The tenth series of Married at First Sight UK has been pure chaos – explosive dinner parties, tear-soaked commitment ceremonies, and one contestant who proudly crowned herself the season’s ultimate villain.
That contestant? Julia-Ruth Smith.
After a string of blazing rows with husband Divarni Balogun and pretty much everyone else at the couples’ retreat, Julia-Ruth dramatically quit the experiment, walking away hand-in-hand with Divarni as the cameras rolled. Most viewers assumed that was the last they’d see of her.
They were very wrong.
In a jaw-dropping twist at the girls’ reunion, Julia-Ruth stormed back onto screens with bombshell after bombshell. First, she casually revealed she’d jetted off on holiday and slept with fellow MAFS groom Joe Wood shortly after leaving the show. Then, as if that wasn’t enough chaos, she declared she was now pursuing Steven Springett – the groom she’d openly fancied throughout the entire experiment.
The studio erupted. Social media exploded. And Julia-Ruth? She simply shrugged and joked: “Three husbands, one series. That’s gotta be a first.”
Facing a tidal wave of backlash, she took to Instagram with a lengthy statement, insisting she’d done nothing wrong. “Just to be clear: both of our relationships had ended for different reasons before we connected,” she wrote. “We had no contact during the experiment while we were married… we only spoke once we were both divorced and back at home.” Translation: technically not cheating… but certainly not the fairytale the show sells.
Now, with the final vows airing tonight (November 12) and a fiery two-part reunion looming this Thursday and Friday at 9pm on E4, Julia-Ruth is wasting no time turning her notoriety into cold, hard cash.
She’s launched a Cameo profile where fans can buy personalised videos from the self-styled “confidence and empowerment booster” and “wing girl” for a cool £30.50 a pop – significantly more than her co-stars. Maeve Mathieson charges £19, Keye-Luke £23, but Julia-Ruth clearly knows her controversy is premium content.
Her bio makes no mention of winning Are You The One? last year (a profile she quietly set up back in September 2023). Instead, it’s all MAFS all the time: “Hey guys! It’s your girl, Julia-Ruth from Married At First Sight UK. Here for that one-on-one confidence and empowerment booster, to be your wing girl or talk all things sensuality and confidence x.”
Love may have eluded her on national television – three times in one series, no less – but when it comes to monetising mayhem, Julia-Ruth Smith is absolutely winning.