While the idea of finding genuine love on a show like Married At First Sight (MAFS) might seem outlandish to some, 2026 groom Grayson McIvor entered the experiment knowing firsthand that it could succeed.
The 34-year-old company director revealed in episode one that he is good friends with former participant Johnny Balbuziente, who fell in love with Kerry Balbuziente (née Knight) on the show in 2021. The couple are one of the series’ few success stories, and they’ve since gotten married and welcomed their first child together — proving that there is a slight chance of a happy ending on MAFS.
Grayson’s connection with Johnny and Kerry was mentioned so frequently in the lead-up to his wedding to Julia Vogl in Sunday night’s episode that many viewers expected the pair to be sitting in the front row. So, why were they nowhere to be seen?
Why weren’t Johnny and Kerry at Grayson and Julia’s MAFS wedding?
Grayson told PEDESTRIAN.TV following the episode that having Johnny and Kerry attend his MAFS wedding outside the Sydney Opera House was “absolutely a discussion”, but the timing unfortunately didn’t work out.
“Johnny being Johnny and how theatrical he is, he’s booked out most of the time,” he explained. “I think he might have been jumping around in another room in the Opera House at that time and couldn’t make it. I guess I’m not important enough, but he was very close, I felt him there.”
A social media stalk reveals that Johnny was performing in Shake & Stir Theatre Co’s production of The Twits at the Sydney Opera House around the same time as Grayson and Julia’s wedding — so they were incredibly close.
Meanwhile, it turns out Grayson didn’t even get to attend Johnny’s MAFS wedding, as it was filmed during the pandemic in 2020.
“Funnily enough, I was in his groom’s party. But COVID being COVID, he wasn’t allowed many guests,” he explained. “I think he was only allowed his brother, who was his best man at that time, and I think the other contestants were the guests at the wedding.”
Although he wasn’t there to witness the beginning of the love story, Grayson told P.TV that he spoke with Johnny while filming the experiment, and he provided great advice.
“I stayed in contact with Johnny a lot of the time, and I guess he was just sort of a sounding board to make me feel like these are all normal feelings,” he said.
“Throughout the course of filming, Julia and I, it was so natural — which could have been a good thing or a bad thing. We were just so comfortable in each other’s presence.”
We’ll have to wait and see if Johnny makes an appearance during Friends and Family Week (and if Grayson and Julia make it that far in the experiment), but what we do know is that Gia Fleur’s bestie, Wil, will be making a return later this season.
The post MAFS’ Grayson McIvor Explains Why Johnny & Kerry Balbuziente Weren’t At His Wedding appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
