By now, many Australians will be familiar with the formula of popular reality TV show Married at First Sight, aka MAFS. Men and women who have been paired by the showβs producers meet for the first time at the altar and begin a months-long βexperimentβ in cohabitation. Some make it as couples, some donβt.
From the moment she appeared on our TV screens, it was clear that Lucinda Light was never going to simply follow the MAFS script. Now 44, Light joined the showβs 11th season in 2024 and was paired with Timothy Smith, a businessman from Victoria then aged 51. Their relationship ended before the seasonβs final episode, but for Light it sparked a fresh chapter in her decades-long quest for self-love.
βWhen I joined MAFS, I had come out of a big relationship, was a bit hard out on luck and love, and thought why not throw it out to the experts and see where I land,β Light says over the phone in her characteristic βI know a secretβ tone. βI was open to seeing what I would find.β
Though she didnβt find everlasting love, since leaving MAFS Light has signed a major book deal and recently returned from Cyprus, where sheβs part of a new UK dating show β on the expert panel, not as a contestant β hosted by Geordie Shoreβs Vicky Pattison.
Light wears Bianca Spender top and pants, and Dinosaur Designs bangles.Credit: Steven Chee
βI never thought my career would kick off like this,β says Light. βAt best, I thought it would be good for my business as an MC and celebrant. Little did I know it would be this explosive. Itβs been amazing.β
Still, Light admits sheβs had difficulty adjusting to the spotlight as what was once a private path of self-discovery became fodder for social media, the tabloid press and gossip columnists.
Another downside of fame, especially for someone who starred on a show about love and dating, is that itβs made establishing intimate relationships in the βrealβ world more problematic. On a recent date, Light thought she had a βspunky connectionβ with the man, but βhalfway through the night he realised I was a celebrity because people kept coming up to take a photo. It really put him off.β
She adds, βWe had a wicked night and there was good chemistry, but I think it was too much for him. I might have done a number on myself because very few guys would take me on after MAFS. It could be a problem, but I am still holding space for a man.β
Before fame found Light, she was already versed in the art of matchmaking, having run a speed-dating business in Byron Bay, where she lived for four years, arriving just as the COVID-19 pandemic kicked off. She also has a taste for adventure, having spent several years in her early 20s working as an adviser for one of the worldβs biggest tour companies, Intrepid Travel.
Dress by Scanlan Theodore.Credit: Steven Chee
βIt was my version of university!β she says of her time as a tour leader. βIt taught me invaluable life skills and street smarts: everything I needed to confidently navigate the twists and turns of life.β
She adds, βTravel opens you up to new things in life – from personal self-discovery to making new friendships and learning so much about yourself when youβre out of your comfort zone.β
Coming full circle, Light has partnered with Intrepid once more, this time to lead a tour of tropical Queensland that will merge the best of the region, including its rich Indigenous history, with βLucinda magicβ β yoga, meditation and talks.
Helping others to combine romance with wanderlust is just one chapter in Lightβs story. Her own journey to finding love β including self-love β and a place to call home has taken Light from her birthplace on Victoriaβs Mornington Peninsula, to India, where she sought spiritual enlightenment in her 20s, then on to Byron Bay.
More recently she has moved back to Victoria, making her home in the hamlet of Aireys Inlet, along the Great Ocean Road. She shares a house with her mother, a spiritual healer, and itβs here she plans to put down roots by turning a barn on the property into her own tiny home.
Despite the obvious opportunities MAFS brought her, Light still questions whether her time on the show (aired by Nine, publisher of this masthead) was worth it. βIn retrospect, it was a bit too much,β she says. βIt was a very intense experience and I really learnt what I was made of.
βMy resilience as a human being meant I could hold myself with a calm central nervous system on the show.β
Lucinda Light, former MAFS contestant
βMy resilience as a human being meant I could hold myself with a calm central nervous system on the show. I could bring my wealth of experience in a group dynamic, and being a travel-tour leader and a healing practitioner meant I could accept everybody and love them for who they are.β
Among the more compelling things about MAFS, or any reality show, are the backstories that inspire the contestants to take the plunge. Light is no different. A relationship in her 20s with a man eight years her senior left her heartbroken and led to depression, worsened by pain from a back injury.
Despite these knocks, Light says resilience and a capacity to rise above adversity are part of her DNA. Following the break-up, she developed an interest in spirituality, taking part in workshops and experiencing what she terms the βego deathβ to emerge a stronger woman.
But the path from that time in her life to MAFS and on to the present was anything but straight. In 2022, Light was living her best life with four female friends in Suffolk Park, near Byron Bay, in a house they dubbed the βMermaid Templeβ. During this time, she dated a woman for nine months, but after realising her preferences skew more heterosexual, cast the net back to the opposite sex.
βI am all about putting energy into finding somebody special,β she says. βI am really planning to focus on dating again, and Iβm always redefining my βman-ifestoβ. I am also deeply trusting that the timing will be right as I have heaps to offer.β
Light was born and raised in the beachy town of Mornington, the youngest of three siblings. Her parents, who split when she was 12, ran one of the largest arts-and-crafts barns on the peninsula, which helped her to feel supported in lifeβs creative endeavours. Although theyβre now in new relationships, Lightβs parents remain on good terms, she says; both walked her down the aisle on MAFS.
βI had the most creative parents,β she says. βMum and Dad also gave us great values, such as having each otherβs backs as a family. We always forgive if we have squabbles and we are there for each other. Iβve become best friends with my brother and sister.β
Light wears Witchery dress.Credit: Steven Chee
Her brother Troy β βthe pragmatic oneβ, Light says β is a piano tuner and musician, while her sister Eliza, who she visits regularly, lives in Far North Queensland with her six-year-old son, Willow.
Light might also have more time for family, at least temporarily, after recently finishing the 40,000-word manuscript for her debut book, Shine Your Light. She describes the book as a light-hearted guide to self-discovery designed to help readers out of their individual ruts and into their βflowβ.
She says her own life changed after reading Eckhart Tolleβs The Power of Now and New Earth, and she also recommends Michael Singerβs The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment. βI have always had this curiosity for emotional intelligence and inner wellness,β Light says. βI want to be the best version of myself, and that place of self-love leads to love.
βBut I am also quite an emotional person and I have had my share of heartbreaks too. I call these moments the heroβs journey, where you experience what is referred to as the βego deathβ and a dismantling of oneβs old identity. I promised myself that when Iβm down in these dark spots, that I wouldnβt get stuck there, that Iβd keep finding the tools to get through them.β
Lightβs commitment to finding her way through lifeβs darker chapters has helped her amass quite the social media profile, including 637,000 followers on Instagram. Many of these are in the UK, where the Australian version of MAFS is also shown, and last year she toured Britain to sell-out crowds who came to hear her speak about emotional intelligence and answer their questions. (The tour was so successful sheβs repeating it again this year.)
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In some senses, Light is emerging as a self-help role model for Millennials in the same way Elizabeth Gilbert did for Generation X with Eat, Pray, Love. Sheβs defiant, strong, knows what she wants and puts spiritual awakening on the table for all to see. And she hopes that by being vulnerable, she will find her perfect match β a man equally aware of his inner self.
It was the philosopher Socratesβ exhortation to βknow thyselfβ that first prompted Light to train as a holistic counsellor in the mid-2000s. βWe did therapy and dream reading β it was all about the psyche β and that was truly the beginning for me. My 25-year-old self became a passionate soul seeker.β
Light is unsurprised to still be seeking almost 20 years later. What she didnβt expect was to become the relationship expert many now turn to on social media. Sheβs leaning into that space more confidently and plans to do more live shows throughout the year, all the while still looking for true love.
βI am an acquired taste, and I am not everybodyβs cup of tea,β she says. βAfter doing MAFS I had to take a long hard look at myself and question my βmuch-nessβ. It can be a lot for the average Aussie fella, thatβs for sure.β
Lucinda Light is hosting an Intrepid Travel trip to Far North Queensland.
Fashion editor Penny McCarthy; Hair Keiren Street using Wella; Make-up Aimie Fiebig using Charlotte Tilbury
STOCKISTS Dinosaur Designs; Scanlan Theodore; Witchery
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