In a stunning revelation, Married At First Sight (MAFS) couple Micah Lomu and Ankita Karungalekar have spoken out after being abruptly removed from the upcoming season in what they describe as one of the show’s most explosive off-camera controversies. The couple, who never made it to air, allege they were blindsided by Channel Nine’s decision to dismiss them following unverified TikTok allegations targeting Micah. Now, they’re accusing the network of hypocrisy, claiming they were scapegoated to appease “cancel culture” while others with more substantiated accusations were allowed to remain on the show.
Micah, 28, and Ankita, 29, were poised to be one of the season’s standout couples. Their lavish multicultural wedding at Sydney’s historic Lindesay House in Darling Point was a spectacle of joy, with guests chanting and cheering as the pair instantly connected. Photographs captured by Daily Mail show Ankita radiant in a sage green and gold lehenga adorned with intricate embroidery, clutching a vibrant bouquet of yellow and peach blooms. Micah complemented her in a sleek all-black tailored suit, complete with a matching boutonnière.
“It was one of the strongest weddings of the season,” Ankita shared. “The only thing I was happy about is that I was matched with him—we just got along.”
The newlyweds spent three blissful days honeymooning in Cairns, bonding and building the foundation of their relationship. But their fairy-tale beginning came crashing down when producers intervened, citing a vague TikTok allegation against Micah.
The couple’s world turned upside down when Channel Nine called Micah in to discuss a damaging claim circulating on TikTok. “They told me it was in my best interest to be dismissed for my mental health,” Micah told Daily Mail in an exclusive interview. “But by doing that, they practically validated that I’d done something wrong. There was no visual proof, no history of wrongdoing—nothing. I was painted as someone to be scared of.”
Ankita revealed the allegation stemmed from a single anonymous DM from a burner account, warning her to “run for your life” and labeling Micah as “manipulative.” She emphasized, “There were no screenshots, no texts, nothing. We were floored that Channel Nine made such a huge decision based on TikTok videos without receipts.”
Micah, devastated by the accusation, pleaded with producers to involve the police so he could clear his name. “I said, ‘Please go to the police so I can fight it,’” he recalled. “By dismissing me, you’re giving validation that I’ve done wrong. But they never did. There was nothing.” He added, “You can’t Google my name now without seeing ‘scandal’ or ‘allegations.’ I’ve never done anything worse than a parking ticket.”
The couple believes their dismissal was a calculated move by Channel Nine to appear decisive in the wake of past MAFS controversies. “They’ve kept people on in previous seasons who had actual proof against them,” Ankita pointed out. “Why us, when others with real evidence were given second chances, even rematched? Was it because we were the youngest couple? Or because we came from diverse cultural backgrounds?”
Micah echoed her sentiments, suggesting their cultural visibility made them an easy target. “It felt like they didn’t want the risk of having us on screen because we already had attention from our cultures and families. They thought the allegations would overshadow the season. But the right thing would’ve been to let us stay and clear the air.”
Ankita was particularly stung by the network’s claim that they “couldn’t handle the backlash.” “That’s not their decision to make,” she said. “We went through all the psychological checks, hundreds of pages of paperwork, background vetting, and passed everything. Suddenly, they decided we weren’t strong enough.”
The couple also accused producers of treating them unequally behind the scenes. “The way they spoke to Micah was sympathetic. To me, it was ruthless,” Ankita revealed. “I was polite, respectful, and still got treated like rubbish. Producers stopped replying to my messages. I even thanked one of them for their support and never got a response back.”
The fallout from their abrupt exit extended beyond the couple. Micah shared the emotional toll on his family, particularly his mother. “I walked in on my mum scrolling through all the comments. She was visibly shaken,” he said. “As a mother, she just wanted to protect me, but it was eating away at her.”
Ankita, too, was heartbroken watching Micah’s family suffer. “Seeing his mum shake while begging producers to give us a chance was horrible,” she said. “She couldn’t understand why we were being removed when we were genuinely happy together.”
The financial burden was equally crushing. “We quit our jobs, we invested in outfits—producers even pick those for you,” Ankita explained. “You’re mentally stressed, financially stressed, and then told to just leave.”
Adding insult to injury, Ankita revealed that producers misled her with false promises of a rematch. “They told me I might be re-coupled, but they knew all along I wasn’t going back in,” she said. “They kept me dangling for two weeks in a hotel, telling me to sit tight, while the other cast members already knew who the intruders were.”
Micah, meanwhile, pleaded for Ankita to be given a chance to continue without him. “I told them, ‘Don’t take her down with me. At least let her continue.’ But they wouldn’t. She was collateral damage.”
For Ankita, the experience left her feeling like she “failed” her community. “I’m anxious about going out in public because I don’t have answers for people,” she admitted. “One day you’re taking vows, the next you’re told you’re not even allowed to speak to your husband. I lost the opportunity, but I also lost my marriage. I still feel married—and then they told me to pack my bags and leave. That hurts.”
Micah, whose Polynesian heritage is rooted in a female-dominant family, found the allegations particularly painful. “To be accused of that was deeply disrespectful,” he said. “It goes against everything I am and everything my culture stands for.”
The couple’s story raises serious questions about Channel Nine’s handling of unverified allegations and their decision-making process. Micah and Ankita believe they were unfairly singled out, their dreams of love and visibility on MAFS sacrificed to avoid potential backlash. “It felt like we were collateral damage—easy to drop, easy to silence,” Ankita said.
As they move forward, the couple is determined to reclaim their narrative. “I just want people to know the truth,” Micah said. “There was no proof, no receipts—just a TikTok rumor that cost us everything.”