Former Married At First Sight UK star Dean Vary has seemingly introduced a new partner to his social media followers, marking a fresh start after his highly publicised and contentious marriage on the E4 reality series.
From Disastrous Marriage to New Beginnings
The 31-year-old team building host from London shot to fame last year after marrying complete stranger Sarah Gillanders, a 31-year-old recruitment consultant from Aberdeen. While Dean appeared smitten from the outset, Sarah quickly expressed a lack of sexual chemistry, setting the stage for a dramatic and short-lived union.
The relationship reached a critical point when Sarah, during a private conversation with producers on their Maldives honeymoon, suggested that Dean could ignite a spark by getting tattoos and losing weight. These remarks ignited a horrifying body-shaming row, with show expert Paul C Brunson branding Sarah's comments as 'rude', 'disrespectful', and 'cruel'.
A 'Soft Launch' on Social Media
Now, Dean has moved on. In a recent Instagram post reflecting on the start of the year, he included a photograph of himself holding hands with an unidentified woman during a night out. He captioned the series of images: '2026 so far has been all about celebrating birthdays, making memories and spending quality time with the people who matter most.'
This follows an earlier post this month where he hinted at a new romance, sharing a picture of two hands forming a heart symbol with the caption: 'So I may have been keeping a secret the last couple of months.... Going into this year the happiest I've been.'
Revisiting the On-Screen Fallout
The fallout from Sarah's comments was severe. During a commitment ceremony, experts reprimanded her for speaking disrespectfully about Dean behind his back, leading to an emotional apology from Sarah, who insisted there was 'no excuse' for her words.
After the episode aired, Dean took to TikTok to thank fans for their support, admitting it was 'tricky' to rewatch the hurtful scenes. He stated, 'Hearing that Sarah has been disrespecting me has caught me off guard, that is probably my biggest red flag. It does hurt me.' Despite the pain, he vowed to remain true to himself, saying he'd 'much rather be a care bear than a bad boy'.
The pair ultimately chose to leave the experiment early. Dean's new social media posts suggest he has firmly closed that chapter, focusing instead on creating positive new memories.
