MAFS AU villain Bryce Ruthven announces he and Melissa Rawson are expecting twins, engaged

Married At First Sight AU pairing Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson have announced they are expecting twins, and are set to get hitched for real in the not too distant future. 

In a cover story for New Idea, Ruthven and his reality television bride declared that despite the backlash and heavy criticism of their relationship, they were "deeply in love" and "incredibly happy" about their impending new arrivals. 

Ruthven was frequently dubbed a "narcissist" and accused of "gaslighting" Rawson during his time on the show - claims he rebuffed and blamed on unfair editing by producers. 

"People saw on the show how supportive and loyal Mel was. I'm pleased to say that's transitioned to the real world," Ruthven said of his partner, who was at one point the subject of a petition claiming producers had failed their duty of care by not intervening in the relationship. 

"We're not doing this for anybody else, it's about us - we're cementing our love," he said. "Melissa deserves to be happy and I'm apparently very good at that, so I'm looking forward to making it all official." 

Having already been 'married' on the reality show, the pair are looking to officially be wed in a more "low-key" wedding, with some MAFS cast noticeably absent. 

Rawson insists the show's experts - Mel Schilling, John Aiken and Alessandra Rampolla - will "definitely not" receive an invite, but Ruthven says some of his fellow grooms will. 

"I'm still close to Jason, he'll be there," says Bryce, "and Cameron, Russell and James ... we'll see." 

"I'll have two babies by the time I walk down the aisle," Rawson said, with the couple describing the pregnancy as a "whirlwind". 

"Our kids will have a friend for life, it's a very special thing," Ruthven said. 

"We hope they grow up close. This is all such a blessing to be able to bring two children into the world together ... we're on cloud nine." 

Not all MAFS AU viewers were as pleased with the news, however, with one tweet on the subject reading simply: "Yikes on a bike." 

"I nearly fell off my chair when I read it," said another. 

"Bryce & Melissa from #MAFSAU got engaged and are pregnant with TWINS!? Bryce is toxic AF and he is going to have KIDS!? Ugh," said a third.