'Married at First Sight' Star's Ex Dies in Motorcycle Crash

By Daniel S. Levine

Shane Smith, who was engaged to Married at First Sight star Stacey Hampton, died in a motorcycle crash in South Australia early Wednesday morning. He was 38. A 45-year-old male passenger was hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries, police said, reports News.com.au.

Smith was killed just after 3 a.m. Wednesday after crashing his motorcycle in Redwood Park, a suburb of Adelaide. He had a male passenger riding on the back of his vehicle. The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Hampton and Smith were engaged before she starred on the Australian version of Married at First Sight Season 7. They share two children. In a 2020 interview with WHO, Hampton claimed she was unaware of his lifestyle as a member of the Rebels motorcycle gang.

"I met him when I was really young – 19 – through mutual friends and I wasn't aware of his lifestyle but I fell for him so quickly," she recalled. "He treated me so nicely, he was beautiful, loving, and I fell pregnant really quickly to him with our first son. At the time, I didn't realize he actually had charges from ages ago that had come up – assault charges."

Hampton said she "stood by him" when he went to jail while she was pregnant. Her life was also rocked when her brother died in a motorcycle crash the same day her son was born. "But Shane rang me every hour to make sure I was OK. He had his friends checking in on me," Hampton said at the time. "He's honestly the greatest person ... and I think he's really ashamed of his past."

During that interview, she said her relationship with Smith was "weird" because they are not together, but Smith always supported her. "I think society likes to judge but what my ex does and who he associates with doesn't reflect on me – he's a great dad, we co-parent so well, and he supports us all," she said.

Hampton's Married at First Sight season aired in early 2020. She agreed to marry Michael Goonan, but their relationship crumbled quickly due to cheating allegations. The two appear to be on better terms, as they went to a gym together in May 2021, with the two sharing photos from their training session together. Goonan later dated another member of the MAFS cast, KC Osborne, but that relationship also ended.

The Married at First Sight franchise is based on a Danish series that debuted in 2013. The format has been adapted by countries around the world, with the U.S. version airing on Lifetime and available to stream on Hulu. The next U.S. season will focus on Nashville couples and is slated to air in January. 

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