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'So much pressure': MAFS NZ's Samantha and James reveal their sides of the 'shock' split

And why it was a "confusing" time for one of them...

In a heartbreaking twist no one saw coming, Samantha Best and James Hunt, the fan-fave couple from this year's 'MAFS NZ' have officially called it quits.

Sam and James were the only on-screen 'marriage' to commit to a relationship outside the experiment, walking away from their final vows seemingly head over heels.

SOURCE: ThreeNow

So, what the heck happened since then to lead to their "shock" split?

Sam shared an announcement on Insta, confirming her split to James and apologising for keeping it under wraps while they waiting for their contracts to the show to finish.

"We knew leaving the bubble of the experiment it would be hard. We had only known each other for 3 weeks and had only been together in the experiment. Which was a comfortable, unrealistic version of life, where we had no stresses or worries at all.," Sam wrote on Instagram.

Both also shared their sides of the breakup with Woman's Day, with James admitting he was confused over why the relationship had come to an end, especially since he was in the process of moving from Christchurch to be with Sam in Auckland.

"Distance wasn't an issue. As soon as the show finished, I got on the phone to Immigration New Zealand," the UK-born participant said.

"They said it takes two weeks to turn it around, so all I had to do was find an accredited school, which there's quite a lot of in Auckland, then I could move up. That was the plan," he added.

But things took a turn when James visited Auckland one weekend and felt "something was off."

"I spoke with Sam about it and that's when she basically said she didn't want to break up with me but felt she needed to," he explained.

James believed she had her reasons for the split, but in the end, he didn't feel he was "good enough for her".

Sam shared that this wasn't the case, instead insisting it was the "pressure" of it all that resulted in the end of the relo.

"Reality crept in," she said. "There were issues and things we both needed to work on. But I really, really liked James. He's such a wonderful person."

"It honestly just got very heavy," she said.

While many MAFS NZ fans will be heartbroken by this news, we wish both Sam and James the best as they move forward separately.