Ridge found love on reality TV, but it almost cost him a spot at the Commonwealth Games

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Ridge Barredo was preparing to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games when reality TV show Married At First Sight reached out to him.

They wanted him to be on the show.

Ridge Barredo on Married At First Sight Australia.Instagram

“They approached me right before the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and I said, I can’t do that because I made the team, and I’m not willing to miss out going to Birmingham just to go on this,” Barredo said.

“So I applied the year after and got on.”

Now, Barredo is preparing for his third Games, but his first with a partner. He and Jade Pywell defied the odds and stayed together following the televised “experiment”, despite the Australian show having a success rate of less than 10 per cent.

Australian weightlifter Ridge Barredo at the 2022 Games in Birmingham. Getty

Barredo finished eighth in the men’s 105 kilogram weight class at the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast and fifth in the 96kg in Birmingham. His goal in Glasgow is a podium finish in the men’s 110kg.

But the 2026 Games almost didn’t happen for the 30-year-old. Between the filming for MAFS – aired on Nine, which also owns this masthead – and the press tour afterwards, Barredo was pressed for time when it came to qualifying.

“I took two years off training completely, just because with media and stuff during MAFS,” Barredo said.

“Even when I was filming MAFS we didn’t get that much time to train, I got an hour a day, so I sort of just put it on the backburner, and then I only had a year to qualify for these Games.

“So it was quite difficult, and something I didn’t think I was going to get to, but I got there.”

Despite his success on the show, Barredo was emphatic that he wouldn’t recommend others give it a crack.

“The experience was definitely toxic. It was a very, very toxic environment. It’s probably the most toxic one I’ve ever been in,” he said.

“It was definitely a great experience, we got see and do all the best things, they paid for it all and everything, but it’s probably something I wouldn’t recommend to anyone who I cared about.”

The positive, of course, was ending up with Pywell, who will make her way to Glasgow to cheer Barredo on in the weightlifting events which begin on Sunday, July 26.

“Still with my partner, she’s coming up, leaving next Monday. This is a first for me, to have a partner at the Commonwealth Games,” he said.

“It’s my third Commonwealth Games now, I’ve been single the first two. This one was a little bit harder to make, and I was wondering if having a partner would make it easier, and it did, actually.

“She took care of all my eating, all my food and recovery. So I’m quite grateful and lucky to have her over here.”

Follow our coverage of the Commonwealth Games with live blogs covering every moment of the action from 6pm AEST daily, beginning Friday, July 24.

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Billie Eder is a sports reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.