MAFS Expert Alessandra Rampolla’s Fact File: From Her Age & Qualifications To Her Ex-Husband

1 March 2024, 15:23

Married At First Sight’s Alessandra Rampolla has become a staple personality on the show, but there’s a lot about her that we don’t know! How old is she? What are her qualifications? Who’s she married to?

Alessandra Rampolla, the newest addition to the panel of experts on Married At First Sight Australia, only replaced Trisha Stratford and joined the show in 2021.

Alessandra brought along her own set of knowledge and qualifications surrounding sex and intimacy, which as we all know, can cause a lot of drama on the reality show experiment.

The sexpert made a refreshing addition to the cast, alongside John Aiken and Mel Schilling, and her ability to be both empathetic and understanding as well as very sternly speak her mind is just what the show needed.

• Read more: Who Are The MAFS Australia Experts?
• Read more: MAFS Australia’s Lucinda Becomes Viewers’ Hero

With MAFS 2024 well and truly underway in the UK, here's everything you need to know about Alessandra from her age, to her nationality and whether she’s married or not!

Who is Alessandra Rampolla on MAFS 2024, what are her qualifications?

Alessandra is Married At First Sight Australia’s sex and intimacy expert and she's a certified clinical sexologist with over 20 years' experience.

Alessandra graduated with a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from United States International University. The sexpert also graduated with a number of degrees from California’s Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality including a Degree in Sexual Education, Clinical Sexology, and the Restructuring of Sexual Activities, just to name a few.

So there really is no doubt that Alessandra knows what she’s talking about.

After graduating, Alessandra’s career kicked off in South America. She featured on a number of television programs including Emmy nominated School for Husbands, she found herself as a regular guest on Dr Phil, she hosted her own radio show and even somehow found time to author five best-selling books.

With her vast academic knowledge of sexology, paired with her experience in the media industry, it’s no wonder the world has fallen in love with Alessandra.

How old is MAFS expert Alessandra Rampolla?

Alessandra was born on the 25th of March, 1974, making her 49 years old with her star sign being an Aries.

Her parents are named Ginette Saavedra Boneta and José Rampolla Navarro and she was raised in a very strict Catholic household, “I’m of Catholic descent and was raised that way,” she told TV WEEK.

“Nobody told me anything about sex. I was really conflicted when everybody thought it was weird that I wanted to grab a boy and kiss him. I couldn’t understand why something I felt was very natural and positive was such a bad thing.”

Alessandra’s upbringing influenced her career as a professional sex therapist, and she continuously endeavours to normalise healthy relationships and communication around the topic of sex.

What nationality is Alessandra Rampolla?

MAFS’ Alessandra was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and her ethnicity is Puerto Rican.

While she was born and raised there, Alessandra left to get an education in the United States for a few years, before returning to her home country.

It was in Puerto Rico that the sexpert’s career kicked off on television. Speaking to 9Entertainment, she said, "Originally, my idea was to have a private practice, but my priorities changed and I ended up going on a morning show in my hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico, because they needed someone in the lead-up to Valentine's Day 2001 to talk about sex topics."

"That's how I started in media, and within a year I was writing for newspapers, two different radio shows, and the next year I started working in television in Latin America for Cosmopolitan's TV network. It was not what I expected, but the show was a huge success and it covered so many countries that I was suddenly travelling all over the place."

It was all this travelling that actually resulted in Alessandra securing her role on Married At First Sight Australia.

She was reportedly attending the Emmy Awards for another show she had appeared in at the time and that’s where she met an executive from the production company, Endemol Shine who created MAFS.

"I was at the Emmy awards in New York a couple years ago, I met an executive from Endemol Shine, we became friends. He’s my only contact in Australia. He had seen the show that we are nominated for," she told Australian radio hosts Fitzy & Wippa, explaining how she landed a role.

Is Alessandra Rampolla married?

MAFS expert Alessandra is not married currently and does not appear to be dating anyone.

However, she was previously married to a businessman named John Hernandez. The pair were wed in 2007, however, after four years the marriage ended in divorce.

Apparently the two had very different ideas on how and where they wanted to live their lives.

Alessandra's been open in the past about what happened in her relationship. She's spoken about how John wanted to stay close to his parents back home in Puerto Rico, and how she desired to stay in Argentina, where they were at the time, to raise a family.

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Speaking to Woman's Day, Alessandra explained, "I did everything possible for us to be happy together, and I don't regret anything I did."

"There was no drama between us, we love each other and we are friends but at a certain point, life just took us on a different path."

She reflected on her marriage in the interview and revealed that the lessons she learnt helped her be a better and more empathetic expert on Married At First Sight.

"I think going through those ups and downs of a marriage will allow me to understand what some of these couples will go through." she told the publication.

"But I don't think you need to have that experience to be able to offer up advice and I think my expertise and education gives me the tools to do that," she added.

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