5 Ways ‘Married at First Sight: UK’ Is Different From the U.S. Version of the Show
Can’t get enough Married at First Sight? In addition to the current Nashville season, Lifetime has also added Married at First Sight: UK to its lineup, giving U.S. viewers a taste of what the MAFS experience is like across the pond. But MAFS: UK isn’t just a version of the U.S. show with different accents. From the size of the cast to the structure of the season, it’s different in a few major ways.
The ‘Married at First Sight: UK’ couples don’t get legally married
In the U.S., Married at First Sight participants go through a legal wedding ceremony that binds them to their expert-selected partner for the duration of the show. In its first few seasons, that’s how Married at First Sight: UK worked as well. But starting with season 6, which aired in 2021, the show changed course. Now, the lavish “weddings” are actually commitment ceremonies. When Whitney and Duka and Chanita and Jordan said “I do” in the Married at First Sight: UK Season 7 premiere, those weren’t legally binding unions.
The ‘MAFS: UK’ cast is much larger
Another difference between the American version of Married at First Sight and its British counterpart? The size of the cast. Recent seasons of the U.S. show have followed five couples. But the seventh season of MAFS: UK features eight couples, which definitely dials up the potential for drama, especially when you take into account some other differences between the two shows. The U.K. cast members are also drawn from around the country, unlike the U.S. show, which focuses on a different city each season.
The British reality show has a different structure than the U.S. version
The U.S. version of MAFS likes to take things slow. Each season starts with a matchmaking special. That’s followed by episodes where the cast members learn they’ve been matched, inform their families they’re getting married at first sight, and let loose at a bachelor/bachelorette party. The U.K. version dispenses with most of those preliminaries. In the season 7 premiere, viewers met the brides and grooms and saw the first two couples get married.
The differences between the two shows don’t stop there. In the U.S. show, all the couples live in separate apartments in the same building. In the U.K. version, they all live together. Weekly dinner parties with all the cast members deliver plenty of drama. So do regular commitment ceremonies where each couple must decide whether to continue their relationship or bow out of the experiment early.
Unlike ‘MAFS’ in the U.S., the U.K. show features LGBTQ couples
The American version of Married at First Sight has taken heat for only casting heterosexual couples. In contrast, the U.K. version adopts a more inclusive approach. Season 7 features two LGBTQ couples. Thomas, a 31-year-old mental health care assistant from Liverpool is matched with Adrian, a 37-year-old digital designer from Manchester. And Zoe, a 30-year-old quality surveyor from West Midlands, marries Jenna, a 32-year-old zero waste shop owner from Blackpool.
Some U.K. participants have been married before and have children
Married at First Sight: UK cast members aren’t just diverse in terms of their sexuality. The Channel 4 reality series is more likely to feature people who are older, have been married before, or have children.
The U.S. show tends to cast people who are in their 20s and 30s and have not been previously married. (Erik from MAFS Season 12 was a notable exception.) But season 7 of MAFS: UK features one couple in their late 40s/early 50s. Other cast members include a divorced dad with four kids, a single mom who had her first child at 16, and a woman who’s been married twice before.
New episodes of Married at First Sight: UK air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
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