‘Married at Sight Australia’ Contestants Were Told ‘Don’t Really Talk to Each Other’ When the Cameras Aren’t On
Reality television has taken the world by storm. One of the most popular shows in recent years is Married at First Sight. The show depicts a team of experts who matches up couples to meet for the first time at the altar. The couples are then expected to live together for several weeks and see if they can make their marriage work. It’s a high-pressure situation, and tensions often run high.
The Australian version of the show has been particularly successful, drawing in millions of viewers each season. However, the revelation from a former contestant that they were instructed not to talk to each other when the cameras were off raised questions about just how “real” the show is.
Is ‘Married at First Sight’ real or scripted?
The catfights, broken glasses, and general petty behavior of previous seasons of MAFS have us wondering how much is staged. As reported by Daily Mail, Olivia Frazer, a contestant from Season 9, addressed the issue in an Instagram Q&A. She clarified that while the program may have a ‘scripted’ feel at times, the participants are never fed lines by producers.
According to MSN, Russell Duance, a groom from MAFS Season 8, also took to social media to set the story straight. “For all of those that are saying it’s scripted, I can tell you that not once did anyone say to me that ‘hey, you need to say this or that’ ever. Everything I said was from me in that moment.” His co-stars Sam Carraro and Brett Helloing agreed with him.
On the other hand, fellow participant Jono Pitman revealed an alternative viewpoint. Speaking to Now To Love, Pitman, who appeared on the show in 2016, said that the showrunners are always fishing for one-liners. According to the contestant, the showrunners had him repeat the line, “She wasn’t what I ordered,” like a thousand times.
In an interview with Now To Love, MAFS showrunners dismissed rumors of scripting. They insist that the show is exactly as it appears.
‘Married at Sight Australia’ contestants were instructed not to talk to each other when the cameras were off
Michael Brunelli, a contestant from Season 7 of Married at First Sight Australia revealed more about the show. He let the cat out of the bag on how the show’s creators capture all the drama. According to Brunelli, the MAFSA production team tries to discourage couples from fighting when the cameras are not rolling.
During a TikTok Q&A, the former contestant explained. “One of the weirdest things, when we were on MAFS, was that they didn’t film all day. So when the camera crew left [at night], they told us, ‘Don’t learn anything about each other, don’t really talk to each other because it needs to be on camera.'”
Brunelli continued. He said if something did happen off-camera, they had to wait and alert production. “[They said] If you have a fight, you need to stop mid-fight, call the producer so they can bring the camera and can start recording…” he alleged. “Then you’ve got to keep going with the fight…”
‘Married at First Sight Australia’ Season 10 premiered in January 2023
On January 30, 2023, the Nine Network debuted the first episode of the tenth season of Married at First Sight Australia. Returning to pair 10 brides and grooms are relationship gurus John Aiken and Mel Schilling, and sexologist Alessandra Rampolla. Based on the teaser, it looks like finding real love will be a major focus of the new season. Fans can expect this year’s brides and grooms to be more open and vulnerable than ever before as they search for love in Australia.
While most fans are thrilled about the new season, some people have criticized MAFS for being exploitative and trivializing marriage. Others argue that it promotes unrealistic expectations of relationships and perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes. At the end of the day, the show is not for everyone. And whether MAFS is completely staged or real, it’s great TV either way!
