10 Signs Married At First Sight Manufactures Drama (Will Season 18 Be Less Fake?)
There are signs Married At First Sight producers employ multiple strategies to manufacture drama on the show, which may continue in the upcoming 18th season. Since its premiere on July 8, 2014, Married At First Sight has become one of the most-watched reality dating shows, and the show’s viewership has grown over the years. In 2019, MAFS received the highest social media activity of any major television program and has kept that success ever since. However, despite its viewership success, the show has faced multiple criticisms for creating drama for TV while losing sight of its premise.
The criticisms against MAFS over the past couple of seasons include producers’ new strategy of focusing on and manufacturing couples’ drama over healthy relationship building and the inability of MAFS relationship experts to match couples successfully. These inadequacies have led to several chaotic seasons, including the recent MAFS season 17, which featured a cast of major clout chasers who were only on the show for publicity, producing no stable couples after eight weeks. However, with MAFS season 18 expected to premiere on October 2, hopefully, these strategies will not be repeated.
10. MAFS Has A Lot Of Filler Editing
One of the issues that fans have noticed about Married At First Sight across several seasons is how producers often use a lot of time fillers to try and build up intrigue about what’s to come or what just happened on the show. However, due to how repetitive these fillers are, they take away from whatever effects the producers intend. Each episode of Married At First Sight features a preview of a scene viewers may or may not see during that episode and a recap of a scene that just played, which feels unnecessary and redundant.
9. The Long Between MAFS Seasons Hiatuses Are Suspect
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Married at First Sight typically films a few months before each season airs, but despite these quick turnarounds, the time between each season’s premiere has been getting longer in recent installments. For example, there was a six-month gap between Married At First Sight seasons 15 and 16, and season 17 aired six months after season 16. However, the time between seasons 17 and 18 will even be longer than usual, and considering the quick turnaround between filming and premiere, one wonders if the delay is another tactic by producers to create drama.
8. The MAFS Couples Hang Out In Groups Too Much
For a show based on how quickly two strangers can form a strong romantic bond, one key ingredient must be privacy for the couples to figure out and work on their differences without too much external influence. However, due to the need for drama, new couples on the show are often made to hang out in groups, which creates unnecessary comparisons and competition between the couples.
Earlier seasons of Married At First Sight focused more on individual couples. However, that has changed in recent seasons, which adopted a group-focused approach. The need to hang out and interact with other couples on the show often creates issues and causes drama, which is toxic to new relationships. However, producers would rather have more drama than relationship success on the show.
7. MAFS Has Had Clout Chasers On The Show
Like many dating reality shows, Married At First Sight has also featured multiple contestants who are on the show for the wrong reasons. Over the years, fans have seen cast members like Airris Williams, Olajuwon Dickerson, and Jasmine Secrest, who were accused of being on the show for the exposure and numerous professional opportunities it offers, not to find love or build a relationship.
However, unlike other shows that aim to cut down on having clout chasers as cast members, MAFS has failed spectacularly in this area. Married At First Sight season 17, the most recent installment, alarmingly featured many clout-chasing contestants. Stars like Michael Shiakallis, Chloe Brown, Cameron Fraze, and Clare Kerr were all accused of being on the show just for the clout, as they contributed to a very messy season.
6. The MAFS Experts Pair Mismatched Couples
The poor success rate of relationships in Married At First Sight has been attributed to many factors. However, the poor performance of the experts, especially regarding matching couples, is one of the most obvious. Throughout various seasons of the show, fans have watched several cases of experts matching two individuals with nothing in common, often creating messy and toxic relationships for drama.
Meanwhile, former contestant Olivia Frazer also gave a damning assessment of the experts and their matches. Olivia noted that the show does not want successful couples. Instead, she alleged that the producers hold the real power in pairing the brides and grooms, only “consulting” with the experts as an afterthought.
5. The Point Of The Reunions Has Gotten Murky
The MAFS reunion episodes were set up to be an avenue to bring back some of the most memorable brides and grooms from the season to look back on some of the critical moments from the season and give an update about their relationship. However, in recent seasons, the reunion episodes have become an arena for couples to fight and contestants to air different allegations against each other. Producers have been accused of prioritizing ratings and drama over the well-being of the couples after some former contestants spoke out about their negative experiences after appearing on the show.
4. MAFS Had A Group Dupe Among The Cast
Married At First Season 17 was a season of many firsts in the franchise’s history, including an attempted group dupe by some of the cast members. The show featured contestants who conspired to control their storylines and portray themselves in a positive light for the cameras. After a messy and dramatic season, embittered exes Clare Kerr and Cameron Frazer exposed the scheme involving other couples. The group dupe boomeranged, resulting in a chaotic season and animosity between the men and women.
3. The MAFS Experts Have Not Guided The Couples Properly
In addition to matching couples, one of the duties of the Married At First Sight experts is to guide them through their relationship challenges, which might result in successful relationships off the show. However, after the disappointing success rate of relationships over seventeen seasons, the MAFS experts have been accused of not providing adequate guidance and support to the couples. The MAFS relationship experts have been questioned about their lack of accountability for their bad matches and their lack of attempts to be there for couples who’ve had a hard time on the show.
2. The Editing Has Made It Less About The Couples
In recent seasons, the editing of MAFS has come under intense criticism from contestants and viewers after a few mishaps that show the production team’s focus has shifted away from the couples and their journeys to maximizing drama on the show. Some tactics include staging reaction shots and featuring misleading scenes to present situations and contestants more dramatically to fit the intended narratives. The show’s editing has been less about the couples who plan to find love and build a relationship and more about who can get the messiest.
1. Most Couples Don’t Stay Together
Although Married At First Sight has created some successful relationships since its premiere, throughout 17 seasons and about 69 matched couples, only about 11 couples have stayed together. Currently, the relationship success rate of MAFS stands at 15.9%, and in only one season have the experts been able to match two successful couples. Due to the low success rate of the show, fans now go into new seasons of Married At Sight expecting drama and toxic couples, not the excitement of watching two couples find love, which is the show’s central premise.
