Dr. Pepper Schwartz has arranged dozens of blind marriages over the years on Married At First Sight, but the relationship expert’s personal life isn’t as privy to the cameras as the participants of Lifetime’s social experiment. Since its first season in 2014, Married At First Sight has aired 17 complete seasons, with singles marrying a stranger at the altar. Naturally, while the idea may sound good in theory, it’s only a matter of time until the couples of each Married At First Sight season find themselves in some serious conflict.
Based on the Danish version of the series, Married at First Sight’s American version has engaged fans for a decade now. A panel of three experts provides counseling and guidance as they help couples navigate their new marriage with their unknown partner and highlight the journey of the newlyweds from wedding to honeymoon to beginning their new lives together. At the end of eight weeks, couples decide to stay married or divorce.
Dr. Pepper Schwartz’s Background
Despite the series’ low success rate of just 18.75%, Pepper and Pastor Calvin Roberson will be returning with the premiere of Married At First Sight season 18. Set in Chicago a second time, Dr. Pepper, Pastor Cal, and Dr. Pia Holec are determined to help the five new couples enjoy a happy marriage. Although all eyes are on the newest batch of arranged marriages as they attempt to prove that love has no boundaries, there is still a lot to know about the person who matches individuals chosen for the series.
Dr. Pepper, who comes from a Jewish family, was born in 1945 and turned 79 in May 2024. According to Dr. Pepper’s official website, the Married At First Sight star earned her BA and MA from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri; Pepper then completed her Ph.D. in 1974 at the University of Yale. Pepper has collaborated with Janet Lever several times throughout her career, who she met during their first year at Yale. In 1971, Dr. Pepper and Janet co-published a book, Women at Yale, and later wrote a sex column for Glamour magazine.
Dr. Pepper Schwartz’s Career
While she’s mostly known for crafting arranged marriages on Married At First Sight, Dr. Pepper is an established sociologist and sexologist who is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington. Per Dr. Pepper’s University of Washington staff page, the relationship expert has been a faculty member since 1972. Besides her educational career, Dr. Pepper has written several New York Times bestsellers, served as the President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexualities and Pacific Sociological Association, and is the current Love & Relationship Expert & Ambassador of AARP.
Dr. Pepper Schwartz’s Time On Married At First Sight
Dr. Pepper has been a part of Lifetime’s Married At First Sight since its inception and was originally joined by psychologist Dr. Joseph Cilona, sexologist Dr. Logan Levkoff, and Greg Epstein, a humanist chaplain at Harvard University. While Married At First Sight has also introduced viewers to relationship expert Rachel DeAlto, Dr. Viviana Coles, and Dr. Jessica Griffin, who went on to marry MAFS season 6 participant Jonathan Francetic, Dr. Pepper has remained a consistent and respected matchmaker, although some decisions on recent seasons of Married At First Sight have been criticized.
Dr. Pepper has been criticized by the participants of Married at First Sight, like Olajuwon Dickerson, for not being in tune with what was actually going on in his marriage. Olajuwon felt like he had to catch Dr. Pepper up and that her views were one-sided and unhelpful. Dr. Pepper was also totally oblivious to the attempted group dupe that took place in Married at First Sight season 17, where the majority of the cast endeavored to present themselves well on camera and hide their issues to get a good edit on TV. It was Dr. Pepper’s job to detect deception and falsities.
Dr. Pepper has been known to graze over her shortcomings and not take accountability for mismatching couples and failing to guide them properly.
In MAFS season 18, Dr. Pepper’s job is likely at stake because of all the failed couples she has had a hand in matching. Dr. Pepper has let huge red flags in cast members slip through, and she has dropped the ball in terms of being present and effective in many of the couples’ marriages. Her advice is often stale and off-base, which speaks to her lack of awareness of the trials and tribulations of the couples she is meant to match and counsel.
Dr. Pepper Schwartz’s Personal Life
Although her job is to create perfect matches on Married At First Sight, Dr. Pepper has been divorced. It’s unclear when Dr. Pepper married her first husband, Arthur “Art” Skolnik, but the pair separated in 2003; born in 1944, Art’s obituary states he passed away in 2020 from ALS. While Dr. Pepper keeps her personal life vague, she dished about her relationship with her second husband, Fred Kaseburg, to AARP in 2015.
“I’ve been with my guy, Fred Kaseburg, for more than nine years now,” Pepper shared. “But unless you count shared vacations or running back and forth between our two houses…the two of us have never lived together.”
The longtime Married At First Sight expert has two children, Cooper and Rider, at least one grandchild, and resides on a horse farm near Seattle. Dr. Pepper does not have the best reputation as an expert on Lifetime’s Married at First Sight, but it is apparent on the show that her heart is in the right place. At this point, the hit reality show would do well to replace Dr. Pepper given that she has failed so many times over.
