I’m Convinced Married At First Sight Season 18 Will Be Controversial (There Are Several Clues)

Married At First Sight season 18 is coming soon, and though many have high hopes for the new season, I believe that the upcoming installment will be the most controversial one yet. Throughout Married At First Sight’s run, there have been seasons of the series that have more drama than others. Despite the majority of the seasons featuring a fair bit of drama from the overall premise, there are some matches that wind up having couples that create bigger issues. In contrast, other seasons provide solid entertainment value and build well-established couples that continue well after the season is over.

Some MAFS seasons are more enjoyable than others, and whether a season is enjoyable traditionally hinges on what the viewer finds more enjoyable. Some viewers are interested in the high-drama seasons with volatile couples who have a hard time working through their issues, while others hope for fairy tale romance. I look for a Married At First Sight season that’s more in the middle. I’m interested in MAFS’ high-stakes drama, but I don’t always love it when there are couples who can’t manage to work through their problems. On the other hand, seasons that are too calm are somewhat boring.

No Major Changes Have Been Made To MAFS’ Expert Panel

Throughout MAFS history, the experts have been one of the most important factors in figuring out the marriages on the show and, at the same time, in assessing how to best ensure that the couples fix their issues. The experts, who currently consist of Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Dr. Pia Holec, and Pastor Cal Roberson, have had a tough time making successful matches on the series generally, but especially in the last few seasons of the show. Married At First Sight season 18, which takes place in Dr. Pia’s hometown of Chicago, doesn’t seem to see the experts making any changes.

While there are always hits and misses on Married At First Sight, the most recent season saw the experts and audience get duped in a way they’d never been tricked before. Married At First Sight season 17’s cast revealed during the reunion episodes that they’d pre-planned their storylines, playing out dramatic but fixable moments on screen to make themselves look good while on TV. Hiding their truth from the experts, the producers, and the audience, the cast fessed up that they’d fooled everyone. Despite saying they wanted an authentic experience, the MAFS season 17 cast was troubling from the start.

After finding out that they’d been bamboozled, the Married At First Sight experts seemed stunned. They’d had no idea that throughout their therapy sessions and in the moments they were trying to help guide the couples through tough moments, no one was being particularly genuine with them. While reality TV can be disingenuous, the cast members are typically tasked with being as authentic as possible for the sake of the show. Sadly, the experts weren’t aware of the MAFS season 17 cast’s deception while filming MAFS season 18, so they couldn’t change things they may have wanted to.

There Is A Problematic MAFS Season 18 Cast Member

Although there’s not much information about the MAFS season 18 cast that’s verified or confirmed yet, the cast has been released on Instagram. With the cast members readily available for public scrutiny, some have found that one of the cast members may not be on the show for the right reasons without even having seen the season premiere. As MAFS is as successful as it is, the series has been a long-standing favorite of viewers who love the drama, and many are able to dig up information about the cast members using as little as their names and Instagram handles.

One of the new Married At First Sight season 18 grooms, Ikechi, appears to have tried to get cast on the series in the past. Ikechi will be marrying Emem on Married At First Sight season 18, and while both have their Instagrams set to private and don’t allow new followers, they appear to look like a good match aesthetically. Even so, if Ikechi has auditioned for MAFS in other cities the way some sleuths believe, it appears he may be chasing clout trying to be on the series rather than having actual interest in finding an emotionally stable relationship.

The Season Could Go On For Too Long

Although the seasons are interesting as they move through each phase of the new Married At First Sight couple’s relationships, it’s been noted in the last few seasons of MAFS that they’e running longer than ever. While the show is filmed over a span of eight weeks, the seasons typically air over 20 weeks, making them more than double the length of the filming time. I believe that the Married At First Sight seasons would benefit from being shorter, and am worried that MAFS season 18 is going to run far too long to hold my interest all season long.