The Married at First Sight experts need to avoid certain things in order to have successful couples in season 18. Married at First Sight season 17 was wholly a disaster. The season started with its first mismatch from the experts when they paired Michael Shiakallis with a bride who met him at the altar only to say she wasn’t ready to marry a stranger. The next split happened between Lauren Goodger and Orion Martzloff. The pair had several ugly situations that arose during their honeymoon, and they split upon returning to Denver.
Clare Kerr and Cameron Frazer separated on their one-month anniversary, and Emily Balch and Brennan Shoykhet had a nasty breakup a few days before Decision Day. In a Married at First Sight first, Michael was rematched and married Chloe Brown, but ultimately told her no on Decision Day when she had said yes. Becca Haley and Austin Reed were the only couple to say yes to each other on Decision Day, but they broke up the very next day. A lot of the blame for the couples failing can be put on the experts.
The MAFS Experts Shouldn’t Avoid Matching People With Differing Non-Negotiables
The experts, Pastor Cal Roberson, Dr. Pepper Schwartz, and Dr. Pia Holec have the responsibility to match the couples and take everyone’s individual non-negotiables into consideration. They have been failing miserably at this. Clare and Cameron had a fundamental difference regarding religion and raising kids in the church. Clare was devout and Cameron didn’t want his kids involved in religion at all. A similar difference in religion happened between Becca and Austin as well. Brennan asked for a positive person and thought they delivered a negative person in Emily.
It was clear that experts did not consider the participants’ needs in their partner, and were reckless with matching. In season 18, the Married at First Sight experts need to be more considerate about the cast members’ non-negotiables. If they don’t, then they will have more poorly matched couples that will end their marriages in divorce.
The MAFS Experts Need To Avoid Casting Clout Chasers
There has also been a problem with the Married at First Sight experts choosing people who are on the show for the wrong reasons. There have been several cast members, like Cameron Frazer, Airris Williams, and Chris Williams to name a few, who have had questionable intentions in joining the cast. They had clout-chasing motivations and wanted to get their fifteen minutes of reality TV fame. The experts need to be able to read the potential cast members better, so they avoid casting people who diminish the quality of the show.
The MAFS Experts Should Avoid Being Aloof About Couple’s Problems
The Married At First Sight experts also had the wool pulled over their eyes in season 17. The whole cast, except Michael and Chloe, took part in an attempted group dupe where they endeavored to control their narratives by presenting inauthentic relationships. They wanted to make themselves look good on TV and tried to outsmart the system.
It backfired not only by making the cast look bad but also the experts for not being able to detect the underlying deceit that was going on.
The experts need to be able to identify any future dupes or credibility issues so the show can retain its credibility. They need to avoid being so aloof in season 18 so they can kee a tighter read on all the couples.
The MAFS Experts Should Avoid Causing Problems
The experts’ role is to help the Married at First Sight participants, not cause more problems. In season 17, Dr. Pia caused friction between Emily and Brennan when she came for Brennan for not letting Emily speak. Moreover, she took a jab at him by saying that he needed therapy (via Lifetime.) Brennan got mad at Emily for not taking his side. Dr. Pia crossed the line again when she told Michael and Chloe they were being inauthentic and not true to themselves, which was an inappropriate thing to allege and greatly offended Chloe.
The Married at First Sight experts need to avoid getting their personal biases and attitudes involved in their therapy approaches. It will be critical to season 18’s success for the experts to avoid their misdeeds and reckless matching. With a lot riding on the entertainment value and strength of the pairings in season 18, the experts need to deliver after a disastrous last few seasons.
