Married At First Sight Season 18 Is Taking Too Long To Premiere (Is This Normal?)

Married At First Sight season 18’s premiere date is up in the air, and it’s time to talk about why the new season is delayed. Perhaps that was the byproduct of the bad reception that Married At First Sight season 17 got. There were a lot of things that went wrong with MAFS season 17. The series was long and had lots of unsuccessful marriages. The Denver edition presented viewers with a group of individuals who were fame-hungry attention seekers.

They aimed to boost their images and were never interested in building long-lasting connections. This isn’t what MAFS is supposed to be about. It was a complete disaster, from the casting to the matching process. The MAFS season 17 cast members tried to deceive producers so they could look perfect onscreen. The participants looked bad in the process, and the audience felt a lack of authenticity in their journeys. Although it has taken a long time to debut, MAFS season 18 is bound to be better than season 17.

Married At First Sight Follows A Schedule

Married At First Sight follows an annual schedule. MAFS season 17 premiered on October 18, 2023, and concluded in late April 2024. Traditionally, MAFS has a two to four-month break between seasons. This means that Married At First Sight season 18 should have premiered between July and September. The regular format takes the couples through the wedding day, the honeymoon phase, living together and Decision Day. Therefore, based on last season, MAFS season 18 is technically not so late.

Lifetime had to give its viewers a break before introducing a new group of singles who were ready to give marriage a chance. Over time, the seasons have been getting longer, with MAFS season 17 being the longest ever in the franchise’s history. Before season 8, MAFS featured three couples per season. Seasons 8 and 9 had four couples, whereas seasons 10 to 17 had five couples each. However, that doesn’t justify why MAFS season 17 was long.

One reason why things turned out this way was Michael Shiakallis’s runaway bride situation. After being left at the altar, the experts had to find him a new match. They paired Michael with Chloe Brown, with the twosome beginning their eight-week process while the other MAFS couples were halfway gone. Hence, Lifetime must have felt that the audience needed a slightly longer break to mull over the concluded season 17.

Married At First Sight Fans Are Bothered By The Hiatus

MAFS fans have been looking forward to the season 18 premiere for a while. After a disastrous and boring MAFS season 17, they hoped a new season would save the franchise. There might have been a solid reason why the show was on a lengthy pause this time – to check what needs changes and update that before releasing another season. The latest edition will return to Chicago for a second time and might be the recipe for success. Many are optimistic that there will be no clout chasers on the show.

There is also hope that MAFS will make other changes to its format. Last season, they introduced post-Decision Day episodes and had a backup partner for Michael, which slightly changed the format. After an unsuccessful MAFS season 17, which the majority described as the worst season in the franchise’s history, the producers, experts and everyone else involved must have returned to the drawing board to see which areas they’d revamp.

Although none of the couples from Married At First Sight season 17 are together, there are probably many fans who are waiting for news about when MAFS season 18 will air – perhaps they want to put season 17 behind them. While some may be tempted to skip the latest season, others may be hoping for a return to Chicago, so there will be more successful couples.

There was plenty of drama in the last MAFS Chicago edition, including a cheating scandal. Still, it had a couple of successful marriages, thus setting the bar high for a second rendition of the series in the city.

Over the last couple of seasons, MAFS has gotten worse. Still, some viewers may await the new season’s premiere. A user named Maadjad started a thread titled “where is season 18” on Reddit. In it, most people confessed how tired they were of the wait and wished MAFS would start airing soon. Many lamented how bad season 17 was, with a few adding that season 18 might have taken longer since the editors and producers were either re-shooting or editing scenes to avoid another flop season. Nonetheless, MAFS seasons should run back-to-back to keep the viewers engaged in the franchise.

When Can Fans Expect MAFS Season 18 To Drop?

It seems like the wait and speculation are over, as MAFS season 18 is approaching. According to a leaked report, MAFS season 18 will premiere on Wednesday, October 2. Learn about the season via the ScreenRant clip (from YouTube) above. Lifetime hasn’t made an official announcement yet. Nonetheless, if the source is accurate, the trailer for Married At First Sight season 18 should be dropped soon.

There is high anticipation around the latest installment due to the failure rates of couples in seasons 16 and 17, with hopes for a better outcome this time around. Nicole Lilienthal and Christopher Thielk, who appeared on MAFS season 16, are the only couples who remain together. Hence, the stakes are high for season 18, and the producers will bring the drama as they introduce a group of well-behaved cast members.

Are There Any MAFS Season 18 Spoilers?

Dr Pepper Schwartz, Pastor Cal Roberson and Dr Pia Holec will return to the series. With the high rates of unsuccessful marriages, there should be a reshuffle of the professionals. Married At First Sight experts have ruined the social experiment due to a lack of matchmaking skills, leading to polar opposite couples, which has resulted in failed marriages. Despite being on the show from the beginning, Dr Pepper has contributed to the matching of incompatible couples, which is spoiling the show. Bringing fresh new people might be good when it comes to revamping the show.

There might be another runaway bride in MAFS season 18. In MAFS season 17, the first woman Michael was paired with left him heartbroken at the altar. That had never happened before in all the years the show has aired. However, it seems like there could be a repeat of the same. In the Married At First Sight season 18 teaser, a bride is asked if going through the process was worth it.

“Would it be the end of the world if I just literally didn’t do this?”

There is a chance the producers intentionally did this to stir the pot again. Still, with the runaway bride being the only exciting thing that happened in season 17, there might be a lot that the Chicago edition will present. MAFS season 17 was hard to watch. Hopefully, season 18 will not be a repeat of the same – mismatched couples, clout chasers and a long season that wasn’t worth the hype.

There should also be no more couples splitting halfway through the experiment like Clare Kerr and Cameron Frazer did. The couple didn’t give their marriage a fair chance and gave up when they faced the first challenges. The new batch of Chicago singles should be committed to going through the process to the end. Nonetheless, should Married At First Sight fail to redeem its reputation during season 18, season 19 (and beyond) should be better, based on the lessons and the feedback the producers and experts will have gotten.