The ‘Married At First Sight’ Experts Have Promised The Most Explosive Season Yet

Buckle up, folks, because it’s nearly Married At First Sight season once again! We’re ready to say goodbye to our social life and stare wide-eyed at the TV for the next 10 or so weeks as we watch single people meet for the first time at the altar and participate in a chaotic experiment in an attempt to fall in love.

Let’s cast our minds back to last year’s MAFS as a refresher: did it make us believe in the power of love? Um, not really. But was it entertaining to watch? Hell yeah! I still play ‘Brett’ loudly to this day, and I can’t think of baths without thinking of Patrick and Belinda’s foot-clapping scene. (Sorry to remind you.)

The promo for this season of Married At First Sight already looks juicy AF, with some hot and heavy action of both kinds: some couples look to be getting along swimmingly well, while the dinner parties look to be as explosive as ever. And in one commitment ceremony, it appears there will be a mass walk-out, with expert John turning to Mel and Alessandra to utter the words, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

In the lead-up to Season 9 of MAFS, we decided to go straight to the source for the answers.

We chatted to experts Mel Schilling, Alessandra Rampolla, and John Aiken, about what to expect from this season of Married At First Sight.

On why people get so addicted to MAFS:

Mel: “What makes it unique is that it goes deeper than physical attraction. I think a lot of other shows in this genre are very much based on on that external focus, the physical attraction, and things stop there. The way this experiment is constructed means that the people on it can’t float by and hang around on the surface, they’ve gotta go deep and if they don’t, we’ll take them there. The fact that we facilitate that deeper conversation and give personal insight means there’s so much more depth to it. Our audience gets to see themselves and their own relationships being played out on the screen.”

Alessandra: “People who watch the show are very continually contrasting what they see on TV with their experiences and the experiences of their friends, parents, and other relationships they’ve seen.

There are no other relationship shows that will show you the dynamic of a relationship in the way that MAFS does.

And like Mel said, with the depth we go into, it can very confronting when you see behaviours that you recognise in your own relationship and you have a little perspective and you realise ‘oh that’s really not cool’. You see our commentary, redirecting or giving advice on ‘maybe you should try this or do that’, so I think it’s that reflection aspect – the conversations that the experiment is able to spark for audiences at home is truly valuable for their own lives.

I think when you add that to the possibility of falling in love and the magic that could happen there, it’s difficult to not be compelled by what’s going on in the program.”

On dating being more difficult than ever in 2022:

Mel: “Factors like COVID and dating apps are playing a huge role in what’s going on in the dating world at the moment. With apps, it’s created this whole disposable dating mentality where you get instant gratification. If you’re not interested in the person sitting in front of you, you just swipe and go on to the next. There’s this sense of, ‘I don’t have to work at it, I don’t have to stick around I can just move on and, next!’

That’s something our experiment really does challenge, especially younger people coming into the experiment who are very much used to that swipe mentality. We’re forcing them, in a way, to behave differently, to have resilience, to have patience and tolerance, and to have that sticking power, and they’re not always used to it. But also the pandemic has meant that people are desperate for connection. There’s really a global epidemic when it comes to loneliness and people are wanting that connection, so we’re finding that people coming into the experiment now have greater desperation and need love and connection.”

On people going on the show for the “wrong” reasons:

Mel: “We’re always after authenticity and one of our jobs in that initial matching process is to identity the people who really want love. That’s what we’re looking for and we do our best to involve people in the experiment that are there for genuine reasons. Sometimes that changes throughout the experiment, people’s motivations do change along the way when they’re under such pressure and we can’t control that.”

Alessandra: “It is reality TV, big personalities are cast, and nowadays reality TV is such a staple across television around the world. A lot of people want to get exposure and they use reality TV to get there. From my perspective, when I speak to them, first of all they’d never come out and say, ‘we’re here for the exposure’. So I take it at face value and regardless of whether that plays a part in them being interested in the experiment, the prospect of the possibility that you might find someone who’s right for you, and you might fall in love… that’s a different kind of hook for them in being hopeful that maybe this can work.

In my own experience, that hopefulness shines through. Sometimes the people who are super invested straight off the bat might flake out early on and I don’t expect that, and others who I thought might be flaky really bring it and form strong, beautiful bonds that they may not have been expecting.”

On the ‘opposites attract’ method:

Mel: “There’s no formula to this. Some people say opposites attract, some people say like attracts like. Our philosophy is both can work but it’s what’s underlying all that. It’s not about personality. You’ve got to go beneath personality and the outward projection of who someone is and go into their underlying values and strengths and the fundamental makeup of who they are as a person and what they want in life, what they believe about relationships, what are their goals. It’s that stuff. What we’ve found is that if the underlying deeper foundational stuff is right, it doesn’t really matter if they’re opposites or similar on the superficial stuff.”

On what drama to expect from this season:

John: “Fans should expect a lot of conflict. There are rivalries that are in this year’s experiment that we’ve never seen before. There are cliques that break out that create all sorts of fractions within the group. Boundaries are crossed. Dirty laundry is aired.

There are massive moments, at least two huge events that take place this year that we haven’t seen before.

The cast is very triggering. You’re not going to be able to watch it and stay neutral. You’re going to have a lot to say about it. And you’re going to be very invested because this year’s cast is extremely… unique in how in your face they get.

But in saying all of that, there’s still love thrown in. But the group dynamic is extremely front and centre this year. Huge dinner parties, the volume is extreme, the conflict is daunting. The anxiety for some of the people in that experiment is really difficult for them at times. It really put extra stress on the couples just trying to fall in love.”

Mel: “To contrast that, there are also some very funny moments. There’s a couple of really comical characters in the group dynamic this year, and we were in stitches. There’s light and dark in there. There are funny, gorgeous, romantic moments and there’s some slapstick kind of moments and there’s the heavy, confronting moments as well.”

On the criticism the experts face by being part of Married at First Sight:

Alessandra: “The experience the audience has watching the show is not congruent to our experience filming. The audience is privy to what happens during the week, they see all the behaviours, and we only observe dinner parties from afar and interact with them at the commitment ceremonies. We’re not at the weddings, we don’t see footage during the week, we don’t necessarily see the volume of the conflict.

It’s interesting because I understand the passion behind the opinion, but I feel very comfortable in knowing where we are in the situation, what we’re doing, and how we’re responding to what we have seen. That is a limitation because of the format of the show in that sense, but it doesn’t phase me whatsoever.”

John: “I’m very glad people have their critiques because I don’t want to be vanilla. They can either love us or hate us but I don’t want them to be lukewarm. So I’m happy with that.”

Mel: “They’re never bored!”

Alessandra: “If we’re sparking conversation, I think we’re doing well. I want people to talk about relationships and take a good look at themselves.”

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Married at First Sight premieres 31 January at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.