The premise of Married at First Sight is simple:
Attractive singles marry a stranger in hopes of finding their happily-ever-after.
But the show looks a lot different since its 2014 premiere — in ways you might not even realize.
From "I do" to "I don't," here's how Married At First Sight has become better than ever.
"I really don't even remember his
name…honestly, like, what's his name?" Once upon a time, Married at First Sight
lived in a land called FYI — a basic cable channel owned by A&E. But it wasn't until FYI simulcast
the broadcast that the series ultimately made the jump to Lifetime. There, according to The
New York Post, the show ranked as the network's top series for three years, starting in 2017.
"Over 40,000 people are looking to us to find them a life partner. That's crazy."
But while it's already been airing for years, longtime fans will be happy to know this series
doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Season 11 premiered in 2020, and according to
Entertainment Weekly, Lifetime has already ordered six more seasons for the franchise,
offering fans a whopping 17 seasons of wedded — or…not-so wedded — bliss.
During every season, Married at First Sight introduces fans to brand new sets of couples.
But the show has also featured some new relationship experts along the way.
"I want you to tell each other three things that you like best about the other one."
When the series first premiered, fans met Dr. Joe Cilona, sociologist Pepper Schwartz — a.k.a.,
Dr. Pepper — Dr. Logan Levkoff, and spiritual advisor, Greg
Epstein. But as the seasons progressed, the panel was gradually whittled down to
three — Dr. Pepper, pastor Calvin Roberson, and relationship expert Rachel DeAlto.
DeAlto was later replaced by Dr. Jessica Griffin. But since both experts sported blonde hair,
for casual viewers, the switch may have gone unnoticed. Dr. Griffin was a regular until
she developed a relationship with season six cast member Jon Francetic — who was originally married
to Molly Duff. Dr. Griffin was then replaced by couples' therapist Viviana Coles for Season 11.
The show is raising the stakes and giving even more singles a chance at finding their perfect
match by legally marrying even more couples every season. While only three pairs were matched
on Season 1, by 2020, fans saw a total of five couples taking a leap of faith on national TV.
"I mostly just kinda thought it would be fun to be on a reality show....I
don't think that would bode very well."
But it was only beginning with Season 10 that the franchise started featuring five couples
simultaneously, according to Deadline. Just three couples were featured during Seasons 1 through 7,
with four couples debuting on the show in Seasons 8 and 9. But more marriages
undoubtedly equals more drama, which of course is what keeps us tuning in every week.
"How are we supposed to become friends. I feel rejected from you,
like, you don't even wanna be my friend."
It appears this strategy might also help boost the success rate of the matches. More potential pairs
means a greater chance of the newlyweds staying together once decision day arrives. Even so, while
Season 10 matched five Washington, D.C. couples, only one out of all of them stuck together. But
even frontrunners Derek and Katie were getting a divorce by April 2020, according to E! News.
Can't get enough of this wild wedding day ride? Lifetime agrees! As more
couples tie the knot every season, it's only natural that episodes have become longer in
order to portray every marriage. This became apparent in Season 10,
when the series featured five couples for the first time. Episodes were capped at 2
hours — a pretty significant increase from the series' original hour-long time slot.
"Cheers to being married at first sight. [Cheers]."
Two hours may seem too long to some viewers — after all, that's the length of a feature film!
But for anyone who's also a fan of The Bachelor, two hours is nothing,
considering episodes of that show can sometimes last a whopping three hours.
Participating couples didn't always know what kind of show they were signing up for.
And while that might seem a little unbelievable, considering how popular the series is now,
when it debuted, no one had a clue what the show was about. And it seems producers
were tight-lipped when it came to letting potential singles know what they were in for.
"I'm getting married right now to someone I don't know. I'm thinking I
just made the worst decision of my life."
Executive producer Chris Coelen told Reality Blurred in 2014,
"We pretty much told them everything except for the fact that they would
meet their husband or wife at the altar and see them for the very first time there. We
didn't want to tell people what the show was about. [...] We wanted to find people
who were serious about wanting to be in a relationship. We wanted [the show] to work."
"Work," it did — and the series went on to become a total smash hit.
If you're really paying attention, you might notice a change of scenery with
each iteration of the show. Season 1 was filmed in New York City's tri-state area,
but the cameras didn't stay there for long. Subsequent seasons were filmed in Philadelphia,
Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami and more.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm marrying a stranger and so are you."
Of course, this is exactly why every couple matched on the show just so happens to live
in the same city. It turns out that sharing a home base has been a hard rule since Season 1.
Chris Coelen explained to Reality Blurred that it would have been, quote,
"unrealistic" to feature long-distance couples, especially given the fact that the newlyweds
already have enough stressors to deal with — including moving in with a complete stranger
and ultimately deciding whether or not they want to spend the rest of their lives with them.
When Married at First Sight first premiered, the newlyweds were encouraged
to steer clear of the other couples and nurture their own relationships.
But by Season 6, the duos started meeting up for organized group hangouts.
And while it wasn't initially set up to cause more drama, producers knew it would happen.
"It gets stressful, man, it gets stressful. I feel like I'm in like constant, like, mind…f---."
Chris Coelen told E! News,
"In the spirit of authenticity, these people all live in the same city,
and they are obviously super curious to know, and I'm sure left to their own devices they would
find out who the other people are. So why not embrace that [and] let them support each other?"
Dr. Pepper also explained that the series isn't a quote, "static show,"
which allows it to evolve with the times. By creating a community between the couples,
marriages and friendships blossomed — as evidenced by Season 10 star, Mindy,
who found a sisterhood with some of her fellow cast members after her divorce from Zach.
"Let's go to Costa Rica! I'm ready to honeymoon it up!"
In the Married at First Sight universe, even honeymoons are a group activity — but it hasn't
always been this way. Couples were originally sent to different romantic destinations, at the start
of the series. Fast-forward to Season 8, and the couples could be seen staying at the same resort
in the same country, even enjoying scheduled group activities during private couple time.
As fans now know, this format would continue throughout future seasons.
Pastor Roberson explained the reasoning behind the switch, saying,
"Bringing our couples together during their honeymoon is a means for support
so that when the going gets tough our couples can lean on each other."
Of course, it also resulted in more fun. During one night on the honeymoon episode on Season 8,
all four couples were entertained by local Costa Rican dancers before sharing their
unique experiences over dinner and drinks. From the beginning, Married at First Sight
has featured at least one couple of color per season. And when the series expanded its number
of participants, that number went up to two. But according to Season 1 alum Jamie Otis,
there's lots of room for improvement as far as diversity is concerned. She told Fox News,
"I'm not going to lie, I have definitely chatted with the production company about
why do we not have older couples and why don't we have same-sex or more interracial couples."
The Australian version of Married at First Sight was the first of the franchise to
portray a marriage between two women, for Season 7 in 2020.
"Are you ready for this? Yes, I'm ready. Are you ready for this? I was born ready, don't worry."
Pastor Roberson explained to Madame Noire in 2018 that the show's lack of diversity might
come down to logistics. Since potential singles are currently separated by gender
during the casting process, this makes seeing each other prematurely nearly unavoidable.
Married at First Sight has kept things fresh and exciting through the years
by introducing a bevy of fan-approved spinoffs. Since the show's 2014 debut,
the franchise has expanded to include Married at First Sight: Couples Cam, Marrying Millions,
Married at First Sight: Australia, Married at First Sight: Happily Ever After,
and Married at First Sight: Honeymoon Island. As People reported, Honeymoon Island
premiered in 2018 and tapped 16 love-hungry singles to live it up on an exotic island.
"My eyes hurt. I haven't cried this much since I was born."
But, according to Deadline, yet another spinoff is in the works.
Married at First Sight: Unmatchables will pair several singles who weren't
chosen for the original series and give them a second chance at finding love on national TV.
This is a reality show — and what's more "real" these days than people filming themselves.
Married at First Sight couples have been known to document their private moments
away from the camera crew — and all of that is often used as footage throughout the season.
But the innocent concept proved to be the launching pad for an entirely new show.
And in 2020, Lifetime launched Married at First Sight: Couples' Cam.
"To get away and get some alone time from Austin, I definitely enjoy going on long runs,
especially with my sister. Some of those runs are pretty long. Yeah."
Season 5 couple Anthony and Ashley immediately got in on the action, and in a trailer for the show,
they can be seen trying to find a missing puzzle piece while quarantining at home.
It's definitely a new direction, compared to the format of the original series.
Couples in seasons past were required to remain
married for eight weeks — until the much-anticipated decision day,
where they ultimately chose whether they wanted to stay in the marriage. But it
appears that hasn't necessarily been the case in the series' later seasons.
"Are we necessarily where I wanna be in a marriage,
either? No. I think that we have legitimate concerns."
For the first time in franchise history,
Season 9 couples were given an option to recommit or walk away at the halfway mark
of the eight-week evaluation period. Pastor Roberson explained on the show,
"We don't want them staying in marriages that
[are] toxic or have no potential for love just because of the experiment."
On the decision day episode every season, the relationship experts sit
down with each member of the cast to find out what is and isn't working in
their marriages — ultimately giving them all a chance to decide how they want to move forward.
Loyal fans will be very familiar with Dr. Pepper's home visits.
But throughout the years, these meetings at cast members' homes have grown more involved.
"You wrote about yourself that you had overall mythic
and godlike features? I do have a Greek-like body."
As the experiment goes, once the honeymoon is over, couples must face reality and move
in together. Of course, there are exceptions. Zach chose to live apart from his new wife,
Mindy, throughout the length of their short marriage.
But, typically, couples live together for the entirety of the eight weeks.
Dr. Pepper told E! News that she conducts home visits of every cast member before matching
potential couples; but she did vaguely note that she has been going deeper as the seasons go on.
While she clearly gains intel from looking through a couple's fridge, on the show she explained that
she also learns a lot from photos — which not only reveal a lot about contestants' lifestyles,
they also portray the relationships between the couples and their friends and family.
As Married at First Sight has become more sophisticated over the years, so has its
vetting process. The hit series has always heavily researched potential cast members by including,
quote, "in-depth psychological and background evaluations," per E! News,
and, for top candidates, a home visit from Dr. Pepper Schwartz. But it appears the already
detailed vetting process has gotten even more complex as the show's popularity has increased.
According to Dr. Pepper, production has started conducting interviews with the
friends and family of potential cast members early on in the vetting process
so they could better find a person's best match. As the expert explained to E! News,
they even asked candidates to bring in photos of their exes
or people they found attractive in hopes of having more success with their match. She revealed,
"We really wanted to know in their history,
not just what they found attractive, but who did we really date, who did we really see?"
"Most people stumble through the dating process. By getting married at first sight, we
give people what they say they desperately want."
Hey, if it leads to lasting love, an in-depth vetting process is
certainly worth the hassle! As much as this franchise has transformed over the years,
one thing will never change; there is always a chance you'll find your perfect match.
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