Married at First Sight Australia production secrets: How do they make the show so juicy?

The marriages aren’t legit under Australian law

3 years ago | UPDATED 3 years ago

Are the Married at First Sight Australia weddings actually real? Like, is the person holding the ceremony legitimately licensed, or is it all for the cameras? If their relationships fall apart – which most of them do – do they have to go through a whole divorce procedure with lawyers and stuff?? Sounds like an expensive risk if you ask me. These are just some of the Married at First Sight production secrets we need answering, as well as questions on how much of Married at First Sight Australia is scripted, how the contestants are matched up, and whether the Married at First Sight Australia cast are paid.

These are the 12 juiciest Married at First Sight production secrets you need to know about:

*Contains Married at First Sight Australia Season 6 spoilers*

Are the Married at First Sight Australia weddings real?

The Married at First Sight Australia weddings are not legally binding. Instead, the weddings on the show are meant to be more like a commitment ceremony, where the husband and wife promise to try and make the wedding work. If the couples go their separate ways, there’s no legal fees or big divorces, it’s just like a break up.

A MAFS network rep told Now to Love: “In order to comply with the Australian Marriage Act (1961) which requires one month and one day notification, a marriage in law was not conducted.

“Each participant embarked on a commitment ceremony with a wedding celebrant with all due intention to commit fully to this union for the duration of the experiment.

“At the end of the experiment, they are given the option to continue with the relationship or go their separate ways.”

Jules and Cameron from Married at First Sight Australia Season 6 got legitimately married after the show, with Cameron proposing to Jules at the end of the series.

In the UK version of the show the rules are slightly different, and according to Closer the weddings are legit. They are civil ceremonies – never religious – and take placed at a licensed venue.

Is Married at First Sight scripted?

The cameras are rolling for around 12-16 hours per day, and sometimes producers ask the cast to repeat lines so they can get the shot at a different angle, but how much of Married at First Sight Australia is actually scripted?

Season 5 cast member Nasser claimed the whole series is fake. He told New Idea: “You get fed lines. It’s all scripted and all staged.”

Another MAFS Australia contestant said: “They’re always fishing for one-liners. My famous line was, ‘She wasn’t what I ordered’ when my partner, Clare, was walking down the aisle.

“They got me to say it a thousand different times.”

Some of the contestants are head hunted

Thousands of people apply each year to go on the show, but like all reality TV shows some of the cast is head hunted. An ex-MAFS Australia contestant told TV Week a producer spotted him at a football game. He said: “I said no, but took the producer’s card. Then they called me when I was at the pub and was convinced it was a good idea!”

British contestant Clark told Cosmopolitan he saw an advert for the show when swiping on Tinder.

Some viewers are also convinced the producers hire actors instead, as both Sam and Dino both have acting pasts – but this sounds pretty far-fetched IMO.

They can’t have been previously married

Contestants have to come into the show single and without past marriages. This is so the weddings truly are their first experience of getting married.

Can the couples get divorced on Married at First Sight?

Married at First Sight Australia production secrets reveal the couples aren’t legally married, so there’s no divorce procedures if they break up – this explains why the contestants are so readily to break up or get with someone else.

In other versions of MAFS, there are divorce proceedings. In the American version, the contestants sign a prenup beforehand. A producer told The Wrap: “There is a prenup that is built in. It’s a very short, brief prenup. It basically says what they walk in to [the marriage with], is what they walk out of the marriage with.” If the couple want a divorce, they have to do it within a certain timeframe to receive any financial help.

No one is allowed to post on social media before, during or after the show

This is so what happens on the show can remain a secret. Nassar told WHO that producers control their social medias, and that they’re only allowed to go on their phones once the filming for that day is finished up.

How do the Married at First Sight experts match the contestants?

Ex-MAFS UK contestant Clark told Cosmopolitan contestants had to answer a 500 questions all about your past relationships, what you find attractive and any red flags. He said: “It was a 500 question questionnaire that goes through your likes, your dislikes, all the intricate pieces of information about you. Your religious views, your political views, what you find attractive, your sexual history, whether you are sexually active. If you want to match with someone of the same ilk as you, you’d like to think they match you on the same morals and what you’ve said when you’re doing it.”

They also have extensive medical and psychological tests before

Contestants go through vigorous health tests as well as tests about their ideal relationship and dating history. Ex-MAFS Australia contestant Nasser told WHO: “You go in and they test you to make sure you don’t have any diseases. They also make you sleep in the same shirt for a week and send it back in for pheromone testing. Then we meet with Trisha, who asks us to smell the shirts and tell us what we think or feel just by the scent.”

Everyone is separated before the dinner parties, hence why they’re so explosive

The dinner party scenes are usually pretty explosive. Thanks to the huge amounts of alcohol consumed, at least one couple usually ends up arguing and there’s a lot of gross snogging going on. According to Married at First Sight Australia Season 5 contestant Tracey Jewel, one of the best Married at First Sight production secrets is that everyone is separated before the dinner party and made to sit alone, stewing in their own thoughts. This explains why the dinner parties are always so dramatic.

Tracey told WHO: “They want the dinner parties to be as explosive as possible. You have to rock up at noon and sit in a tent until like 4pm on your own and you have all these emotions bubbling to the surface and seething before you walk in.”

Couples have to send pictures to producers of what they’re wearing to the dinner parties and commitment ceremonies

Nassar said: “We each have to send photos of our outfits to producers prior to the dinner parties and commitment ceremonies to make sure they like them and that they work on camera.”

Are the Married at First Sight Australia cast paid?

No, but they get the honeymoon for free! Clark told Cosmopolitan there was a small budget for the wedding dress and suits, as well as the stag and hen. Other reports claim the cast are paid a small fee for the time they are filmed during the week. There can be different rules depending on where the MAFS is being filmed.

Their homes are actually rented places from Airbnb

After the weddings, some of the couples go back to one of their houses, rather than a hotel. According to some past cast members, the houses they go back to aren’t actually their own, but an Airbnb. Jess and Tamara Joy’s houses were both Airbnbs in Season 6.

Married at First Sight Australia Season 6 is available to watch on All 4 now.