All the strict rules the cast of MAFS are forced to live by whilst doing the experiment

You might watch a show like MAFS and think it looks like the cast are all living a dramatic life where they’re allowed to cause as much carnage as they want – but whilst filming for the experiment, there are a lot of rules in the background that they have to follow.

From what they are and aren’t allowed to post on social media, to what they can and can’t say in the press – those taking part on Married at First Sight have a lot to think about. The restrictions start from the very minute they start filming, right up to when the show is airing on TV.

Here are all the rules the couples who take part on MAFS have to follow whilst on the show, and in the weeks of it airing.

They have their phones taken off them before the wedding days

During the experiment, the MAFS cast cut off all ties to the outside world, and to do this one of the main rules is that they give up their phones and access to the internet.

All the brides and grooms have their phones confiscated, as they head to their hotel rooms ahead of meeting their matches at the weddings. Then, for the duration of filming, they are each given a production phone to prevent the contestants from finding out who they are to be paired with ahead of the weddings, and to stop contact with the outside world, so they can “focus” on their relationships.

Obviously, one of the main rules given to MAFS cast members is not to talk about their relationship statuses

Ok so we all know the MAFS cast really shouldn’t be sharing spoilers about if their marriages worked out or not. The show is filmed months in advance, so by the time we see it on Channel 4, a lot has happened.

The cast members are therefore sworn to secrecy over if they’ve broken up or if their marriages worked out – but this one of the MAFS rules they love pushing the boundaries with. Lots of those taking part in 2023 have already dropped some subtle, and even not so subtle, hints to what happens.

Whilst the show is airing, cast members aren’t allowed to wear their wedding rings

After the experiment is over, but whilst the show is airing on Channel 4, the cast members aren’t allowed to wear their wedding rings. MAFS UK 2023 star Erica said during a video that she’s been asked loads about why she’s not wearing a wedding ring in her recent uploads, and she explained that if the cast members wore their rings, it would be a quick giveaway as to who is still together and who isn’t.

So, to prevent any spoilers, all cast members are told not to wear rings on their wedding fingers whilst the show is on.

The cast also aren’t allowed to follow one another on social media

Wild, but apparently the cast aren’t allowed to follow each other on social media?! This is the main rule that always gets broken, with Luke telling the press loads of people from the show this year have followed one another on Instagram and TikTok, despite being told by production that this is something else people could use to work out the result of their relationships.

“One rule that everyone has broken is that you’re not meant to follow each other on Instagram or social media or TikTok,” he said. “But everyone pretty much follows everyone.”

The couples aren’t allowed to go out together in public

Also to prevent spoilers, the cast aren’t meant to go out together in public together until the show is over. However, already this season some couples have been seen out together, and others have noticeably been missing from cast nights out, which has got tongues wagging.

Whilst filming, the brides and grooms have to be all-in on the process

When filming for Married at First Sight, the cast members have to basically give up the rest of their lives for the show. They are needed to film for long hours every day, and have to move in with their partners in apartments set up by the show. Previous cast members have spoken of 12-hour days filming, which really doesn’t give you a chance to do anything else.

Speaking to The Tab, former bride Amy Christophers revealed that filming for the dinner parties can start as early as 8:30am, and sometimes filming doesn’t end until 3am.

Cast members therefore have to stop working whilst taking part. An E4 spokesperson told Cosmopolitan UK: “Contributors do not get paid to appear on Married at First Sight but are provided with financial compensation for loss of earnings due to the time taken for filming.”

Cast members can be banned from talking to one another off camera whilst the process is taking place

Previous cast member Marilyse Corrigan said in an interview that the cast are banned from talking to each other when the cameras aren’t rolling. This is mainly in place so nothing dramatic gets said and can’t be caught on camera for the show.

She told The Sun: “On an evening, we would go into each other’s rooms, and then one of the producers would find out, come back in and be banging and banging and banging!” She said producers would tell them to get back to their rooms, making the whole process “feel like boarding school”.

Whilst living in their apartments, the cast members have to ask permission to go out

Marilyse also said that whilst the cast were living with their other halves in the apartments, they had to ask production for permission if they wanted to go out.

“When we were in the apartments, we weren’t allowed to go anywhere,” she said. “If we wanted to go out we had to ring up the producers and say, ‘Can you send a chaperone because we want to go for a walk?’ and then they’d take us out into Brighton. But we weren’t allowed to go and have a drink in any of the bars or anything like that.”

The cast can be fined £10k for leaking stories to the press

This year, Luke spoke out following news of him being axed from the show hit the press. It was reported he had a fight with Jordan, and was removed from the process, and Luke then called out a “snake” in the cast who was “leaking” spoilers to reporters.

According to reports, after this Luke revealed that the cast can be fined a huge £10k if found to be leaking stories in the press. Drama!

For all the latest MAFS news, scandals, gossip and updates – like The Holy Church of MAFS on Facebook. 

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