Ex-MAFS cast member says producers use ‘sly tricks’ to orchestrate cheating scandals

A former MAFS cast member has accused producers of the show of using “sly tricks” to encourage those taking part in the experiment to get involved in cheating scandals.

In the last few seasons of the show there have been a number of cheating scandals, when there previously hadn’t been in other seasons. This year we have seen Nathanial quit and Bianca be forced to leave because their partners, Ella and JJ, had been speaking to each other behind their backs.

However, former MAFS UK contestant Amy Christophers has claimed this might not be as authentic as we thought, and has accused producers of the show of using “sly tricks” to encourage the Married at First Sight cast to cheat on their partners, to create juicy TV.

“Having been on MAFS, I know that the producers will be egging on the cheating in the background – although, obviously, the two parties involved have to be willing to do it,” she said.

She said producers will ask contestants in the sign-up process if they’ve ever cheated before, and if they have will throw someone else into the cast who matches their usual “type”, but be sure to match them with someone else.

Amy added: “During the audition process, they’ll usually ask if you’ve cheated before, and if you were to say something like, ‘If I like somebody else, I don’t care whose toes I step on, I’ll get them,’ I reckon producers give another contestant your ideal type, knowing it could cause fireworks.”

Giving an example of this happening, Amy said: “In my series Megan Wolfe and Jordon Mundell said they were each other’s types more than the people they were married to. When they ended up alone in a room together drunk they kissed behind Bob Voysey and Alexis Economou’s backs. It’s like, what did you think was going to happen?!”

via E4

She also said the producers will have asked the cast members to have the conversation at the spa which started the whole drama. The MAFS 2023 cast during an away day asked one another who, other than their partners, would they like to kiss. Ella and JJ of course said each other, which Amy said “producers would’ve purposely asked to create drama.”

“Perhaps JJ said to his story producer or someone on production, in passing, ‘Ella’s just my type,’ and maybe Ella said that JJ is hers,” Amy said. “I think producers would’ve been like, ‘Right. Okay. Is there something here? Can we air it to the group on camera?’”

She said producers will “sit on” information like this and then “unleash it when the moment strikes to cause drama”.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said: “MAFS UK takes its commitment to matching couples very seriously and matchmaking is undertaken by a panel of experts, including on screen experts Paul C Brunson and Mel Schilling. In advance of casting taking place, all contributors provide their dating preferences – this also includes information on past relationships and experiences.

“The methodology our experts then use is underpinned by in-depth profiling and research to discover everything they need to know in order to match couples for compatibility.”

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