‘A disgrace’: People are calling out the MAFS UK experts this year more than ever and here’s why

What makes MAFS stand out from other reality TV shows is the experts. While the villains of Love Island and Love Is Blind can cause chaos unchecked, MAFS viewers get the sweet justice of watching the experts tear apart contestants at the commitment ceremonies. But the MAFS UK 2024 viewers aren’t all that impressed with the experts this year. Here’s a rundown of why.

How were some of these people matched on MAFS UK?

I get that Channel 4’s priority is to make good TV, not good marriages. But some of the match-making this year is pushing it a bit far. Why put Adam, who insists he’s only attracted to petite brunettes, with someone who is neither petite or a brunette? Why put Hannah, who isn’t sure she wants kid with a guy who already has four? Why would anyone think it’s a good idea to put Eve and Charlie in the same room? If these were the best matches which Channel 4 and the experts could come up with, then I’m scared about what the rest of the applicants this year were like.

Alex from MAFS UK 2024 has not got the grilling he deserves 

If Alex from MAFS has no haters then someone assassinated me. Lots of MAFS viewers (including me) genuinely struggle to watch his scenes with Holly.

In the most recent commitment ceremony, Sacha finally snapped and called out Alex for being unnecessarily aggressive towards anyone who has a different opinion to him. Sacha shouldn’t need to do the experts’ jobs for them.

Reddit users are not impressed that the experts didn’t hold Alex to account in the last commitment ceremony.

One wrote, “Did the experts really just sit there and let Alex talk to people like that? The behaviour they have let slide and not called out this season is horrifying! I know so many of them need calling out (especially Richelle!) but he was very aggressive and intimidating and should have been told to leave then and there.”

“The experts are full-on useless,” another wrote, “they’re basically props at this point. More like ‘hosts'”.

The experts aren’t giving much in the way of feedback

The only moment I can think of when the MAFS experts acted like regular relationship counselors this season is when Paul Brunson sat down with Holly and Alex to help them figure out boundaries (which worked for a whole two minutes). I guess they’re more focused on moving along the plot of the TV show than they are on giving the viewers a psychology lesson.

I swear they call out the women’s behaviour less than the men’s

Conspiracy theory: the MAFS UK experts seem to be more hesitant to tell off the women than the men. There have been so many villainous men on the show in the past, and the experts often haven’t spotted the full extent of these grooms’ toxic behavior until their brides break down at a commitment ceremony. Think of Harrison from MAFS Australia 2023, or Jack from MAFS Australis 2024, or Brad from MAFS UK 2023. Could watching Bronte and Harrison have put MAFS experts off all mankind, so now they’re warier of telling off the brides?

Richelle and Orson dramatically left the experiment in an extra-bitter commitment ceremony. Orson confessed that he’d kissed Hannah. Richelle yet again listed all the things she doesn’t like about Orson while he just sat there looking miserable. The experts called out the couple for disrespecting each other and the rules of the experiment. I get that we’re only seeing an edited version of events. But it did seem to viewers that would Richelle did – storming out of the honeymoon, skipping commitment ceremonies and refusing to work on her relationship – is breaking the MAFS rules more than what Orson did – kiss another bride once it was obvious their marriages had broken down and they were both going home.

After Polly rashly said she’d like to swap her husband Adam for Stephen the experts didn’t grill her nearly as much as they criticised Adam for comparing Polly to other brides.

Some MAFS viewers felt the experts should have called out Emma for encouraging Caspar to get more intimate when he wasn’t feeling ready.

It’s great that the MAFS experts are considerate of the contestants and don’t like jumping to conclusions. But true gender equality is surely being able to respond to everyone’s wrongs with equal savageness.

Maybe we just have more experience of MAFS than the experts do

To be fair to the MAFS UK experts, their jobs have got a lot harder in 2024. Now that the show has become so massive, the behind-the-scenes gossip gets reported on much more. MAFS UK 2024 viewers are always going to know way more about the couples than the experts do. I still think they should have been more critical of Alex, though.

Related articles recommended by this writer:

• We asked ChatGPT to finish Kieran and Kristina’s song from MAFS UK, and the lyrics were brutal
• Every cringey compliment Luke has given to Amy so far on MAFS UK, ranked by ick factor
• These 30 unhinged MAFS UK 2024 memes will keep you entertained until the show’s back

Feature image via Channel 4