I’m Struggling To Understand How Married At First Sight Can Continue When It’s Produced Unethically & Promotes Bad Relationships
Throughout Married At First Sight season 18, the show has had some tremendous backlash and dealt with criticisms faced throughout the years, and after so much vitriol I’m struggling to understand how the show can continue in its current form. Throughout Married At First Sight season 18, the show has faced a significant amount of backlash for the casting, the experts’ role, and other issues within the series that viewers haven’t been happy with. From season to season, the series often faces valid criticism from viewers who are interested in seeing a more well-rounded, genuine product than what MAFS provides.
Throughout the last few seasons of the series, it’s been clear that the Married At First Sight cast members aren’t prioritized in several different areas. With their safety not being accounted for in their relationships, their desires not being considered by the experts, and their mental well-being not being prioritized by production, Married At First Sight has been creating some difficulties within the structure of the long-running show. While some viewers enjoy MAFS for the chaos it creates, the drama isn’t the only thing viewers look for within the series. Instead, some are finding MAFS too problematic to keep going.
Married At First Sight Has An Incredibly Low Success Rate
Although Married At First Sight has had some success in previous years, the last few seasons of the series have been tremendously low in terms of successful couples. Success can be measured differently for different people. When I’m referring to success on MAFS, I mean a couple who was matched by the experts, married, and stayed together through and past Decision Day. For example, MAFS season 16’s Nicole Lilienthal and Chris Thielk are a success for the show, while MAFS season 17’s Becca Haley and Austin Reed aren’t, even though the latter chose to stay together on Decision Day.
In terms of successful relationships making it through the show, MAFS has had some incredibly low rates in recent years. The series has seen very little success with the couples they’ve paired throughout its run, but there were far more successes in the previous seasons than there are currently. After MAFS season 12, which saw the successful pairing of Briana Myles and Vincent Morales, the show has only had one match in MAFS season 16’s Nicole and Chris make it through the series. With so many couples failing, it’s clear the experts aren’t doing their job to their genuine ability.
The MAFS Experts Have To Behave Unethically To Make Good Reality TV
Although the Married At First Sight season 18 experts, who include Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Dr. Pia Holec, and Pastor Cal Roberson, have been claiming they’re doing their best to create matches who can make it through the experiment successfully, something’s off about the team. Considering the way the experts have felt more absent this season than ever before, it’s clear that there are major issues with their abilities. The MAFS experts are having to limit the amount of interaction with cast members and change the way they interact, shifting their advice to a lower standard for the sake of TV.
MAFS Shouldn’t Continue Without Some Tremendous Change
Although Married At First Sight, at its core, has become more about the drama between the couples than it is about the actual relationships they’re building, seeing the experts so blatantly ignore red flags that could signal domestic issues is harrowing. In past MAFS seasons, it’s come out after the fact that the spouses weren’t treating each other respectfully but were being goaded by the experts to continue to try working on their relationships. With it being painfully obvious that things weren’t going to work out for some couples, it’s become clear to me that the show needs serious change.
With the recent announcement that MAFS is moving to Peacock, the show needs to undergo an overhaul before it lands on its new streaming platform. Currently, Married At First Sight puts the drama of reality TV first and the relationships on screen second, but I think if the genuine emotions happening on screen were prioritized, the story that would come out of them would be even better than the put upon drama viewers are used to. Married At First Sight needs some serious change, and I hope the show is up to the challenge before moving to a new platform.
