I was on Married at First Sight – producers use sly tricks to create cheating scandals… and they work every time
THERE'S been more drama in this year's series of Married At First Sight than ever before.
And Amy Christophers, who was on the Channel 4 series in 2021, has had her say on why she thinks there's been so many arguments - as well as a cheating scandal...
WHAT a dramatic series of MAFS we’ve been having this year - where is the love, guys?
We’ve had Ella Morgan and JJ Slater texting each other behind their partners’ backs and one huge cat fight between Erica Roberts and Tasha Jay.
And we’re yet to see the punch-up that apparently got groom Luke Worley kicked off the show!
But I’m starting to wonder if all these cheating scandals and fights will actually turn off viewers who want to see the couples thrive.
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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!
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.
And most of the time, it does.
In my series Megan Wolfe and Jordon Mundell said they were each other’s types more than the people they were married to.
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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?!
Producers sit on information
It’s been reported that Ella and JJ actually leave the experiment and return together as a couple.
And it was definitely, in part, thanks to those questions the cast were forced to ask each other at the spa day, that the pair realised they fancied each other - questions I believe 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.
I think producers would’ve been like, 'Right. Okay. Is there something here? Can we air it to the group on camera?’
When we had a girls' day in my series, it came out that Josh Christie had DM'd one of the other wives, Morag Crichton, before the show - and that's because she told her story producers.
Sometimes these producers will sit on information for a couple of weeks, and then they'll unleash it when the moment strikes to cause drama.
That's what story producers are there for, they sit there with their phone constantly writing notes while you’re having a conversation with them, rambling away.
Getting in contestants' heads
I reckon the producers have also had a big part to play in Tasha and Erica’s feud - which I really haven’t been enjoying.
In my year I had a bit of a spat with Tayah Victoria - afterwards I believe producers tried to put a lot of distance between us.
And then, when you’re doing your voxes - speaking to camera - they’ll ask you over and over about somebody. For me, they used to ask about Tayah and Adam Aveling - Tayah, in particular.
They'd be like, 'Okay, interesting, that's not what she said,' that sort of thing - trying to get in your head that somebody's been slagging you off.
When we eventually sat down at one of the drinking sessions, Tayah was like, 'Oh my god, they keep asking me about you as well and I have no idea why!'
I believe they were trying to put us up against each other, and get us paranoid about each other.
I'm wondering if maybe that's something that happened between Erica and Tasha prior to that row, because I feel like there’s more to it with the amount of bitterness Tasha seemingly has towards Erica.
It’s not just the girls who’ve been arguing though, as it seems we’ve got a big fight coming between Luke and Jordan Gayle - and all the couples seem to be bitching about each other constantly.
Buzz phrase
I do find it funny how so many of the couples keep going, ‘Keep my name out of your mouth.'
It’s a really unnatural situation to be in, but it’s extremely hard to not talk about the other couples in the show, as producers are constantly trying to get you to judge the others and voice your opinions on them.
In my series I would say to producers, 'I genuinely don't give a f**k what they're doing in their couple, I'm just focused on my own,' and they'd be like, 'Well, you have to have an opinion.'
At the end of the day, you know what you're there for.
You all have to sit in the commitment ceremonies, talk about each other's relationship, the whole mixer is about what you guys are doing in the week, it's constantly talking about other people.
So, if, like me, you're not the sort of person that likes talking about other people, it automatically puts you on edge anyway, and it's a very uncomfortable situation to be in.
I’m hoping for some more romance for the rest of the show - we all love a happy ending!
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.
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"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.”