Is Married at First Sight UK scripted?
29 September 2022, 13:26
Thomas storms off after major row on MAFS UK
Married at First Sight UK 2022: Is the show real or is it scripted? Here's what we know...
Married at First Sight UK has been giving us more drama than any other series.
After the couples move in together, the explosive format sees them sit down for a dinner party every week to catch up with their co-stars.
They then have to decide whether they want to stay with their partners or go their separate ways.
But many people have been wondering whether the show is scripted or whether it’s completely real. Here’s what we know…
Is Married at First Sight UK 2022 scripted?
The UK version of Married at First Sight UK is not scripted, but the marriages aren't real.
Unlike the US version of the show, the couples simply make a promise to their partners to stay together, and are not actually married.
A legal wedding requires a marriage license, and the couples do not sign one after their Big Day.
Last year’s contestant Adam Aveling - who is now expecting a baby with his partner Tayah Victoria - defended the series after one follower said it must be scripted.
Commenting on a photo, the fan wrote: “I would say that was an awkward moment last night but the more I watch the more I feel it’s scripted and set up for added drama 🤷🏼♀️ I’m sure you two will go the distance ❤️”
To which Adam replied: “Trust me nothing is set up, everything emotion is real!”
A former star of the show called Emma Rathbone, who appeared in the first season, previously revealed that she didn’t even realise the process would be on TV.
Speaking during a This Morning interview in 2015, she said: “I didn’t know it would be televised.
“Ideally, I would’ve liked this without the TV. I would’ve liked to have been matched. We’ve been doing this for 18 months.”
Despite the UK version being real, a few cast members of the Australian version have claimed some things are ‘fake’.
After his series of MAFS Australia aired in the UK, Sam Ball said his affair with Ines Basic was fake and said newlyweds are prompted through ear pieces.
Awkward moment Kwame reveals why he’s not been intimate with Kasia yet on MAFS UK
Past contestants have also hinted not everything is as spontaneous as it seems.
Jono explained: "They're always fishing for one-liners. My famous line was, 'She wasn't what I ordered' when my partner, Clare, was walking down the aisle.
"They got me to say it a thousand different times."
Nasser Sultan from the 2018 series also confessed in an open letter that he was ‘painted out to be the villain’.
"I was edited as a villain because I didn't want to sleep with my wife who happened to wear a wig. She didn't want to sleep with me either, but that magical edit made it seem like she was longing for little Nass to make a cameo," he wrote.
"They're clever... You're probably in the midst of being manipulated right now and have no idea."
Sean Thomsen also from the 2018 series of the show even released his own memoir Married Lies…Secrets Behind Reality TV which stated he soon realised “how manipulated and storyboarded the whole thing is.”
