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Is Married at First Sight Australia real?
3 March 2023, 09:05
Watch the trailer for the upcoming series of Married At First Sight Australia on E4
Is Married at First Sight Australia real? Are they legally married on Married At First Sight Australia? Here's what you need to know...
Married at First Sight Australia 2023 is on our screens for the first time, with a whole new bunch of singletons marrying on their first date.
While the 10th season of the show started airing on Channel Nine in Oz last month, viewers will soon be getting to know the new contestants.
But after seeing the couples tie the knot literally moments after meeting each other, many fans of the show have been left wondering whether it is real or scripted. Well, here’s what we know…
Are they legally married on Married At First Sight Australia?
Well, the people who take part in the show are all totally real, despite their varying motives for signing up.
But the marriages are not actually legally binding, which means they won't have to go through a divorce if they break up.
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While the couple's do have ceremonies in front of their friends and families, the Australian Marriage Act orders couples to notify the court one month and one day ahead of tying the knot.
A Nine Network rep has previously confirmed: "Each participant embarked on a commitment ceremony with a wedding celebrant with all due intention to commit fully to this union for the duration of the experiment.
"At the end of the experiment, they are given the option to continue with the relationship or go their separate ways."
Considering how many couples decide to break up during the process, it’s no surprise the weddings are not legit.
The contestants themselves are picked in all different manners and just like Love Island, some are headhunted by producers.
Jono Pitman and Ryan Gallagher were both picked out for the series, with Jono spotted at a football game.
He told TV WEEK: "I said no, but took the producer's card. Then they called me when I was at the pub and was convinced it was a good idea!"
There has also been some speculation over how the cast is picked, with previous stars Billy Vincent, Susie Bradley, Mike Gunner, Sam Ball and Dino Hira all revealed to have backgrounds in acting.
Is Married at First Sight Australia scripted?
Past contestants have also hinted not everything is as spontaneous as it seems, with many saying scenes are set up.
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."
During the ‘home visits’, it was also revealed that the show sometimes doesn’t use contestants’ real houses.
When bride Susie visited 28-year-old Barista Billy's luxurious beach home, fans were left confused.
Billy later confessed: "The house for my home stay was an Airbnb, as at my real home I had a flatmate that didn't want to be filmed."
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.”
