This season of Married At First Sight (MAFS) is so juicy, with couple swaps, arguments and wild challenges to come. But what makes the reality show so dramatic?
Well, the contestants have to follow a set of strict rules and producers have a heavy hand when it comes to crafting storylines.
From filming days that can stretch until 4am in the morning, to who actually matches the couples, PEDESTRIAN.TV has done some digging to find out all those behind-the-scenes MAFS secrets that you’re dying to see. You’re welcome!
MAFS behind the scenes secrets
The MAFS experts wear earpieces
2022 bride Olivia Frazer went rogue after the show and revealed on Instagram that she was paid “$1,100 per week”. Yikes!
Her nemesis Domenica Calarco (who, btw, just announced she’s preggerz) appeared to confirm this on The Kyle & Jackie O Show, telling the hosts that she earned “about minimum wage” for her time on the reality show.
“Look, even Dion [Giannarelli] said there wasn’t even enough to cover his rent,” she claimed. “It’s enough to cover your rent, living expenses, etc. Because when you live [on the show] everything is taken care of… you don’t have to pay anything. That’s about maybe an average salary, I’d say.”
MAFS producers choose the wedding rings
MAFS bride Jacqui also revealed that the cast are given their wedding rings by the producers.
“The producers choose the rings, all us girls had different rings, some girls had really shit rings, like the intruder brides had really crappy rings,” she said. “The original brides had the bigger ones.”
The brides do get to keep their wedding rings, which will either be a great memento of their incredible MAFS experience… or a reminder of the nightmare they endured.
MAFS has a strict alcohol limit
Executive producer Alexandra Spurway told PEDESTRIAN.TV that alcohol consumption is taken very seriously.
“I will cut people off if I think they’ve had too much to drink. At the dinner parties especially, we are monitoring their alcohol intake,” she revealed.
“You’re no good to me if you’re slurring your words. I will send you home. It will never get to that point, because I’ve cut you off. And you’re lucky we do because, if we didn’t, there’d be some very embarrassed, sore heads the next morning.”
She reiterated that producers have a strong “duty of care” towards the cast, and are “very proud” of the support system they offer.
There’s a House AP who monitors the participants
A source told PEDESTRIAN.TV there’s a House Assistant Producer who stays with the contestants at the apartment block.
“The House AP is mainly there as a duty of care and to monitor any conversations that should be on screen,” the insider spilled.
“Producers are with them 24/7 so they don’t really have the space to break rules. But naturally, people get tired and it’s a long filming process to be on, especially in the apartments. They’re small and the crew are in and out all the time. There’s no real privacy and naturally, people get a bit over it.”
The insider revealed that the cast often gets “tired and not up for [filming]” by the end of the show, which is when they are more likely to rebel.
Speaking of tired… remember this bloke? One of the worst MAFS grooms this year imo.
The MAFS filming schedule is hectic
Current MAFS bride Jacqui Burfoot spilled that the filming schedule is wild. While contestants get weekends off, the weekdays are usually filled with long hours of filming and waiting around.
“Dinner Parties are a massive day, Commitment Ceremonies are a massive day, where you’ll be required from 9am to 4am basically. There was one day when we got home and the sun had already risen,” she said on Instagram.
“The other days you’ll have a call time [in] the morning… where the crew will arrive and film you getting out of bed, and then you also have a nighttime [filming session].”
The ceremonies are filmed multiple times
A celebrant who previously conducted a wedding on MAFS told PEDESTRIAN.TV that while the ceremonies aren’t “faked”, they’re filmed multiple times to cover all the angles.
“There were at least three cameras, and it felt like a big TV or film set. At the wedding I was at, they filmed about four separate takes so they could get all the coverage,” they spilled.
“I had to wear an earpiece so the person in my ear would direct me when I could and couldn’t speak, which was a bit awkward.”
While there have been rumours that the MAFS celebrants are paid actors, the person we chatted to is a working celebrant. They confirmed from watching the show that they’ve seen other celebrants from the industry during other weddings — so it seems like they’re all legit!
The MAFS cast have to get their outfits approved
The MAFS cast aren’t dressed by a wardrobe team and are left to organise their own glam looks.
2023 bride Janelle Han told Refinery29 that producers have the final say on what the cast chooses to wear on the night.
“For Commitment Ceremonies and any of those sorts of events, we submit three photos and then they finalise the final one,” she said. “That’s because they don’t want any outfit clashing.”
What’s the MAFS application and casting process like?
2023 bride Tahnee Cook opened up about the application process in an essay for Elle, and described it as “intense and lengthy”.
“The whole process for me took around three months, from applying to my wedding day,” she said. “During this time I met with different producers (online and in person), filled out multiple questionnaires and had psychological evaluations.”
The second part of the application process requires potential cast members to complete an “extensive questionnaire” about “your future partner, about you and the show”.
She revealed that while it was time consuming, she found the process enjoyable.
“I felt like I was getting into the nitty gritty of who I am as a person and also the type of person I was looking for,” she said.
MAFS cast use alcohol to their advantage
2023 bride Melinda Willis told Yahoo! Lifestyle that some cast members on her season would pretend to be drunk so they could avoid chatting with producers. Sneaky!
“You’re meant to have like, roughly two glasses, but they really just cut you off when you start not being able to do a voxie which is your chat to camera,” she spilled.
“So if you didn’t want to do your chat to camera, you would just drink or act drunk and then if you couldn’t string your sentences together they’d be like, ‘Thanks so much’. And you know it’s not going to be used because they can’t use it.”
If the MAFS cast start fighting with their spouse, they have to call a producer to let them know
This might be one of the most outrageous filming secrets. Season six groom Michael Brunelli revealed on TikTok that all drama needs to happen on camera.
“One of the weirdest things when we were on MAFS was that they didn’t film all day, so when the camera crew left [in the evening], they told us, ‘Don’t learn anything about each other, don’t really talk to each other because it needs to be on camera’,” he said.
“If you have a fight, you need to stop mid-fight, call the producer so they can bring the camera and can start recording… then you’ve got to keep going with the fight!”
MAFS groom Michael Brunelli giving us the goss. (Credit: TikTok)
Sounds like hell, TBH.
No wonder the show is absolute reality TV gold. And we’ve still got Homestays week and Final Test Week to look forward to. Oh MAFS, please never change.
The post 10 Behind-The-Scenes MAFS Secrets That’ll Change How You View The Show Forever appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
