Is our love affair with MAFS finally over?

Married at First Sight’s season 9 premiere fell flat on Monday night, with ratings down for the second consecutive year. Are you still watching? Join our poll.

Married at First Sight’s season 9 premiere fell flat on Monday night, with ratings down for the second consecutive year.

The Channel 9 reality TV show had a disappointing start with 869,000 metro viewers tuning in, a significant drop from last year’s figure of 964,000 viewers.

MAFS went up against Channel 10’s Survivor, which drew 608,000 viewers and Channel 7’s The Voice Generations - 529,000.

While TV critics might be wondering whether MAFS is losing its spark, one expert says it’s too soon to tell.

“While no TV exec would want to see ratings go down year-on-year, let alone two years in a row, history would indicate that the show builds momentum throughout the course of its season,” said Media Week’s Trent Thomas.

Married at First Sight’s season 9 premiere fell flat on Monday night.

“We didn’t see MAFS really kick into gear ratings wise last year until the dinner parties started and the drama was in no short supply. Last year MAFS launched with under 1m, but by the finale it had an audience of 1.4m metro viewers and a national audience of 1.816m. So, we could potentially see the same type of trend this year.”

Channel 9’s Director of 9Now and Programming, Hamish Turner, said he’s thrilled with the figures.

“Off the back of an incredible Australian Open, it’s wonderful to see viewers have once again fallen in love with Married At First Sight. The show has everyone talking and it dominated last night in Total People and across all demos, and it has once again proved to be a cross platform hit, with significant live viewing on 9Now,” said Turner.

It comes amid ongoing complaints about the controversial show and concerns about contestants, who “get married” on national TV upon meeting their assigned partners for the first time.

Claims of “deliberate mismatching” and “sneaky editing tricks” to boost ratings have increased over the years.

Last year, The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) confirmed that it was investigating complaints ranging from concerns about classification to the welfare of contestants, however, broadcaster Channel 9 was later cleared of wrongdoing.

Claims of “deliberate mismatching” and “sneaky editing tricks” to boost ratings have increased over the years, with many past contestants alleging mental health impacts as a result of their experience.

One of the show’s former relationship experts, Dr Trisha Stratford, appeared in seven seasons before abruptly leaving the show in 2020.

Dr Trisha Stratford (left) claimed she was “bullied” by Channel 9 after raising concerns about the wellbeing of contestants.

She previously claimed that she was “bullied” by Channel 9 after raising concerns about the wellbeing of contestants.

“I felt ethically, professionally, morally compromised,” the clinical neuropsychotherapist told ABC’s Background Briefing podcast.

When Dr Stratford asked Nine for a meeting because she felt a contestant needed to come off the show, she said was met by “an array of top level people from Nine and production company Endemol Shine”. “I also felt they were attempting to bully me,” she said.