‘Absolute chaos’: Huge MAFS promise abandoned

Just three years ago, with the nation reeling from MAFS scandals, the show’s executive producer made a very big call - so what happened?

A lot has changed since March 2019 in the world of MAFS.

I know it’s exhausting, but try and cast your mind all the way back to then: it’s season six, the most explosive season of Married At First Sight so far, and with two bombshell cheating scandals rocking the experiment, the show’s executive producer has had enough.

With the nation reeling from all the drama surrounding the affairs of Ines Basic and Sam Ball and Jessika Power and Dan Webb, MAFS boss Peter Walsh admitted he was frustrated at how things had played out, claiming he didn’t want a repeat of the “cheating and drama” in season seven.

Who could forget this trainwreck interview with MAFS’ “cheating” couple Jess and Dan?

“I wouldn’t like things to play out the same, I wouldn’t like people to see a repeat of what they saw this year,” Walsh told news.com.au at the time.

“It would just be absolute chaos if it was all cheating and all drama. While it’s fun to watch and it’s great to promo, I don’t think people will watch if that’s all it is.”

Ines and Sam had a secret liaison.

For those that need a refresher, the following season featured an alleged secret drunken one-night affair, a toothbrush being used to clean a toilet as an act of revenge, and – for the first time – a couple being forcibly removed from the show over toxic behaviour.

Hayley and David’s union involved a truly grotesque toothbrush incident.

Fast-forward a year to the 2021 season of MAFS, and we had Coco Stedman and Cameron Dunne’s cheating scandal and a 13,000-strong petition circulating in protest of Nine airing what was claimed to be a “toxic” relationship between Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson.

Carolina and Daniel filled the brief for this season’s cheating scandal.

Olivia Frazer has provided plenty of drama, including the circulation of another bride’s nude photo.

And in the present season of the show, we’ve just seen Carolina Santos shamelessly engage in a secret affair with Daniel Holmes – with promos hinting at the return of the controversial pair this week – and a nude photo scandal which has blown every other previous MAFS drama out of the water.

So … what the hell happened? Those words uttered by Married At First Sight’s executive producer back in 2019 are now laughable.

In fact, if the show’s increasing dependence on cheating and scandal since then are anything to go by, I guess we can count on a truly wild season 10.

Married At First Sight continues tonight at 7.30pm on Nine.

Originally published as ‘Absolute chaos’: Huge MAFS promise abandoned