NewsBite

Despite reports, not ALL of Australia is watching Married At First Sight

IT’S the show on everyone’s lips, including Tracey’s, but those people who never watched Married at First Sight have an important message.

Matt Young
5 min read
March 22, 2018 - 10:54AM
MAFS Ep 31 Recap: A Riotous Reunion

COMMENT

AS CHANNEL Nine was touting the “biggest event in television history”, I began to wonder if I had missed out on something.

It’s no secret Nine’s latest instalment of Marriage At First Sight, or MAFS as the cool cats call it, has been an overwhelming hit for a network that has seen growing and steady success in its reality TV genre.

They’ve even proudly touted it as “Australia’s most watched show”.

Despite Nine’s claims the show has recorded its highest ever national audience (2.222m), as my finger hovered over the first episode of the season the other night, I still couldn’t bring myself to watch it. It’s too late — I’ve missed the boat. It’s like watching the beginning of Game of Thrones and expecting your friends to give a s**t.

For three months I’ve had to pretend like I know what’s going on with Tracey’s lips, or that I care about what seems to be a bunch of desperate bogans drinking too much and swinging from husband to husband.

But finally, myself and 22 million Australians are free. No longer forgotten in the wasteland that is Australian television. Finally free of marital hell and the pitfalls of Ashley’s inability to match her foundation to her tan, Troy’s awful haircut from hell or Sean’s decision to wear a gold suit like he’s just been dragged off the Logies stage. (OK, I might have Googled that).

With my sense of growing isolation, I took to the one platform that might provide me some consolation or a feeling of community — and as it turns out, I’ve been able to build my own little army of MAFS virgins.

Surely with Derryn on board, the sky was the limit. Though with his taste for wine I thought he might have been a fan? Apparently not.

But as soon as ABC Breakfast’s Michael Rowland stepped in I knew we were on to something special. Something serious, even credible? MAFS mob unite.

Not only did I have a growing cult celebrity, I was overwhelmed with responses from fellow Australians who have absolutely no idea who Dave, or Davina, Troy or Tracey, really are.

As the numbers began to multiply before me, my Twitter feed was ablaze with the forgotten people of Australian television. Finally, we were free to speak our truth: “WTF is MAFS?”

“Never seen it, never will,” James Hesketh tweeted in reply. There were dozens upon dozens of others.

“Believe me you are not missing anything.”

“I’m with you on that ... not watching.”

“Proud to be in the minority here.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one! Can’t get into it.”

Some people didn’t even know what the show even was.

“What’s #MAFS?” Twitter users messaged me both in public and private.

To be honest, I know very little about the show even though I work in a newsroom inhabited by the world’s most popular MAFS recapper James Weir. Despite my quick Googling of names and personalities, I’m probably on par with the rest of the nation that responded to my call to arms. Maybe a little more versed than Derryn, but only slightly.

From what I can gather, a group of “experts” — who seem relatively unprepared for the task considering no one tends to end up together — match couples through a series of tests and marry them off in a fake ceremony, forcing them to either figure it out or f**k it up completely. Most seem to do the latter — with a giant glass of wine in their hands (not that I’m judging, I do it all the time).

My way of keeping up in some form or other has come from friend and news.com.au colleague Weir, whose hilarious recaps of the show need no introduction to fans.

When I asked James to tell me what was so good about the show in one sentence he told me: “MAFS is about a group of people who all lack self awareness — some more than others — as they attempt to find either lifelong love or a hosting gig in regional radio”.

It’s a convincing argument.

All jokes aside, James explained why the show is in fact so popular with audiences.

“At its core, Married At First Sight is an observational, documentary-style series,” he said. “When the first series of the Australian version premiered in 2015, it was very different and closer to the original Danish format. It was a smaller scale — only four couples and six episodes long — and more fly-on-the-wall. More like something you might see on SBS.

“While the ratings weren’t hitting 1.5 million a night like we’ve seen with this current series, it was still pulling decent numbers and becoming part of the national conversation. Of course, the drama and clashes between the new partners was fun viewing.

“But what was also really fascinating to viewers was witnessing the ups and downs of these relationships and how individual personality traits can affect a partnership.

“The series had talkability and relatability. Since then, the show has become slicker and glossier. It’s over-produced and more embellished, like a traditional reality show. There’s a million more couples involved and the drama has heightened and become more extreme — but it still retains the essence of that original format.

“People can compare their own relationships and experiences to what they’re seeing on screen — and as the audience grows and it becomes part of the daily conversation, more people tune it because they don’t want to miss out.

“With this latest series in particular, the lives of the contestant’s involved have been quite exposed which makes the audience even more invested in seeing where these people end up.

“There was also the darker side with Dean and Davina’s affair. We’ve never seen an affair play out on screen before — and for a lot of viewers, it was fascinating to see it develop from the perspectives of all involved.

“With complicated and messy storylines like this, it means producers are story arching the series in a similar way to a scripted drama — which increases audience investment.”

Apparently, last night, there was some sort of shock over another partner swap but with rumours of late night hotel trysts between the couples and the fact the last episodes of the show were apparently taped in January, I’m not all that convinced any of the couples will last the mile at all. Has Nine just clickbaited us all in the most epic fashion?

In fact I don’t need to switch on a television show to watch a car crash love life in action, my own provides enough stories to last the test of time.

In fact I realised my last date was going south as soon as he started describing his opinion on pregnant women, notably New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and their inability to apparently work sufficiently while under such physical stress.

Who needs a televised dinner party when you’ve got creeps on Tinder to fall back on?

During the finale tonight, when the two million people tuning in go nuts on social media and over the water cooler tomorrow, remember my plea: There’s another 21 million people in this country who frankly, couldn’t give a s**t.

— Continue the conversation with Matt Young on Facebook or Twitter.

More related stories

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/married-at-first-sight/despite-reports-not-all-of-australia-is-watching-married-at-first-sight/news-story/c2ed4993d3e998f472c02e9a66b88a3b