Explaining ‘Married at First Sight’ Is Almost as Weird as Actually Doing It
Sometimes, we just want to quit the dating world and let someone else take the reigns, but doing that means first explaining to all your friends what Married at First Sight is exactly. Because, let's be honest, the premise of the show is a little terrifying (unless you're into the arranged marriage kind of thing, which honestly sounds more and more appealing every day that we suffer through swipes on Tinder). Throw caution to the wind and allow a team of experts to marry you off to someone you're meeting only at the end of the aisle at your own wedding? It's not an easy task — but for love, it just might be worth it. That is, if you can get your mom and BFF on board. Watch the video above to see what it's like trying to explain Married at First Sight to your friend who's never watched.
How does Married at First Sight work?
There is some thought that goes into matching the couples together, in case you were wondering. So how it works is that a team of professionals take a look at your life, what you're looking for in a relationship, what you think you need, and what they think you need, and then hopefully pair you up with a significant other who is perfect for you. Perfect being in the long-term sense, of course — even if you kind of hate them on your wedding day. Once you've tied the knot with this stranger, then you give it all up to chance and try to go on a honeymoon, move in together, combine your lives (and maybe even your finances), and stay married for six full weeks. At the end of that, you'll have to decide whether you're interested in making it work or whether it's back to right and left swipes for you. Just make sure to put the fact that you're a divorcé and a former reality TV show star in your bio now.
Is Married at First Sight real?
Oh, it's definitely all legal — but whether or not it's real is a slightly different story. Like with any reality show, there's going to be some editing before things make TV, which means that there are conversations that get edited down or context gets edited out. A contestant on the Australian version of the show, Season 2's Simone Lee Brennan said there were plenty of "reshoots" happening on set. "I walked down the aisle four times, said my vows three times, and we kissed at the altar twice," she said. Another Australian contestant called the whole thing "excruciating" to live through. American contestant from Season 1 Dough Hehner felt differently, telling The Knot, "I believed in them as professionals, and I trusted that they were taking this experiment seriously and wanted to find a real scientific match, not just two people that were going to make good TV." That authenticity may have waned (it's hard to look at some of the couples and imagine who thought they'd be a good match), but whether the contestants and experts are for real, the legal marriage definitely is.
Which Married at First Sight couples are still together?
Believe it or not, some of the couples even managed to make it work. The first season had the best track record, with two out of three of the couples opting to stay together, but things mostly went downhill from there. And yet, the fact that Doug and Jamie are not only still married, but also have a baby, is enough to give true believers of the process some serious hope. They even landed a spin-off show, Married at First Sight: Jamie and Doug Plus One. Sure, it's not the most elegant title — Cortney and Jason's webseries, Carrying-On with the Carrions, has a way better name — but the show itself more than makes up for it. And no matter how many Jessica and Ryans there are, or David and Ashleys, we'll always have them as incontrovertible proof that the experiments works (well, works slightly better than dating apps, at least).
