The MAFS UK cast have been announced, but will they hold a candle to the Aussies who helped us through lockdown #3?

Fiona Frawley

If you’re as obsessed with reality tv as I am, MAFS Australia will have played a serious role in your January viewing this year.

For those of you who are too sophisticated for that type of carry on, MAFS or Married At First Sight is a show that’s pretty much exactly what it says on the tin – people getting married without having ever met each other before. Hopeful singles apply for the show and a panel of “experts” are brought in to match them to another applicant they believe they’d be well suited to. A wedding happens, and the new couple are moved into a flat where they can begin to navigate life as a married couple. All of the couples involved in the experiment come together for weekly dinner parties, and for check ins with the experts during which they have the chance to leave the marriage if it’s not working out. It’s absolutely insane, and the Aussie version was just what we needed to distract us from the dreariness of lockdown during the winter months earlier this year.

In previous seasons, the UK version has never been quite as intense. The newlyweds don’t move in with one another or have to leave their regular lives behind for the duration of the experiment. However, following the hugely successful reception to the Australian model who knows, maybe they could change their format. All we know for now is that the trailer has been released, and we’ve gotten a glimpse at the new contestants.