You might want to sit down for this one.
We have some… unsettling news.
It turns out the Married At First Sight contestants are not purely chosen for their ability to match with another contestant.
Oh no, they’re often chosen because they “look good” and will be “great talent” on the fake-marrying reality TV show.
Yep, we’re shook too.
Clare and Jessie Stephens discuss Davina’s exit from the show. Post continues.
They bamboozled us, made us believe in marriage at, um, first sight, and then they dropped this fake-marrying bombshell on us.
You see, Channel Nine’s Head of Content, Adrian Swift, told Colin Vickery at the Daily Telegraph, the network has the final say on who is chosen for the show.
In fact, it’s the network executives who go on the casting tour — not the relationship experts.
“I’m not going to be disingenuous and say we pick them purely on whether they’re going to be a great match,” he told the publication.
“I’m never going to sit and go, ‘It is just the best matches we can find’. Often times we’ll say — particularly when we pick the first person before we match them — ‘They will be interesting television’.”
Swift also said they picked Davina Rankin because she “looked good and was great talent” and had a huge social media following.
Dean Wells, however, was not their first choice. The 39-year-old was only chosen in the third round of casting because he was a good match for his fake-wife, Tracey Jewel… and probably maybe a lil’ bit because of his rapping skills.