As we enter another MAFS season, it's hard to accept that we have now sat through almost a decade of this show airing. Time flies when you're having chaotic fun.
That's 10 seasons of scandals, feuds, couple-swapping, breakups, heartbreaks, and the occasional love story.
Watch the teaser for the latest season. Post continues after video.
Married at First Sight debuted in 2015 with a simple format: a bunch of single strangers get married under the guise of an 'experiment'. From there, the show blossomed into what it is today, which includes weekly dinners and an annual couples' retreat to enhance the drama experiment.
And oh boy, we've met some unique characters along the way.
As season 11 kicks off, we've decided to count down the best MAFS contestants of all time. Sorry if your fave missed out, we were spoilt for choice!
20. Elizabeth Sobinoff.
Beginning with Lizzie, this queen of eating Nutella and putting pizza in the toaster is the only bride to be married twice in the experiment. Beginning with the failed union that was her marriage to body-shaming flog Sam Ball, closely followed by her second marriage to personal trainer, Seb Guilhaus, Lizzie proved to be one of a kind.
19. Cheryl Maitland.
Another bride responsible for a series milestones, Cheryl became the first contestant to take part in a couple-swap after she was permitted to dump her match for texting another bride and continue the experiment with Andrew 'Jonesy' Jones.
This swap turned out to be quite the disaster with Jonesy sharing misogynistic sentiments about Cheryl behind her back. But our girl always stood her ground, becoming the series' first hugely popular star and, in turn, a rising influencer.
18. Ryan Gallagher.
Country lad Ryan stayed with Davina Rankin even after she had a (rather non-existent) affair with Dean 'Dickhead Dean' Wells, because Davina kept voting for the couple to remain every week. Ryan's eye-rolls each episode upon finding out he would be held captive for another week became a hilarious ongoing meme.
And the commitment ceremony when Ryan was finally set free was a day for national celebration.
17. Jo 'Foxy Jo Jo' McPharlin.
Foxy Jo Jo was just there for a good time!
She rocked bedazzled thongs on her wedding day, she was insatiably horny at all times, and she remained a ball of human sunshine throughout her journey – even if her husband barely spoke to her for the entire experiment.
16. Melissa Lucarelli.
I will never hear the Count from Sesame Street laugh the same way since we bared witness to Mel's infectious cackle. Mel really went through it during the experiment, starting with catching husband Dino Hira recording her private phone conversations, and ending the experiment as the recipient of the experiment's first and last breakup poem.
And the whole time, Mel gave some of the best facial responses this show has ever (and will ever) see.
15. Ning Surasiang.
Ning brought the emotions! Viewers were really rooting for her and Mark Scrivens, with the couple stuck in a pattern of showing glimmers of promise before Ning self-sabotaged out of fear of getting hurt.
And oh boy, she really did get hurt. Mark dumped Ning at final vows and hearts around the nation shattered with hers.
14. Harrison Boon.
This list highlights the good and the bad, and unfortunately, when it comes to the 2023 season of MAFS, there was no season without Harrison. Love him or (more likely) loathe him, he brought nonstop entertainment as the season's appointed villain.
The highlight of the season had to be Harrison arriving at the reunion with a printout of his 'receipts' from the cheating allegations levelled at him by Bronte Schofield, and being mocked by the entire group.
Perfect, no notes.
13. Bryce Ruthven.
Speaking of villains, Bryce truly dominated the 2021 season as the resident gaslighter. There was no one more divisive than Bryce, who managed to provoke the rest of the cast to turn against him.
And who can forget the 'secret girlfriend' storyline, which gifted MAFS a hot-mic moment as Bryce's co-workers were overheard lying for their friend?
12. Booka Nile.
Booka was just iconic. From her fiercely feminist opinions to her song 'Brett' as a clap-back to being told to dedicate an entire night in to her husband Brett Helling, she was the much needed antithesis to Bryce's toxicity on the 2021 season.
11. Jessika Power.
There is no rivalry in MAFS history more famous than Jessika Power and Cyrell Paule. But even before these two became sworn enemies, Jessika was causing drama by stringing Mick Gould along while starting an affair with Dan Webb.
A true agent of chaos.
10. Cyrell Paule.
'Cyclone Cyrell' provided pure nonstop entertainment on the 2019 season with her dysfunctional relationship with Nic Jovanovic, her friendship with Lizzie Sobinoff, and of course, her ongoing feud with both Power and Martha Kalifatidis.
9. Deborah Brosnan.
Deb simply wanted a Polynesian man from the Islands. Deb did not get a Polynesian man from the Islands.
She got John Robertson. They didn't last much longer than their honeymoon because of Deb's lingering annoyance with basically everything John said and did.
8. Davina Rankin.
When it comes to MAFS villains, Davina was in a league of her own. There's something low-key iconic about the kind of woman that can continuously call another woman 'babe' while attempting to steal their TV husband.
This was the case with Davina, who went on a secret date with Dean Wells and showed little remorse when confronted by his experiment partner, Tracey Jewel.
7. Olivia Frazer.
Davina might have caused some controversy, but Olivia caused a goddamn uprising during her memorable stint. She was matched with Jackson Lonie with the two becoming one of the season's successful matches, but this was all overshadowed by her fiery feud with Domenica Calarco.
6. Domenica Calarco.
Dom became a fan favourite on her season, which says a lot for a contestant who smashed a wineglass in the midst of an argument. Her ongoing beef with Olivia dominated the season, coming to a head when Olivia allegedly shared intimate photos from Dom's OnlyFans with other people in the experiment.
While Dom didn't get a lot of sympathy from the cast (aside from her delightful husband, Jack Millar), the rest of Australia stood with Dom against her privacy being violated.
5. Charlene Perera.
Remember Charlene? It feels like a lifetime ago but she was the goddamn queen of season five, bravely calling out the grooms at one dinner party for their misogynistic behaviour at boys' nights.
Charlene telling Troy Delmege to 'pipe down, Chachi!' will never not be funny.
4. Al Perkins.
I simply cannot resist a himbo and MAFS truly delivered one of reality TV's greatest himbos in Al Perkins. The Bondi local who still had his mum do his cooking and laundry basically spent the experiment learning how to live as an adult, which sounds grating, but his sweet disposition made him his season's most beloved contestant.
3. Ines Basic.
"Would you root me?" Never were more poetic words spoken on the series. Beautiful!
Ines was one of a kind. She really did it all: she got into one of the biggest fights in MAFS history (on a boat no less??) with her groom Bronson Norrish; she had a fling with not-her-husband Sam Ball; and everything she said was instantly iconic.
2. Troy Delmege.
Speaking of MAFS icons who belong in the reality TV history books, Troy is the hero of my heart. This man is unlike any other cast on this show – or, tbh, any man who has walked the earth.
Between his furious teeth brushing, his incessant hair combing, and his spontaneous bursts of push-ups, this man was made for reality TV.
1. Martha Kalifatidis.
Back in 2019, Aussie reality TV was changed forever with seven fateful words: “I’m gonna pour my drink on her.”
This was the reunion dinner to end all reunion dinners as Martha tipped an entire glass of red wine over Cyrell. This was after the pair got physical in another scene, during which Martha was wearing a sheet mask. As she... always was.
Basically, everything Martha did was epic and there will never be a bride like her.
Good luck to the class of 2024, you'll need it!
Feature Image: Nine.
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