Married At First Sight is one of the most thrilling reality shows on TV because of its high stakes and fans are currently tuned in to the drama of the San Diego couples featured in season 15, airing now on Lifetime.
While matchmaking is one proven way to find love, also exhibited in reality shows like Indian Matchmaking, the way that Married At First Sight goes through the process and all that it makes strangers do together is pretty intense. Fans take issue with some parts of the show, in particular.
The Show Damages How People View Relationships
Married At First Sight is one of the most popular reality shows because of its intensity, but this can also be its downfall. Since the show has gone from four couples per season up to five in recent seasons, and takes place in cities across the nation with spinoffs around the world, it presents a variety of personalities and relationships and not all are good.
One college student wrote on the site Study Break about how important it is for young people to see healthy relationships in the media when trying to figure them out in the real world, and that's really true for all ages. With this in mind, Married At First Sight is not the best example because its circumstances are only realistic for those on the show, so it should be taken with a grain of salt.
It Doesn't Value Or Respect The Sanctity Of Marriage
Many people are quick to get upset about protecting the "sanctity of marriage" for a variety of reasons, but those who take issue with Married At First Sight not valuing the weight of it may have a point. While the experts seem well versed in what the commitment of marriage is meant to be, there is very little controlling what all those brought on to the show will think of it.
Several contestants, like Paige from Married At First Sight season 12 or Iris in season 9, have been vocal about what marriage means to them, and values like theirs are a nice perspective for fans to hear, regardless of how their relationships go. That said, plenty of cast clearly have the mindset of just feeling that they'll get divorced if it's not the right fit, and so they coast through without putting in any effort or work.
The Environment Is Too Stressful For New Relationships
New relationships need space to grow, and a lot of that should be quality time and alone time, neither of which seem easy to come by for those on Married At First Sight. The new relationships are thrown into a pressure cooker with four other couples trying to do the same thing, so their quality time gets flooded with other people and their issues.
Then, there is the issue of alone time, which the couples do not seem to get much of either. Anytime it looks like the couples are enjoying one on one time, the cameras and producers are obviously there. Obviously, they get time away from it, but likely not enough to form connections properly.
The Experts Select People That Lack Commitment Or Have Other Roadblock Issues
Sometimes the experts seem to select people who are clearly not ready for commitment, but there is only so much they can do if people lie on their input form and turn on manipulation and charm throughout other parts of the process, which seems to be the case based on some conversations had on the show.
There are other times when the experts seem to know they are selecting a commitment-phobe, and they just believe they are ready or that the right person could change things, which is a pretty big leap to make when there's an established pattern of behavior and a fear that hasn't been worked through. It's always sad to see a partner like this placed with someone who seems to be ready.
There Is Too Much Corny Music
Plenty of reality shows have cheesy background and transition music, but it doesn't get much worse than the songs on Married At First Sight. It's unclear if it's for budget reasons or copyright reasons, but they never have any well-known songs and a lot of the music they use tends to sound the same and become annoying.
Whether it's to complement a dramatic undertone, a bright and poppy transition, or lovey-dovey songs to make vaguely cute moments seem convincingly cute or sweet moments seem sweeter, the songs are pretty hard for fans to tune out and ignore.
The Experts Can Be Snippy With The Cast
Fans of Married At First Sight have very mixed feelings and emotions about the experts, and it's pretty clear why. Sometimes they knock it out of the park with amazing pairings and advice, and other times, the scenes with them seem lacking.
There are many examples when the experts seem to have favorites, made quick judgments about some partners, or seem to take sides or be unnecessarily harsh toward some. At times, it's deserved, but other times, the expert can come off as rude.
Some Pairs Are Created Just For The Drama
Every season, there seems to be at least one couple who is doomed from the very start and seems set up to fail, so fans have to wonder if this is intentional and that Married At First Sight is just trying hard to be a drama-filled reality TV show.
This is particularly suspicious when it comes to Haley and Jake from season 12 or Brett and Olivia from season 11. In Brett and Olivia's case, one of them knew they wanted kids and the other one did not. A couple should never be paired when there are fundamental opposing opinions about big life decisions that would require enormous compromises by one person or another.
There Are People Who Are Only There For Fame
There will always be people with ulterior motives on reality shows because of the kind of opportunities that can come afterward. It's pretty much a given, at this point, that appearing on a popular reality show will increase a Married At First Sight cast member's Instagram followers and likely lead to influencer opportunities too.
This is great for people who take it as a byproduct after the fact, but it's pretty easy to spot when it is the goal, and that is the case for cast like Zach from season 10. He had modeling experience already, had his own business that he freely discussed by name on the show, and he put absolutely zero effort into his marriage to Mindy, which was heartbreaking.
Production Is Too Demanding
It's very clear as a viewer when production takes a toll on the cast , largely because it will get put into the show. It's not surprising that the cast who are unbelievably rude to production will be put on blast when the season airs, like Brandon from season 10, AJ from season 8, or Christina from Marriage At First Sight season 11.
There is no excuse for cast who behave poorly after agreeing to the of appearing on the show. However, even the cast who don't pick fights with production are vocal after their contract ends about how draining production is.
The Experts Seem To Overlook & Normalize Toxic Behavior
In addition to being snippy with some cast , sometimes the experts seem to take sides when working with the couples to enforce toxic patterns in the relationship.
This isn't always the case, and it's kind of hard to determine since fans don't actually know the people on the show and only see how the show is edited, but there are plenty of unsavory traits or poor behavior that seems to go unmentioned or unchecked from the experts in of how the couples appear after editing. That said, the audience only gets to see what the producers want them to see.