I'm impressed with the inclusion happening in season 18 finished airing in March 2025. This left fans on a hiatus from the show, and I know hiatuses last 4–6 months. What may factor into a potentially shorter hiatus, is that MAFS is switching networks from Lifetime to the streaming giant, Peacock. Also, seasons of MAFS tend to air four five to six once they begin, which could also change.
MAFS Has Historically Cast A Certain Demographic
Twenties & Early Thirties
The reason I say that Married at First SIght is coming off of years of low-success seasons is that the percentage of successful matches has been so poor. Of the 69 couples matched by the experts in the last 10+ years, only 13 of them are still together. I think this is in large part due to the casting demographic that MAFS production employs. Married at First Sight uses two strategies to select participants. The first is through organic applications, meaning people who seek out becoming cast themselves and apply.
The second casting approach MAFS production uses is through scouting and recruiting. Producers scour dating apps and Instagram profiles in the places MAFS visits in order to find telegenic people who they then invite to apply for the show. I feel the second method leaves too much room for clout chasers or people who aren't ready for marriage to get through the process in order to be on TV. Despite my thoughts on the casting approach, this is how production has always done it.
Within that matrix, I've noticed Married at First Sight has notoriously sought a certain demographic of participants. I've found most of the cast to be in their late twenties to early thirties, with some mid-twenties and late thirties people thrown in.
I don't see that this target demographic has done any favors for the show.
While I realize they are seeking a marriage-ready demographic, I don't think casting considers life experience when choosing participants.
In MAFS season 16, Domynique Kloss was only 25, yet she preached that she was an "old soul" ready for marriage. In fact, she clearly was not, as she never gave her husband a chance. Moreover, in season 17, 29-year-old Emily Balch had never been in a relationship before, and her immaturity in that area showed. There have been some older exceptions to the cast age choices. In season 18, Thomas McDonald was 42, and Ikechi Ojoré was 41, but only Thomas had a successful marriage. Given Thomas' age and life experience, I see that the older demographic worked.
MAFS Season 19 Will Have Two Casting Twists
Including A Mother-Daughter Duo
Married at First Sight season 19 will break from the usual and tired age range that hasn't produced lasting couples. According to MAFS fan and spoiler @mafsfan, season 19 will have a couple, Belynda and Chad, who are in their late forties/early fifties, and another, even older couple, Rhonda and Patric, who are in their late fifties/early sixties. I am overjoyed by the prospect of older couples getting married to strangers.
It's something the show has never done before, and it is an exciting twist that opens the show up to new possibilities. Not only will older participants bring a different set of baggage, hopes, and emotional intelligence that MAFS has been lacking, but I feel the break from the norm is refreshing. Moreover, one of the older women will be on the show with her daughter, in the first-ever mother-daughter duo. I find both twists to be highly engaging and tantalizing, as they breathe new life into the possibility that the outcomes could be different, since the demographic is changing.
MAFS Is Moving Towards Inclusion
Less Ageism
The other point about expanding the MAFS age range higher that I want to make, is that it means the hit reality show is trending towards inclusion. With huge successes like ABC's Golden franchise and Netflix's The Later Daters, MAFS is picking up on reality TV trends and also striving to mix things up and break into perhaps an older audience along with it.
I'm all for less ageism on Married at First Sight, and I think season 19 is pioneering in that way, and it bodes well for how future casting could go.
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MAFS Should Be Making Major Changes
The Show Needs An Overhaul
I wholeheartedly believe the changes made to casting older participants are necessary for the show's reception and trajectory at this point. Married at First Sight has become stale because of the failure rate, and spicing the cast up with a new age range and couples you can root for in a different way, I think, is the way to go. The show needed an overhaul, and it's getting one. I'm excited because I think future seasons past season 19 will have more varied age ranges, which can draw in more viewers and give the current audience more to consider.
Jalyn |
Late 20s |
Realtor |
Josh |
Early 30s |
Owns His Own Roofing Company |
Rhonda |
Late 50s or Early 60s |
Marketing |
Patric |
Late 50s or Early 60s |
Consultant |
Belynda |
Late 40s or Early 50s |
Realtor |
Chad |
Late 40s or Early 50s |
Executive |
Brittany |
Early 30s |
Human Resources |
Will |
Early 30s |
Consultant at ing Firm |
Meghann |
Late 30s |
Realtor & Works For Family's Surety Bond Business |
Derrek |
Late 30s |
E-Commerce |
Source: @mafsfan/Instagram
Married At First Sight
- Release Date
- July 8, 2014
- Network
- Lifetime
- Showrunner
- Sam Dean
Cast
Pepper Schwartz-
Calvin Roberson
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Charlie Mysak, Michael Fitzpatrick Lawrence Jr., Nick Petrie
- Writers
- Lotte Offenberg Bergqvist, Razor Rizzotti
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