Married at First Sight (British TV series) explained

Based On:	Gift Ved Første Blik (Danish TV series)
Genre:	Reality television
Creator:	Michael Von Würden
Developer:	CPL
Channel:	Channel 4 (2015–2020) E4 (2021–)
Country:	United Kingdom
Language:	English
Num Series:	8
First Aired:	^[1]
Last Aired:	present
Related:	Married at First Sight

Married at First Sight is a British television programme where strangers start a marriagelike relationship with each other, meeting only minutes beforehand. Upon returning, they live together for a period of time, during which they meet at commitment ceremonies and choose whether or not they will continue their relationship. On 14 March 2021, Owen and Michelle from Series 5 became the first couple to celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary together.

On 24 November 2020, it was announced that the programme would move to Channel 4's sister channel E4 in 2021, and would use the format of its Australian counterpart following the highly successful broadcast of the latter on E4.^[2]

Following the success of Series 6, it was recommissioned for a longer 30-episode seventh series, and a 37-episode eighth series.

Series 1 (2015)

First aired in July 2015. The couples were:

	Couple	Age	Occupation	Final Decision	Current status
1	Emma Rathbone	32	Businesswoman	Yes	Divorced^[3]
	James Ord-Hume	33	University Administrator
2	Sam McDonald	30	Chartered Surveyor	Did not marry	N/A
	Jack Finn-Kelcey	29	Security Consultant
3	Kate Stewart	31	Personal Trainer	No	Annulled
	Jason Knowles	34	Financial Adviser

Series 2 (2016)

First aired in October and November 2016. The couples were:

	Couple	Age	Occupation	Final Decision	Current status
1	Lucie	27	Marketing Executive	Yes	Divorced
	Steven Griffiths	30	Writer
2	Sara	30	Personal Assistant	Yes	Divorced
	Adam	32	Trainee Counsellor
3	Caroline	28	Operations Coordinator	Yes	Divorced
	Adam Donoghue	34	Train Manager
4	Melissa	27	Student Nurse	Yes	Divorced
	Clark Sherwood	26	Business Development Manager

Series 3 (2018)

First aired in February and March 2018. The couples were:

	Couple	Age	Occupation	Final Decision	Current status
1	Richard	28	Police Sergeant	No	Divorced
	Harriet	32	Financial Director
2	Ben Jardine	36	Property	Yes	Separated
	Stephanie	32	Police Officer
3	Wayne	31	Insurance Broker	Did not marry	N/A
	Carrie	35	Estate Agent

Series 4 (2019)

First aired in March and April 2019. The couples were:

	Couple	Age	Occupation	Final Decision	Current status
1	Steph	28	Nurse	No	Annulled
	Jonathan	39	Property Manager
2	Verity	28	Office manager	Yes	Separated
	Jack	25	IT consultant

Series 5 (2020)

First aired in October 2020. The couples were:

	Couple	Age	Occupation	Final Decision	Current status
1	Shareen	47	Events Manager	No	Divorced
	David	54	Wholeseller
2	Michelle	25	Teacher	Yes	Married with Child
	Owen	31	Global Account Manager

Series 6 (2021)

After the success of the Australian version, the Australian format was adopted. In Episode 1, two couples (Bob & Megan and Ant & Nikita) were matched and married. In Episode 2, two couples (Matt & Dan and Luke & Morag) were matched and married. In Episode 4, two couples (Josh & Amy and Franky & Marilyse) met and were married. In Episode 5, the final two couples (Adam & Tayah and Jordon & Alexis) met and were married.

This series began on 30 August 2021. The final scheduled for 30 September 2021 was postponed after technical problems prevented it from being shown.^[4] The final episode was rescheduled the following day.^[5]

Ceremony history

Episode:	8	11	14	19/20
Ceremony:	1	2	3	Final Decision
Luke	Stay	Stay	Stay
Morag	Stay	Stay	Stay
Amy	Stay	Stay	Stay
Josh	Stay	Stay	Stay
Adam	Stay	Stay	Stay
Tayah	Stay	Stay	Stay
Dan	N/A^3	Stay	Stay
Matt	N/A^3	Stay	Stay
Franky	Stay	Stay	Stay
Marilyse	Stay	Stay	Stay
Bob	Stay	Stay	Leave	Left
Megan	Stay	Stay	Leave
Alexis	Leave^2	Stay^4	Leave
Ant	N/A (Leave)^1	Stay^4	Leave
Jordon	Stay^2	Left
Nikita	N/A (Leave)^1	Removed
Notes	1, 2, 3	4	none
Ejected	Nikita	none
Left	Jordon	none		none

This couple left the experiment outside of commitment ceremony.

This couple elected to leave the experiment during the commitment ceremony.

This couple was removed from the experiment by the experts or Production.

Couple profiles

No.	Couple	Age	Home	Occupation	Honeymoon	Final Decision	Status
1	Robert Voysey	26	Bournemouth	Business Protection Specialist	Dominican Republic	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Megan Wolfe	26	Stoke-on-Trent	Wellness Coach
2	Anthony Poole	28	Manchester	Business Development	Mexico	Removed from experiment	Separated
	Nikita Jasmine	26	County Durham	Sales
3	Matt Jameson	39	Leeds	Charity Worker	Mexico	Yes	Separated
	Daniel Mckee	27	Northern Ireland	Sales
4	Luke Dawson	36	Cardiff	Care Home Manager/Fireman	Switzerland	Yes	Separated
	Morag Crichton	31	Essex	Veterinary Nurse
5	Joshua Christie	26	West London	Insurance Worker	Mexico	Yes	Separated
	Amy Christophers	34	Cornwall	Sports Journalist
6	Franky Spencer	47	Dubai	Strength & Conditioning Coach	Lake District	Yes	Separated
	Marilyse Corrigan	36	Beverley	Personal Trainer
7	Adam Aveling	26	Doncaster	Electrician	Antigua	Yes	Married with child
	Tayah McCreith	25	Welwyn Garden City	Estate Agent
8	Jordon Mundell	27	Cardiff	Personal Trainer	Maldives	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Alexis Economou	28	London	Model
9	Anthony Poole	28	Manchester	Business Development	N/A^1	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Alexis Economou	28	London	Model

Viewing figures

Official, 28-day consolidated ratings are taken from BARB and include E4 +1. Catch-up service totals are added to the official ratings.^[6]

	scope=col colspan=7	Viewers (millions)
	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
Monday	2.42	2.27	2.68	2.75	2.35
Tuesday	2.17	2.37	2.47	2.52	2.47
Wednesday	2.46	2.24	2.51	2.46	2.28
Thursday	2.36	2.41	2.62	2.60
Friday					1.87
Weekly average	2.35	2.32	2.57	2.58	2.24
Running average	2.35	2.34	2.41	2.46	2.41
Series average	2.41

"Afters" specials

For this series, a special aftershow was broadcast on Thursdays at 10 pm, after the final Married at First Sight episode of the week.

Episode	Airdate	Guests	UK viewers (millions)
1	2 September 2021		0.44
2	9 September 2021		0.47
3	16 September 2021		0.43
4	23 September 2021	Joel Dommett, Hannah Cooper-Dommett, Snoochie	0.36
5	1 October 2021		0.44

Series 7 (2022)

After the success of the sixth series, an extended thirty-episode version using the same format was commissioned. This time, the cast included two same-sex couples - one male and one female. In each of Episodes 1, 2, 4 & 5, two couples were matched and married. In a franchise first, two additional couples were married and joined the experiment in Episode 12. The series began on 29 August 2022, the first episode being followed by a "One Year Later" special episode with some of Series 6's cast. For this series, the Dinner Parties and Commitment Ceremonies moved from Brighton to Trinity Quay Wharf in London's Docklands.

Ceremony history

Episode:	8	11	15	19		24	27/28
Ceremony:	1	2	3	4		5	Final Decision
Chanita	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay		Stay
Jordan	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
April	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
George	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Jenna	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Zoe	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Johnathan	Not in Experiment	Stay	Stay	Stay
Sophie	Stay	Stay	Stay
Matt	Not in Experiment	Stay	Leave^2	Stay
Whitney	Leave	Stay	Leave	Leave^2	Stay
Adrian	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Left^5
Thomas	Stay	Leave	Stay	Stay	Leave^3
Kwame	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay^4	Left
Kasia	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Leave
Duka	Stay	Stay	Stay	Leave	Left
Gemma	Not in Experiment	Stay	Leave
Pjay	Stay	Stay^1	Left
Jess	Stay	Leave
Richie	Stay	Leave
Lara	Stay	Leave
Notes	none	1	none	2		3 & 4	5
Left	none		none	Duka		Kasia & Kwame	Thomas & Adrian
		Gemma

This couple left the experiment outside of commitment ceremony.

This couple elected to leave the experiment during the commitment ceremony.

This couple was removed from the experiment by the experts or Production.

Couple profiles

No.	Couple	Age	Home	Occupation	Honeymoon	Final Decision	Status
1	Jordan Emmett-Connelly	29	Darlington	Account Manager	Mauritius	Yes	Separated before reunion
	Chanita Stephenson	29	Derby	Social Worker
2	Duka Cavolli	31	Birmingham	Recruitment HR Coordinator	South Africa	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Whitney Hughes	31	St Albans	PA
3	Adrian Sanderson	37	Manchester	Digital Designer	Mexico	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Thomas Hartley	31	Liverpool	Mental Health Care Assistant
4	George Roberts	40	Worcester	Financial Advisor	Jamaica	Yes	Separated - Unusual Circumstances
	April Banbury	32	London	Dress Designer
5	Pjay Finch	31	Birmingham	Dancer/Performer	The Maldives	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Jess Potter	31	Cambridgeshire	Dental Hygienist
6	Richie Dews	51	Sheffield	Sales Advisor	Bavaria, Germany	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Lara Eyre	49	Nottingham	Waitress
7	Jenna Robinson	32	Blackpool	Zero Waste Shop Owner	Iceland	Yes	Engaged
	Zoe Clifton	30	West Midlands	Quantity Surveyor
8	Kwame Badu	42	London	Business Consultant	The Maldives	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Kasia Martin	36	London	Businesswoman
9	Gemma Rose	30	Newton Abbot	Hair Salon Owner	Portugal	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Matt Murray	32	Huddersfield	Barber
10	Johnathan Wileman	32	Selby	Carpenter	Saint Lucia	Yes	Separated before reunion
	Sophie Brown	26	Manchester	Head of Partnerships
11	Matt Murray	32	Huddersfield	Barber	N/A	Yes	Separated before reunion
	Whitney Hughes	31	St Albans	PA

Viewing figures

Official, 7-day consolidated ratings are taken from Thinkbox and include E4 +1. From this series, 28-day ratings with viewership on devices other than televisions are no longer available, and so cannot be directly compared with the previous series.

	scope=col colspan=9	Viewers (millions)
	--->	Week 1^[7]	Week 2^[8]	Week 3^[9]	Week 4^[10]	Week 5^[11]	Week 6^[12]	Week 7^[13]	Week 8^[14]
Monday	1.84	1.79	1.91	1.98	2.13	2.26	2.14	1.98
Tuesday	1.70	1.80	1.96	1.86	2.21	2.25	2.01	2.07
Wednesday	1.84	1.86	1.89	1.82	2.19	2.12	1.85
Thursday	1.78	1.80	1.74	2.01	2.13	2.05	1.98
Weekly average	1.79	1.81	1.87	1.92	2.17	2.16	2.00	2.03
Running average	1.79	1.80	1.82	1.85	1.91	1.95	1.96	1.96
Series average	1.965

A "One Year On" special, broadcast after the first episode on 29 August, consolidated to 729,000 viewers.^[7]

"Unveiled" specials

"Married at First Sight UK: Afters" returned for Series 7 - now rebranded as "Unveiled".

Episode	Airdate	Guests	UK viewers (millions)	Refs
1	4 September 2022	Joel Dommett, Verona Rose, Paul Carrick Brunson and Series 6's Nikita and Morag	0.29
2	11 September 2022	Grace Dent, Suzi Ruffell and Miles Nazaire	0.15
3	18 September 2022	Michelle Visage, Sam Thompson and Yinka Bokinni	0.19
4	25 September 2022	Judi Love, Jamie Laing and Josh Jones	0.23
5	2 October 2022	Rosie Jones, Larry Dean and Pete Wicks	0.34
6	9 October 2022	Rickie Haywood Williams, Melvin Odoom and Lou Sanders	0.23
7	16 October 2022	Vogue Williams, Tom Read Wilson and Catherine Bohart	0.35
8	18 October 2022	Judi Love, Paul Carrick Brunson and Charlene Douglas	0.44

Series 8 (2023)

After the success of the sixth and seventh series, an extended thirty-six episode version using the same format was commissioned, starting on 18 September 2023. The cast included the show's first transgender bride, Ella,^[15] and the first limb deficient bride, Jay. In each of Episodes 1, 2, 4 & 5, two couples were matched and married. In Episode 12, a further two couples were matched and married before the final two weddings occurred in Episodes 17 & 18.

Ceremony history

Episode:	8	11	15	21		25	30	33/34
Ceremony:	1	2	3	4		5	6	Final Decision
Georges	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay		Stay	Stay
Peggy	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Leave	Stay
Paul	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Tasha	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Erica	Not in Experiment	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Jordan	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Adrienne	Not in Experiment	Stay	Stay	Stay
Matt	Stay	Stay	Stay
Ella	Stay	Stay	Stay	N/A^5	Stay	Stay
JJ	Not in Experiment	Stay	Leave	Stay	Stay
Arthur	Stay	Stay^1	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Laura	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Rozz	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Leave	Left
Thomas	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Leave
Mark	Not in Experiment	Stay	Stay	Left^8
Sean	Stay	Stay
Luke	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Removed ^7
Jay	Stay	Stay	Stay	Stay
Bianca	Not in Experiment	Stay	Leave	Left
Nathanial	Stay	Stay	Stay	Left^5
Brad	Stay	Stay	N/A^2	Removed ^4
Shona	Stay	Stay	N/A^2
Porscha	Stay	Stay	Stay	Left^3
Terence	Leave	Stay	Leave
Notes	none	1	2, 3	4, 5		6, 7	8	none
style=height:5em;"	Ejected	none						none
Left	none			Bianca		none
				Nathanial

This couple left the experiment outside of commitment ceremony.

This couple elected to leave the experiment during the commitment ceremony.

This couple was removed from the experiment by the experts or Production.

Couple profiles

No.	Couple	Age	Home	Occupation	Honeymoon	Final Decision	Status
1	Luke Worley	30	Clacton	Sales Executive	Grenada	Removed from experiment	Separated
	Jay Howard	31	Accrington	Sales Team Leader
2	Arthur Poremba	34	London	Tennis Coach	Mexico	No	Separated
	Laura Vaughan	34	Portsmouth	Finance Manager
3	Thomas Kriaras	27	Wiltshire	Investment Communications	Austria	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Rosaline Darlington	28	Crewe	Florist
4	Nathanial Valentino	36	Manchester	Events Marketing Manager	Mexico	Left experiment	Separated
	Ella Morgan Clark	29	Weston-Super-Mare	Clinic Consultant
5	Georges Berthonneau	30	Surrey	Sports Rehabilitator	Thailand	Yes	Separated after experiment
	Peggy Rose	32	Kent	Technology Risk Partner
6	Paul Liba	26	Chesham	Account Manager	Costa Rica	Yes	Still together
	Tasha Jay	25	Leeds	Childcare Assistant
7	Brad Skelly	27	Grimsby	Model	The Maldives	Removed from experiment	Separated
	Shona Manderson	31	Nottingham	Performing Arts Teacher
8	Terence Edwards	40	Reading	Youth Worker/DJ	Morocco	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Porsha Pernnelle	36	London	Executive Assistant
9	John Joe "JJ" Slater	30	Essex	Fashion Brand Owner	Mauritius	Broke up before final decision	Separated
	Bianca Petronzi	29	Buxton	Hair Extension Specialist
10	Jordan Gayle	26	Sheffield	Personal Trainer	Antigua	Yes	Separated
	Erica Roberts	25	Edinburgh	Dance Teacher
11	Matt Pilmoor	29	Harrogate	Window Cleaner	Tenerife	Yes	Separated
	Adrienne Naylor	26	Cumbria	Project Support Worker
12	Mark Kiley	36	London	Customer Service Manager	Lapland	Left experiment	Separated
	Sean Malkin	31	Durham	Store Manager
13	John Joe "JJ" Slater	30	Essex	Fashion Brand Owner	N/A^6	No	Separated
	Ella Morgan Clark	29	Weston-Super-Mare	Clinic Consultant

Viewing figures

Official, 7-day consolidated ratings are taken from Thinkbox and include E4 +1, but exclude viewership on devices.

	scope=col colspan=9	Viewers (millions)^[16]
	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9
Monday	1.58	1.81	1.95	1.81	2.13	2.23	2.09	2.02	2.14
Tuesday	1.74	1.76	1.77	1.81	2.09	2.34	2.05	2.04	2.02
Wednesday	1.66	1.82	1.94	1.86	2.26	2.27	2.16	2.05	2.35
Thursday	1.48	1.82	1.85	1.97	2.34	2.12	2.32	2.15	2.01
Weekly average	1.62	1.80	1.88	1.86	2.21	2.26	2.16	2.06	2.13
Running average	1.62	1.71	1.77	1.79	1.87	1.94	1.97	1.98	2.00
Series average	1.996

Notes and References

1. Web site: Married at First Sight: valid social experiment or recipe for disaster?. Kevin. Rawlinson. 9 July 2015. The Guardian.
2. Web site: Shakhnazarova. Nika. 24 November 2020. Married At First Sight UK gets explosive revamp with fresh new format for 2021. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20220122160751/https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/married-first-sight-uk-gets-23059724. 22 January 2022. 24 November 2020. Mirror Online. en.
3. Web site: Corner . Natalie . Last remaining Married at First Sight couple DIVORCE after just 34 weeks together . Mirror Online . 26 December 2015 . Reach Plc . 28 February 2020.
4. News: E4 sorry for broadcasting wrong Married At First Sight episode . BBC News . October 2021 . 1 October 2021.
5. Web site: Married at First Sight UK confirms final episode air date. . October 2021.
6. Web site: Most viewed programmes . BARB . 2021-11-18.
7. Web site: Top programmes report - week 35, August 29 - September 04 - E4 . Thinkbox.tv . 14 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220914220519/https://www.thinkbox.tv/research/barb-data/top-programmes-report/?tag=E4 . 14 September 2022 . 12 September 2022.
8. Web site: Top programmes report - week 36, September 05 - September 11 - E4 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220919204941/https://www.thinkbox.tv/research/barb-data/top-programmes-report/?tag=E4 . Thinkbox.tv . 19 September 2022 . 19 September 2022 . 19 September 2022.
9. Web site: Top programmes report - week 37, September 12 - September 18 - E4 (cached) . https://web.archive.org/web/20221003154833/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yJlaQoYkjOQJ:https://www.thinkbox.tv/research/barb-data/top-programmes-report/%3Ftag%3DE4&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=avast-a-1 . Thinkbox.tv . 3 October 2022 . 3 October 2022.
10. Web site: Top programmes report - week 38, September 19–25 - E4 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221003155055/https://www.thinkbox.tv/research/barb-data/top-programmes-report/?tag=E4 . Thinkbox.tv . 3 October 2022 . 3 October 2022 . 3 October 2022 . live .
11. Web site: Top programmes report - week 39, September 26 - October 2 - E4 . Thinkbox.tv . 13 October 2022 . 10 October 2022 .
12. Web site: Top programmes report - week 40, October 3–9 - E4 . Thinkbox.tv . 17 October 2022.
13. Web site: Top programmes report - week 40, October 10–16 - E4 . Thinkbox.tv . 24 October 2022.
14. Web site: Top programmes report - week 41, October 17–23 - E4 . Thinkbox.tv . 2 November 2022.
15. News: Collins . Riyah . Married At First Sight cast just saw me as Ella, says trans bride . BBC News . 18 September 2023 .
16. Web site: MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT - SERIES 8 - 7 day (excl. devices) consolidated ratings . Imgur . 10 October 2023.