To catch up on all the MAFS 2020 recaps and gossip, check out The Twins recaps and visit our MAFS hub page. And sign up for our Recaps newsletter to get them straight into your inbox.

It’s back.

Kisses, misses, tears and tantrums.

For the 10 weeks that Married at First Sight fills our screens, Australia is hopelessly hooked.

From fake marriages to fighting contestants, the show never fails to provide car-crash television that captivates over a million metro viewers each night.

Watch: This year’s contestant Amanda says her wedding vows to Tash on MAFS. Post continues below.

Video by Channel Nine

But the low-brow show also tends to raise our brow. Because we can’t help but wonder: What actually happens behind-the-scenes of the most dramatic show on television? I spoke to three former contestants of the show and the first answer is: a lot.

The contestants – Nasser Sultan from the 2018 season, Carly Bowyer also from 2018, and Dan Webb from 2019’s season – all told similar stories.

From the casting process to the producers’ involvement, here is what the former MAFS contestants had to say.

The wedding day

“My wedding day was pretty bad,” Carly remembers with a wince, “to the point where my bridesmaids made complaints to the production company for poor treatment.”

The bride, who was matched with Justin Fischer, says her guests were left on the boat on which the ceremony took place for six hours “without food and only alcohol”.

“Before the ceremony, the bridesmaids and I got locked in a windowless room downstairs with no air, and my bridesmaid fainted. My brother yelled at the production company for help, and no one would do anything,” Carly recalls.

“After that, all my friends and family wanted nothing to do with the show, and therefore didn’t come back later on and participate in the show for family visits.”