The authenticity of Channel Nine’s Married At First Sight has come under scrutiny again as the controversial show prepares to air its sixth season later this month.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last week, former ‘villain’ Davina Rankin labelled the series ‘a load of bulls**t’ and claimed contestants simply ‘do what producers say’.
‘To be honest, MAFS is just a load of bullshit, it’s not this pretty little fairy tale that the public thinks it is,’ the 27-year-old personal trainer said.
EXCLUSIVE: ‘It’s not this pretty little fairy tale the public thinks it is’: MAFS villains Davina Rankin (pictured) and Dean Wells have revealed the truth about Married At First Sight
‘It’s literally just like going to work every day,’ she continued. ‘You wake up, you film, you pretend to like the person you’re with, you do what the producers say and then it finishes and everyone has a mental breakdown.
‘No one actually liked who they were paired with, I was just the only one to openly say it! Meanwhile, everyone else was saying it behind closed doors!’
Davina was portrayed as a ‘villain’ on season five of MAFS after appearing to cheat on her ‘husband’ Ryan Gallagher with fellow contestant Dean Wells.
Exposed! ‘It’s literally just like going to work every day,’ former MAFS villain Davina Rankin told Daily Mail Australia. ‘You wake up, you film, you pretend to like the person you’re with, you do what the producers say and then it finishes and everyone has a mental breakdown’
Never forget: Davina (left) was portrayed as a ‘villain’ on season five of MAFS after appearing to cheat on her ‘husband’ Ryan Gallagher with fellow contestant Dean Wells (right)
Despite being depicted as manipulative cheaters on screen, both Dean and Davina have claimed that Ryan gave them permission off camera to pursue each other.
They have also alleged Ryan was secretly trying to hook up with Troy Delmege’s ‘bride’ Ashley Irvin behind the scenes, but this wasn’t aired on TV.
Dean slammed the show on social media earlier this week, claiming that MAFS is more focused on creating drama than lasting relationships.
‘It’s kinda sad that people still think this show is really about finding love,’ he wrote.
Truth: Despite being depicted as manipulative cheaters on screen, both Dean and Davina have claimed that Ryan (right) gave them permission off camera to pursue each other, and that Ryan was secretly trying to hook up with Troy Delmege’s ‘bride’ Ashley Irvin (left) behind the scenes
‘Watch it, enjoy the drama, but realise the producers’ goal is not to find love for these people, it’s to create a good TV show. That’s the only criteria [they] match people on.’
He also address his own experience on the show, saying that while his former ‘wife’ Tracey Jewel is a ‘great girl’, they clearly weren’t suited to each other.
‘I thought they were gonna match me with a compatible partner. Tracey’s a great girl but she and I were not right for each other,’ he explained.
‘They just matched us because she said she likes a man who takes charge, and I said I like being a leader. That’s the only thing we had in common.
‘It’s kinda sad that people still think this show is really about finding love’: Dean has also slammed the show, claiming that MAFS is more focused on drama than romance
‘And they realised they could make a public controversy over that and make me out to be an overbearing, controlling male. Which if you watched the actual show you would see is not even close to true.’
On Wednesday, Married At First Sight was publicly branded ‘fake’ by Alex Mavroidakis, who is the executive producer of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
He told Mumbrella: ‘Our competition – My Kitchen Rules and Married at First Sight – they are not real.’
‘We were not right for each other’: He also addressed his own experience on the show, saying that while Tracey Jewel (pictured) is a ‘great girl’, they clearly weren’t suited to each other
‘You can call it reality TV if you want, but it’s not a cooking competition, and the marriages aren’t real,’ he added.
Alex said that I’m A Celebrity and Love Island Australia – which he also produces -were two of the most ‘honest’ shows on TV because of their quick production cycle.
Both programs air within 24 hours of the footage being captured, meaning the post-production team does not have time to labour over the editing process.
‘They are not real’: It comes after the executive producer of Channel 10’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! labelled rival reality shows like MAFS and My Kitchen Rules ‘fake’
By contrast, MKR and MAFS are filmed months in advance and go through a lengthy editing process.
Alex said: ‘The audience appreciate that we have no ability to turn a story into something it isn’t. I’m A Celebrity is real, and we don’t change a character with music.
‘We don’t use a line from yesterday today. We don’t take a look out of context or a grab out of context. And the reason we don’t do that is, quite frankly, we don’t have time to.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.
Coming soon: The new season of Married At First Sight will premiere on January 28