Are the Married At First Sight weddings officiated by paid actors or real celebrants?

 READ MORE: I marry people on Married At First Sight and Love Is Blind and have done 20,000 weddings as a registrar – this is the one big rule I give couples 

By MIKAELA WILKES FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 01:19 GMT, 19 February 2025 | Updated: 01:22 GMT, 19 February 2025

The Married At First Sight Australia weddings may not be ‘real’, but the celebrants are not paid actors. 

Despite the glitz and glam of the on-screen nuptials — complete with dazzling rings,  dresses, and drama — the TV nuptials are not legally binding.

The Australian Marriage Act requires couples to notify the court one month and one day ahead of tying the knot, which for the purposes of reality TV, isn’t possible. 

But Channel Nine has confirmed the tireless wedding celebrants, seen conducting the 10-12 MAFS marriages each season, are in fact real. 

‘They’re definitely not actors, no. … they are professional celebrants,’ Nine Programming exec Hamish Turner told TV Tonight. 

While MAFS could use paid actors, the producers choose not to. 

Channel Nine has confirmed the wedding celebrants that conduct the non-legal MAFS Australia marriages are not paid actors, but real celebrants

While MAFS producers could use paid actors, the network said it ‘tries’ to keep things ‘as close to reality’ as possible in the filmed ceremonies

‘This is a reality TV show, so they try and keep it as close to reality as possible,’ Turner said. 

The wedding celebrants aren’t credited by name in the juggernaut TV series nor are they offered up to press for interviews. 

However, season 11 fan favourite Lucinda Light has a rather successful business as a marriage celebrant.  

MAFS Australia has featured more than 100 couples since the show began in 2015, with just five expert-made matches resulting in a real engagement rings and trips down the aisle after filming. 

Not including wife-swap scenarios, Jules Robinson and Cameron Merchant are one of the very few couples to go the distance. 

The MAFS darlings tied the knot in a televised wedding back in November 2019, just several months after the show. 

Martha Kalifatidis and Michael Brunelli, who also appeared on season six, got engaged in 2021, and welcomed their first child in 2023. 

Controversial duo Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson officially tied the knot in Victoria – two years after meeting on the show, and have two children together. 

Late season intruders Kerry Knight and Johnny Balbuziente also went the distance, saying their ‘I Do’s in Brisbane in January 2023. 

There have been conflicting reports as to whether MAFS‘ longest-lasting couple, Erin Bateman and Bryce Mohr, are still together in 2025. 

Torri Adams and Jack Dunkley and Jade Pywell and Ridge Barredo are also still together. 

For those keeping score, the odds of leaving MAFS Australia with a lifelong partner in 2025 are about five in 100 – maybe less. 

Lucinda LightMarried At First Sight Australia

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Are the Married At First Sight weddings officiated by paid actors or real celebrants?

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