Deadline reports that NBC Universal’s Peacock has snatched the US rights to MAFS format from A+E Networks.
The article also reveals actress Saoirse Ronan is a fan of Nine’s version.
Saoirse Ronan recently said that Married at First Sight Australia was her favorite reality show. “If I met someone from Married at First Sight, I would die,” she said. “They’re hectic.”
Why are they still delaying shows in this day & age? If they’ve nabbed the rights, fast track it.
No wonder torrenting is on the rise again while everything is still so fragmented and companies hoard rights.
Peacock has the rights to the US version. It’s moving networks over there. They don’t have the rights to the AUS version. Well at least it doesn’t say they do.
That’ll teach me for not reading properly, I assumed they had taken the Aussie rights.
That Jacqui promo is hilarious they did well with the song. I can’t stop singing it.
I saw it during Today this morning, very clever.
“Jackie” by Blue Zone in the 80s, hadn’t heard it in years! They ran these promos heavily during the Aussie Open too.
It’s the final two weddings of the experiment and first up is young at heart Groom, TONY, who is looking for the everlasting love his parents had and someone who can match his youthful energy. Bride MORENA is a fun-loving fitness instructor and a rocking DJ at the age of 57. A dedicated mother of two, MORENA is looking forward to experiencing love for the first time after spending 29 years in a loveless marriage.
For the Experts second match, career-driven JACQUI is yet to find a man that can reach her standards, and project manager RYAN has high expectations that he’s not willing to lower. Beaming with confidence, Bride JACQUI tends to intimidate men with her self-described great looks and intelligence. While our Groom, RYAN, a modern-day warrior, has persevered bullying at a young age and is now a tower of strength, physically and mentally. RYAN has an acronym for his perfect match: ‘EPIC’: Energy, Physicality, Intellect and Confidence.
It’s both couples wedding day and Groom TONY goes back to his roots making sure his Macedonian heritage is included in the wedding preparations. This includes shots of 70-proof RAKIJA (moonshine) to give the celebrations some kick and a traditional Macedonian ritual that marks the transition from bachelorhood to married life – the shaving of the groom.
At the same time, MORENA is having her dream dress fitted by her friend Josephine, a dress that represents the woman she’s become, and her children join in to share the excitement of their mum’s big day! MORENA’s daughter Olivia and son, Stefan, want nothing more than for their mum to find a perfect man who will treat her like a queen. It’s a match made in heaven when TONY & MORENA lock eyes for the first time – the couple exchange heartwarming vows and quickly learn they share the same values when it comes to family.
Meanwhile, Bride JACQUI wants it all—a strong, successful, good-looking, intelligent, real man who will take the lead. RYAN is without any nerves, as he is sure he can be an asset to anyone with his strength, intelligence, and warrior mentality, and hopes his bride is as good-looking as he is.
The two meet eyes at the altar and instantly RYAN is smitten, but JACQUI is concerned her Groom has dark hair and is not clean-shaven on his wedding day. The two exchange vows and JACQUI makes it clear what she expects from a husband, including taking the lead and giving up his jacket when she’s cold. Things seem to be going well, but when RYAN doesn’t take the lead after the ceremony and fails to take JACQUI’s hand, she can’t hide her disappointment leading to tears.
At their wedding photoshoot, things go from bad to worse - despite JACQUI stipulating she loves a gentleman and a leader in her vows, RYAN is blind to his brides’ cues as JACQUI shivers through the photoshoot having to ask RYAN for his jacket. RYAN believes they are hitting it off, meanwhile JACQUI has her doubts.
MORENA & TONY are having a much easier time at their wedding as the couple continue to bond with each other and their families…until TONY’s cousin Stephen gets involved. Unbeknownst to MORENA, Stephen can’t help but voice his concerns to TONY. Stephen pulls TONY aside, admitting he believes MORENA is ‘much too old for TONY’ and that he should be with someone younger. However, his advice falls on deaf ears with TONY dismissing his cousins’ concerns wanting to give MORENA a chance – he believes there is something there.
Over at JACQUI and RYAN’s reception, unhappy JACQUI is starting to warm to her husband after learning about his successful career and upbringing. They connect on their values and the pair start to hit it off. Finally, it’s time for their first dance, and RYAN takes the lead attempting to dip JACQUI – RYAN missteps, stands on JACQUI’s dress and horrifyingly drops his bride causing hysteria amongst the guests.
RYAN is mortified, while JACQUI finds the humour in the moment telling him it’s ok and she thinks it’s funny. Despite JACQUI’s words of comfort, RYAN can’t let it go, requesting for the faux pas to be excluded from the experiment as if it never happened, as he’ll be the first groom ever in the history of MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT to drop his bride.
Where did they find this Jacqui women? Now I’ve heard it all someone isn’t a good match because of their dog choice.
‘How is this woman single?’
A: ‘I don’t like his choice of dog’
One eagle-eyed viewer noticed something questionable about Jacqui’s claim to have won Miss New Zealand in 2012. Not verified by any search of records.
While this year’s season of MAFS has only just begun, Tristan reveals that he’s already met two 2025 participants. He says he met Morena Farina at an event and Tony Mojanovski at the Maxim Hot 100 Halloween party last year.
“He was there and he was really nice. I only spoke to him for a couple of minutes and I was like, ‘Oh you seem lovely’,” he says. “And then I met Morena [at a different event] and she’s obviously a bit more fiery, a bit more out there, but she was also really, really nice as well. So I actually don’t know how that’s going to work with those two, to be honest, but I’m excited to see.”
As the honeymoons come to an end, most of our newlyweds are enjoying themselves and working on deepening their connections. AWHINA and ADRIAN have decided to move past their honeymoon box hurdle and work on the positives of their relationship. Our newest couple JACQUI and RYAN are enjoying a yoga session at the beautiful Mount Lofty Estate, but RYAN’s still haunted by the fact that he dropped his Bride during their first dance.
Not all the couples are on cloud nine after TIM revealed he felt no spark with bride KATIE on their wedding night leaving her in tears the next morning. Their honeymoon proves difficult and awkward as the two navigate how to move forward in the experiment. Despite best efforts from KATIE and a confronting conversation for both, TIM can’t get past his lack of attraction towards KATIE and cuts the honeymoon short.
Meanwhile, Bride LAUREN is faced with the experiment’s first ever runaway groom. ELIOT packs his bags and in a shock exit leaves LAUREN on their honeymoon alone after only two days. Back in Sydney, ELIOT requests a one-on-one sit down with Expert JOHN, to explain his actions and justify why he believes he and LAUREN are incompatible. JOHN challenges ELIOT’s perspective, offering some hard truths about ELIOT’s own behaviour questioning his unrelenting and rigid “non-negotiables” and expectations.
The couples make their way back to Sydney for the most highly anticipated part of the experiment, the First Dinner Party. While most couples are excited to meet all the other matches, KATIE and LAUREN are in the dark as to whether their husbands TIM & ELIOT will even show up.
The Cocktail Party begins, and the room is full of love and hope – couples share their positive wedding stories and luxurious honeymoons. But the happiness amongst them is cut short, when KATIE walks in alone, leaving everyone in shock with questions. KATIE hasn’t heard from TIM since the honeymoon but is still hopeful she and TIM can work through things. KATIE cautions the group against grilling her husband…that’s if TIM ever shows up.
TIM enters the Cocktail Party, but deflects any and every question directed around his relationship with KATIE. More happy couples enter, yet shock cascades down everyone’s faces, when LAUREN walks in solo! LAUREN reveals ELIOT left after two days on their honeymoon because she didn’t want to have ‘a tribe of children’ and that she wasn’t fit or young enough for him.
The Dinner Party bell chimes for the first time in the experiment, and as the couples move to the dining room, runaway groom ELOIT is still a no show! The night kicks off with LAUREN revealing the details of her honeymoon, while TIM reminds KATIE, they aren’t the only couple with issues.
The attention turns to TIM and KATIE’s relationship, with the group wanting answers. TIM dodges and deflects and rather than face the group, turns to KATIE privately appalled that she allowed others to attack him and that ultimately KATIE broke his trust not having his back. TIM states he’s tried his hardest with KATIE, while she hasn’t even bothered to get to know him.
Visibly distressed KATIE is upset at TIM’s perspective and questions whether she should have done something different in their relationship. Bride JAMIE witnesses all of this and accuses TIM of gaslighting KATIE by putting all the blame on her for their failing relationship.
Stunned JAMIE tries to explain to KATIE she’s being gaslit and shouldn’t take all the blame. JAMIE confronts TIM about their relationship, but once again, TIM deflects stating he’s having a chat with TONY and is done with the conversation about him and KATIE.
Fuming JAMIE pulls her husband DAVE aside and recaps the evening, wondering why her husband and the others are so nonreactive and drinking ‘the cool aid’ while KATIE is being gaslit by TIM! JAMIE vows she won’t stand for this behaviour, and she’ll reveal his true colours!
CARINA gets involved, trying to get to the bottom of KATIE & TIM’s relationship but TIM continues to deflect her probing questions, shifting the focus away from himself at every turn. CARINA isn’t backing down—she presses harder, determined to get the truth out of TIM. Watching from the sidelines, JAMIE grows increasingly frustrated with TIM’S evasiveness, and finally, she can’t hold it in any longer. JAMIE erupts at TIM, calling him out for his behaviour. The outburst takes TIM by surprise, and in a fit of rage, he storms out of the room, leaving the tension hanging thick in the air.
According to The Australian, Nine has launched an internal review after Adrian Araouzou was revealed to have faced court over serious domestic violence allegations. The report sais that following media scrutiny, Endemol Shine and Nine conducted an internal investigation, ultimately clearing Araouzou of any wrongdoing. However, producers have since questioned the duty of care for his on-screen partner Awhina.
Massive ratings last night for MAFS >1.7M. What’s the highest it’s ever gone?!
To mark the next stage in the experiment our newlyweds are taking a big step in their relationship and moving in together as husband and wife.
For some of the couples, it’s not all smooth sailing, with JACQUI and RYAN butting heads early on while navigating their new digs. Meanwhile, KATIE moves into her apartment without husband TIM hoping to see him but is disappointed to later learn he will not be joining her.
Confessions Week begins and the Experts waste no time sending a series of tasks for the couples to help fast track their relationships. ADRIAN & AWHINA and CARINA & PAUL bond over putting their partners first in The Photo Ranking Challenge, but JACQUI is shocked and devastated when husband RYAN ranks her third.
Meanwhile, BILLY shows a softer side to SIERAH, choosing to open up about his relationship with his father in a moving Confessions Letter. BILLY breaks down in front of SIERAH, allowing them to grow closer.
AWHINA & ADRIAN revisit an old relationship hurdle when ADRIAN’S audition video brings his reluctance to be a stepdad to AWHINA’S son to the fore. The pair butt heads and continue to find Confessions Week difficult. JACQUI seizes upon the brand-new Ex-Files Task, which invites the newlyweds to delve into their romantic histories, to get her revenge on husband RYAN after placing her third in the Photo Ranking Challenge.
It is hard to compare to most previous seasons with the new ratings system (that came into place last year) but the show is definitely crushing everything on FTA. It is particularly massive on streaming. Last Monday’s premiere had over 900,000 viewers over the week. So it’s really getting well above 2million viewers per episode.
At a guess, you could say…
Metro broadcast: ~850k
(should be higher, but many have moved across to bvod).
Regional broadcast: ~375k
(should be higher, but it’s Nine regional not Seven).
Bvod national: ~475k.
(incredible, this is where it’s happening!)
= ~1.7m.
Works out 
But regional might be a little lower, which would mean metro a little higher, or vice-versa.
But VOZ also has a “Rest of Australia” data, that is a non-peoplemeter estimate, for regions such as Darwin, Alice Springs, Mildura, Broken Hill, Mt Isa, Mt Gambier, etc. So you’d probably have to take a bit off regional anyway.
Regardless, I think that’d show you just how low everything else on FTA is really doing, even 6pm news!
Closer to 300k.
Brands are continuing to fall in love with Australia’s favourite social experiment, Married at First Sight, with some of the country’s most well-known companies headlining the major new sponsors for the 12th season which began last week on Channel 9 and 9Now.
As MAFS continues to be a powerhouse that captivates the nation – with the premiere becoming the highest rating launch since 2022 attracting a seven day consolidated Total TV average audience of 2,297,000 million viewers and growing – brands are choosing to kick off the new year leveraging a highly engaged premium audience in what is once again becoming Australia’s most-talked about shows.
As the series continues to see impressive annual growth, brands are tapping into the power of MAFS to connect with more Australians than any other television program, resulting in high levels of consumer engagement.
Long term returning sponsors include KFC, which is in its 9th year of sponsoring MAFS, HBF for the 2nd year; Nestle (3 seasons), Stan (4 seasons) and Chemist Warehouse (2 seasons). Youi Insurance (2 seasons), Snooze (3 seasons), Cocobella (2 seasons), Palmer’s Skincare, BIC, Garnier, Maybelline, Simon Curwood Jewellers (2 seasons), Domain (2 seasons), Finder, KenoGO and Snaffle (3 seasons) also continue their sponsorships.
This season marks a decade since the reality juggernaut first began in 2015, captivating Australia. In 2025, MAFS will bring even more spellbinding outpouring of love and drama as this year’s brides and grooms fast track their relationships, revealing the most honest, raw and vulnerable sides the couples have ever shown to viewers.
Sarah Stewart, Powered’s Director of Content Partnerships and Client Experience, said: “It is fantastic to again see so many brands align with MAFS and further extend their sponsorships. The audience of Married at First Sight is deeply engaged and research shows brand recall is high.”
Yesterday
Metro broadcast 848k
Regional broadcast 364k
BVOD 462k
