Millions of viewers are saying “yes” to season 20 of “Married at First Sight.” Relationship reality series Kinetic Content, which moved to Peacock in Season 19 after 15 seasons on Lifetime, has undergone some changes this year.

The finale and reunion took place Thursday on Peacock, revealing that all but two couples chose to split on Decision Day. While Mecca Amen and BelléJolie Force said yes to each other, they revealed during the reunion that they ended their marriage shortly after. Cameron Mitchell and Michelle Le remained together and, upon reunion, were still married. Unfortunately, everyone else breaks up and most are not on good terms.

Since the Season 20 premiere on July 12 — deliberately timed after the conclusion of Peacock’s culturally dominant “Love Island USA” — “Married at First Sight” has racked up more than 1.8 billion minutes watched, according to Peacock. It is ranked 4th among the most notable original reality TV seasons on the application, with total streaming up +153% compared to season 19.

Although the show aired on Peacock for season 19, the 20th season is the first fully produced. For Peacock, and it looks like the changes it made really worked as it became a top 3 streaming reality title for five weeks in a row, according to Nielsen.

“When we first acquired it, I was super excited — it’s one of the great formats in unscripted storytelling,” said Noah Samton, EVP of current production for Bravo and Peacock unscripted. “Having the opportunity to try to improve on what has already been established as something really strong, the opportunity to try to upgrade that and make it even better, is the most exciting challenge for me.”

Below, we dig deeper into these changes and upgrades with Samton, including the reunion that featured an audience for the first time.

Tell me about what you first did when Peacock acquired “Married at First Sight.”

Normally, if we acquired a show like this, I would try to watch every episode. That’s simply impossible with this one. So I watched about 40 episodes and it became very clear to me that there were some things we could do to make this work better for a Peacock audience, make it a funnier, more exciting series, and just revitalize it without losing what made it special and magical in the first place.

Can you detail some of the creative changes?

This falls into two categories for me. One is that we wanted to increase production value across the board, and that starts with weddings. To me, it’s a fantasy for the viewer. “It’s a crazy thing to do, but would I do it?” You kind of play the game while watching the show and you want to see yourself in a beautiful wedding, in a beautiful setting and incredible decor. It was really important to help the viewer immerse themselves in the fantasy by making the weddings even more beautiful.

Then we wanted to make the casting more ambitious. Traditionally, the most important thing for actors is authenticity. But you can be authentic and ambitious. You shouldn’t have to choose between these two. That was a really big goal for us: to have a cast that really wanted to be there for the right reasons, and that was still exciting and fun for a viewer to watch.

Have you seen the casting process?

I went west to Seattle. We spent five days with hundreds of actors, and there’s a combined process of experts looking for suitable people, and producers and network executives looking for people who make sense on television, and then collaborating with those people to try to come up with the best possible casting. It’s extremely challenging, but also a lot of fun.

It was the first time a former reality TV star appeared on “MAFS” with Nick Uhlenhuth. Was that something you planned to do: bring in a familiar face?

There were a lot of conversations about it and I wanted to do something that would grab viewers’ attention. In a crowded television landscape, it’s hard to get anyone to think about your show. There are so many shows there. So someone viewers might already know [could help]. That was the original idea. Maybe there’s someone who was on “Love Island”, who didn’t find love, and now they’re ready to “marry at first sight”. We watched a lot of people on ‘Love Island,’ and no one really made sense. And then the Kinetic team said, “Let’s look at some of them,” and the No. 1 qualifier for all of that was that it had to be someone who really wanted to get married, someone who really made sense. We’re not going to do it just for the sake of it.

After talking to a lot of people, a lot of ex-reality TV cast, they introduced me to Nick. At first I was like, I don’t know this guy. But then they sent me a really long interview with him, talking specifically about the show, and he really seemed to make sense. I’m just a little sad that we couldn’t find the right match for him.

So, would you bring back another former reality TV star?

Maybe at some point. They have to be someone who is there for the right reasons and makes sense with the show. We don’t want to do it just as a gimmick. But if there is the right person at the right time, who knows? I was talking to Lindsey Hubbard about “Summer House” the other day, and she had a little trouble finding the right relationship. So I said, “Why don’t you come on ‘Married at First Sight?’ And she said, “Yeah, no.” In about 20 years, I think I’ll be ready for this!

We will be ready for season 41! You also changed experts this year, replacing Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Pastor Cal Roberson, and Dr. Pia Holec with Paul C. Brunson and Dr. Lisa Paz. What were you looking for with this change?

Initially, we were really looking for three experts. We wanted to find experts who spoke more to a Peacock audience, which was a little younger than the show was when it previously aired on Lifetime. We wanted people who felt younger, fresher and who spoke to our audience. After meeting with all these people, we realized that they stood head and shoulders above all the other experts we met, and so we said, “Why do we need three? We have two great experts. Let’s just let them take the reins.”

Were there any other changes you wanted to implement?

It was very important to me that there were seven couples instead of five. Initially, I wanted eight. I know it’s a lot for people to deal with, but I think one of the things I struggled with in the 40 episodes I watched of Married at First Sight was that we were seeing a couple who clearly weren’t meant for each other. They didn’t like each other and didn’t want to be there, and because of the necessities of making a TV show, they were sort of roped in for every episode. I didn’t want that. If anyone is done with this relationship, they should leave the show. So that was one of the reasons we wanted to have more couples.

Before we get to the reunion, can you talk about Felipe Cruz’s choice to tell Tori Dahl that he was thinking about cheating all the time off camera? How to prevent this from happening?

It’s the bane of the television producer’s existence. This is something that happens in most shows. It’s a constant message from producers to actors: have these conversations on camera. I oversee all of “Below Decks” and “Summer House,” and one of the great things about those franchises is that we have cameras rolling on the yacht 24/7 and in the house all weekend. So there is no off-camera conversation. On most shows, the cameras turn off – they go home, they have the conversation. We’ve learned over the years many ways to deliver information, and you saw it on the news camera with Tori. Good producers need to be aware of every situation and be able to sense when something is different in the dynamic. One of the biggest job demands when you’re on a reality show is being open and honest on camera and sharing everything. This is literally what you’re hired for, and yet people still try to avoid it. And then the other side of the coin, a producer’s job is to make sure that everything that happens can be filmed.

Let’s talk a little about reunions: why invite an audience for the first time? The “MAFS” reunion never had that.

I was really hesitant about this. Kinetic and Ally Simpson there really wanted to attract a live audience. She thought it would bring a different dynamic, a different energy to the show. I was resistant. I was afraid of leaks. I was worried about the production logistics of having a live audience during the show. She pushed hard. I gave in and she was absolutely right. As a result, I found the energy to be great. I found the show superb. It just gave a different dynamic to the reunion.

It was kind of crazy to see Adam Dehmlow’s new girlfriend claim the show was fake, giving pundits a chance to defend her.

Look, this is something we struggle with, right? People always say, “Well, it’s reality TV. It’s not real.” Everything is real. It’s sometimes produced, but everything I do on each of my shows, what you watch, is real. It’s great to be able to show that this is the experience the actors have and that they will support that. Because it’s extremely frustrating for me to hear that from people. It’s real!

Finally, there have been online conversations and rumors that the couples did not get married this season. What do you say to that?

I would say their experience is that they are a married couple, they live their lives as a married couple, and every aspect of what they experience is a marriage. They get married at the beginning, then divorce if they want to separate at the end.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Léa Remini joined the The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She will absolutely destroy many of these women. [Seriously OMG]
Viola Davis doesn’t accept Target’s apology for its racist Halloween costume. [Pajiba]
Tom Brady: rizzless or rizzful? [LaineyGossip]
A judge overturned Texas’ ban on drag shows, with the judge telling people that if they don’t like drag shows, they shouldn’t go. [OMG Blog]
Alyssa Liu takes a break from competition. [Jezebel]
Donald Trump complained Caroline Leavitt “choose his children” for him. A toddler president who wants mom to choose him. [Buzzfeed]
Sarah Pigeon I have a job! [JustJared]
Luke Evans tribute to Tim Curry. [Socialite Life]
Learn more about the Adults Season 2 renewal. [Hollywood Life]
Joey King Miu Miu, what evil! [RCFA]

Child, it is Kéké Palmerbirthday occasion.

The Emmy-winning actress celebrated her thirty third birthday surrounded by a few of her closest buddies through the years, together with Sean “Diddy” Combs‘son Justin Combs And Christian Combsplus different Disney Channel stars Roshon Vegan, Trevor Jackson and extra.

“I’ve identified most of those individuals for 4 EVER,” Palmer posted on Instagram August 27, the day after his birthday, August 26. “They’re all the time there for me! I am so completely happy to spend my birthday with individuals who imagine we need to share happiness with one another.”

“Life is simply too brief to not be in neighborhood,” she continued. “I do not want a motive to rejoice with my mother and father, however a birthday will all the time remind you to indicate grace and gratitude for the place you have come from and the place you have been, and most significantly who you’re right this moment. Thank God! One other 12 months.”

Alongside the candy message, the podcaster shared a number of images occasion at Fortunate Strike Bowling along with his buddies. The primary picture confirmed Keke smiling extensively together with her arms round Justin, 32, and Christian, 28, whose father Diddy at the moment serving a four-year jail sentence punishment for causes associated to prostitution prices.

Dolly Parton might have sang about working “9 to five,” however the queen of nation has undergone a six-decade change that leaves behind an enormous $450 million empire.

Her meticulously crafted property plan goals to find out who will get the keys to the dominion – and what is going to occur to the fortune she spent her total life constructing.

The music legend’s property embody a catalog of three,000 songs valued at $120 million, an estimated $165 million stake in Dollywood, a sprawling Tennessee property valued at round $10 million and, doubtlessly, a long time of non-public property, together with his well-known wardrobe and memorabilia.

How that fortune will likely be divided and who in the end controls the items of Parton’s empire might stay personal for a while.

“We all know Dolly did not have any youngsters, so it is arduous to foretell who she deliberate to go away it to,” Robert Strauss, an property legal professional and principal on the Los Angeles property planning agency Weinstock Manion, informed Web page Six.

No matter Parton’s property plan says, her enterprise acumen might make the transition of her music catalog significantly smoother.

“As a result of Dolly Parton owned her personal publication as a substitute of promoting it to a significant, her dying mustn’t disrupt the administration of the catalog itself,” Man Blake, managing associate at Granderson Des Rochers, LLP, informed Web page Six.

“The copyrights – and the revenue they generate – go to her property, which might proceed to handle them precisely as she did,” Blake mentioned.

Neither Strauss nor Blake are immediately affiliated with Parton’s property.

Raised in a big household alongside 11 siblings, Parton is survived by six siblings: Willadeene, Robert Lee, Stella, Cassie, Freida and Rachel.

Parton – who secretly battled most cancers earlier than her passing – additionally leaves behind quite a few nieces and nephews, in addition to her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.

Bryan Seaver, his nephew and longtime safety chief, introduced his dying on behalf of the household Tuesday.

But the small print of the property had been apparently so carefully guarded that even a few of Parton’s longtime associates struggled to grasp what occurred after her dying, based on the Day by day Mail.

A supply who labored with the star for practically 40 years mentioned Parton stored the small print of her property planning fiercely secret, although her prolonged household is unlikely to launch an unsightly court docket battle over the fortune.

“She took care of all of them,” the supply informed the outlet, including, “I do not see there being any argument with all of them as a result of I believe…they’re all handled very pretty.”

The Day by day Mail’s supply expects the majority of Parton’s fortune to be donated to charity, persevering with the philanthropic work that was so central to her life.

That might imply her music and enterprise empire in the end helps fund causes just like the Dollywood Basis and its Creativeness Library, a program impressed by her father’s illiteracy that has since put greater than 300 million free books into the fingers of youngsters.

“She was an clever girl, nearly as good at enterprise as she was at music,” the supply mentioned.

Gladys Chevalier
‘Shameful’ she’s on tour whereas dazed and confused
…Some tour employees are outraged

Revealed
August 27, 2026 at 4:45 p.m. PDT

The Miss USA pageant was held once more in 2026, with a brand new contestant looking for to be topped the nation’s first magnificence queen in Miami on August 27, succeeding Audrey Eckert of Nebraska.

The competitors, whereas controversial, has a storied historical past courting again to 1952. And a number of other of its most notable contestants have since grow to be multi-platinum entertainers, tv stars and even Oscar winners.

Do you know that Halle Berry competed within the Miss USA pageant in 1986? And did he go on to symbolize the nation in a historic run on the worldwide degree as nicely?

© Getty Photographs

Halle Berry at Miss USA 1986

In Might of that yr, Halle competed within the Miss USA 1986 pageant. Her interview particularly is taken into account one of many strongest within the pageant’s historical past, through which she explains her want to grow to be an entertainer and her hope to behave as a “optimistic position mannequin not just for girls, however for all of the individuals of america”, and to grow to be “something you need to grow to be”, no matter gender, faith or race.

Her reply would have obtained the very best rating of the night time, though she finally narrowly missed the crown, putting second behind Miss Texas Christy Fichtner.

© Getty Photographs

Halle Berry at Miss World 1986

As is custom, as a Miss USA finalist, Halle represented the nation on the Miss World pageant in November, whereas Miss Texas represented the nation at Miss Universe.

© Getty Photographs

Her participation within the pageant made historical past, as the primary African American to symbolize america at Miss World. She finally made the highest seven, shedding the title to Giselle Laronde of Trinidad and Tobago.

© Getty Photographs

Halle Berry’s profession after the competitions

“When you begin profitable these items, it is like a snowball. And you must transfer on to the following one and for those who’re there, you go to the following one, and I saved profitable till the Miss USA pageant the place I did not win,” the actress stated. Within the journal in 2016.

After shedding the Miss World pageant, Halle determined to deal with appearing. She moved to New York and made her movie debut in 1989 within the Spike Lee movie. Jungle fever. Her profession continued to develop and 15 years after her competitors, she starred in The Monsters’ Ball. This movie notably allowed her to as soon as once more make historical past by changing into the primary African-American to win the Oscar for greatest actress.

There was a shocking visitor at Away CEO Jen Rubio’s lavish party — her ex-husband.

The socialite celebrated with an over-the-top social gathering within the Hamptons with a lineup of meet-and-greets on the Met Gala in Uptown — together with her ex, billionaire tech entrepreneur Stewart Butterfield.

The couple cut up earlier this month after six years of marriage.

They launched an announcement on the time together with the usual movie star boilerplate about their “deep love and respect for one another” and saying they “are nonetheless household.”

However primarily based on the Slack exec’s presence on the social gathering, it looks as if, for as soon as, they may have meant it.

A supply tells Web page Six that Nelly and Ashanti sang their hits for over an hour, adopted by “Good Occasions” rapper Kinds P who then took the stage for an impromptu efficiency.

Company included Lauren Santo Domingo, Tory Burch, Derek Blasberg, CAA founder Michael Ovitz, Barbara Bush, Huma Abedin and W editor-in-chief Sara Moonves.

The breakup had been a shock.

The couple was not too long ago seen collectively on the Dior present at LACMA and the Venice Biennale, received a brand new pet in Might, and welcomed visitors on their boat this summer season.

Additionally they attended the Met Gala that month after pledging $23 million to the establishment for undergraduate and graduate internships in perpetuity.

However sources stated on the time that it had been some time.

“Jen and Stewart have been following this path privately for a while,” a supply near the matter advised Web page Six. “They continue to be good associates and have organized a number of journeys with associates on this capability this summer season.”

Rubio and Butterfield have two kids collectively.

They stated within the assertion: “Though we are going to not be married, we’re nonetheless a household and what issues most to us stays the identical. Our youngsters will at all times come first and we’re dedicated to elevating them in a loving setting with two energetic and current dad and mom.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Final Actual Housewives Women’ Journey: Roaring twentieth bought off to begin on Bravo.

The premiere acquired 2.5 million whole viewers throughout all platforms in its first week, a 112% improve from the earlier season’s premiere, based on a mixture of Nielsen information and NBCUniversal’s inner streaming numbers.

In response to Nielsen, the episode was up 97% on Bravo Linear. On Peacock, NBCU says the premiere grew 110% to a streaming sequence report for Final Women Journey franchise. The episode additionally ranks as Bravo’s sixth-biggest season premiere in Peacock historical past after seven days, the media firm provides.

The rising viewers can be fueling the thrill on social media. The Final Actual Housewives Women’ Journey: Roaring twentieth has had 97 million impressions so far, based on NBCU.

THE Actual Housewives the franchise appears to be firing on all cylinders today. The Actual Housewives of Orange County Season 20 debuted to 2.4 million whole viewers throughout all platforms, representing a 15% season-over-season improve. By means of 13 episodes, The Actual Housewives of Atlanta averages 2.6 million whole viewers throughout all platforms after 35 days. That is a 5% improve general, however the present is up 22% on Peacock particularly.

Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Actual Housewives franchise, season 5 of Final Women Journey starring Teresa Giudice, Luann de Lesseps, Kyle Richards, Vicki Gunvalson, Gizelle Bryant, Porsha Williams and Lisa Barlow. All through the season, the ladies journey to a number of the iconic places within the franchise’s historical past, beginning with Orange County and visiting Beverly Hills, Atlanta, Miami and New York.

The Final Actual Housewives Women’ Journey: Roaring twentieth is produced by Shed Media with Lisa Shannon, Dan Peirson, Darren Ward and Barrie Bernstein serving as government producers. Andy Cohen additionally serves as government producer.

Penn Badgley simply cannot escape the killers.

THE You star will headline a homicide thriller on Prime Video titled Everybody in my household has killed somebody. Prime has positioned a sequence order for the mission from showrunner David Hemingson, Fifth Season and Made Up Tales. The sequence is predicated on the novel of the identical identify by Benjamin Stevenson.

“I’m thrilled to companion with Fifth Season and Made Up Tales to convey Ben’s heartfelt, darkly hilarious thriller to life,” mentioned Hemingson (The leftovers). “And we’re so fortunate to have Penn as our important character. I am unable to consider any actor higher suited to convey Ern’s depth, brilliance and hilariously dry humorousness to life.”

Everybody in my household has killed somebody follows Ern Cunningham (Badgley), a “crime writing skilled” who travels to Vermont for a household reunion “to welcome his brother Michael from jail — the identical brother Ern helped convict,” the present’s logline reads. “When a frozen physique seems and a snowstorm traps everybody inside, the deaths start to mount. Everybody in Ern’s household has already killed somebody, both by chance or in any other case.”

Hemingson will government produce the sequence together with Made Up Tales’ Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Jeanne Snow, Molly Allen, Badgley and Stevenson.

“I’m blown away by everybody’s imaginative and prescient and enthusiasm for bringing this e book and Ernest Cunningham to the display,” Stevenson mentioned. “Penn completely captures Ern’s intelligence and smarts, and David introduced lots of spirit and coronary heart to the script. With the fervour of Amazon MGM Studios, Bruna and Steve behind us, we now have a fully lethal workforce, and I am unable to wait to unravel a homicide with them.”

Stevenson’s 2022 novel launched a profitable sequence – there are at present 4 Ernest Cunningham mysteries and the creator is writing a fifth.

“We’re thrilled to convey Ben’s sensational e book to life within the good fingers of Dave Hemingson,” mentioned Papandrea and Hutensky. “We discovered the right Ern in Penn and it’s a dream to make this sequence with our unbelievable companions Amazon MGM Studios and Fifth Season.”

Peter Friedlander, head of worldwide tv at Amazon MGM, added: “Everybody in my household has killed somebody is a brilliantly ingenious sequence that shakes up the homicide thriller style in essentially the most surprising and entertaining methods. Ben created a world that was darkish and humorous and extremely clever. Mixed with David’s sharp storytelling and Penn’s magnetic presence, and our unbelievable companions at Season 5 and Made Up Tales, this sequence goes to be one thing actually particular for Prime Video.

Badgley is repped by Brillstein Leisure Companions, CAA, The Lede Firm and Hansen Jacobson. Hemingson is accompanied by 3 Arts, WME and McKuin Frankel. Stevenson is repped by Mental Property Group and Curtis Brown Australia.

All week, Scandinavian media have been quietly confirming that King Harald of Norway will not be round for lengthy. Norwegians are extra impartial than different royal homes. I bear in mind the months earlier than Queen Elizabeth II’s dying, when Buckingham Palace would barely verify something past “she’s not feeling effectively.” Seems she had most cancers the entire time. Nicely, King Harald’s well being has been declining for the previous few years and his son, Crown Prince Haakon, is taking up increasingly more obligations. Over the weekend, the palace introduced that King Harald was hospitalized with a really severe sickness – hemolytic anemia – and that Haakon would grow to be regent. Now plainly King Harald is on the verge of extinction.

King Harald of Norway is in “extraordinarily severe situation”, based on the Norwegian palace, because the royal household is gathered at his bedside in hospital.

The king, 89, who’s Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, was taken to Oslo Nationwide Hospital final week with a uncommon situation known as hemolytic anemia, when the immune system assaults pink blood cells.

On Sunday, the palace issued an pressing assertion explaining that his situation was severe however responding to remedy, including that he would stay in hospital whereas his son and inheritor to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, took over as regent.

This morning, the Norwegian royal household launched one other assertion saying his situation had deteriorated, as their web site states: “The king’s state of well being is extraordinarily severe. »

Following the announcement, the king’s spouse, Queen Sonja, and Crown Prince Haakon have canceled all upcoming engagements, and no occasions are deliberate for any of the royals listed on-line. The president and bishop of Norway additionally canceled right this moment’s engagements.

Shortly after the palace launched its replace on the king’s well being, Queen Sonja, Prince Haakon and his spouse, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, have been seen arriving at Rikshospitalet, the place the king was hospitalized for 10 days. The prince and princess’s kids, Prince Sverre Magnus and Princess Ingrid Alexandra, arrived shortly afterwards, as did the king’s sister, Princess Astrid.

Yngve Kvistad, royal correspondent for Norway’s hottest information outlet VG, stated of the king’s well being: “They’re in all probability dealing with a scenario by which the sickness has taken such a unfavorable flip that it’s not at all sure that the king will survive. After all we’re not positive, however the scenario is changing into important.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

I admire the Norwegians for being upfront about what is occurring and giving the household time to cancel their plans, go to the hospital and say goodbye in individual. This can be a a lot better method to deal with issues (bureaucratically and family-wise) than mendacity or leaving a part of the household at nighttime. Harald is of the identical era as Queen Margrethe of Denmark, who abdicated in January 2024. It appears fairly unhealthy that Haakon is already formally appearing as regent.

Photographs courtesy of Avalon Pink, cowl photos.