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.
Nicole Weingart/Peacock
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!
Nicole Weingart/Peacock
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.
Nicole Weingart/Peacock
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.