Ahhh, reality TV. It’s all about putting humans under a microscope, watching how they interact, and relating to how they live their lives. But is it really like that these days?
Just take Married At First Sight. The show started as a wild experiment which saw participants marry complete strangers chosen for them by ‘experts’ in hopes of finding everlasting love. Now? MAFS is heavily edited, scripted and at times, incredibly problematic.
While MAFS has become a guilty pleasure for many, life after the cameras stop rolling is a different story. On the latest episode of It’s Been A Big Day For… we spoke to season six participant Martha Kalifatidis who spilled the tea on the actual reality of reality TV, and it’s safe to say, our minds are blown. LISTEN BELOW:
Speaking about her time on MAFS, Martha said, “I don’t want to ruin the magic for you guys… I remember a few times, we had to go back and film a commitment ceremony over two days because it went so long and it rained – the couldn’t film through it because it’s a tin roof.”
“Some of the dinner parties end at 5am – literally, the sun’s going up. Everyone wants to go home but the show must go on. Sometimes they’d film the ‘good night’ at 2pm.”
As for the current season of the show, Martha isn’t buying into the hype, telling us, “their characters are sh*t. At least play your role well, if you’re going to do it.”
“I feel like they’re struggling to be authentic. It’s a luxury and it’s rare. The girls this season are not being that, I can’t relate to any of them.”
During our chat with Martha, she also spoke about her least favourite participant on the current season, her relationship with “MAFS husband” Michael, the beauty of her love hate relationship with her mother Mary, and how she managed to gain so much success after the show ended, particularly via Instagram.
Martha’s Instagram isn’t only for fans who want to catch up on her relationship with Michael or her hilarious fights with Mary. She’s also got maintained an engaged audience of followers for her fashion and beauty advice – some of which she’s bringing to her partnership with online shopping cashback service, Shopback.
Together with Shopback, Martha and Mary are on the hunt for Australia’s savviest online shopper to win $20K in cashback to spend on over 1,300 retailers. Check out Shopback for more details on how to enter the competition.
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