Some 14 months ago, cameras started rolling on an expensive new take of Married At First Sight for Channel Seven titled Stranded on Honeymoon Island with radio shock jock Jackie O Henderson as the host. The new series was heavily promoted as one of the most exciting new shows for 2025 but somehow it fell off everyone’s radar.
A year later, the only people still wanting to watch this show are probably just the contestants themselves (and maybe Kyle Sandilands… or not).
The show was announced to a confused bunch of media buyers and no one dared to point out that the idea was as smart as getting a bunch of cash, wrapping it with a brick, putting it in a bag and throwing it down the river.
What could go wrong? (Credit: Seven / Stranded on Honeymoon Island)
It seems the network wanted their own version of Nine’s relationship experiment series MAFS and the clever people at Endemol Shine Australia basically picked some similar elements to MAFS and declared “what could go wrong?”
Based on a Danish format, the half-baked series sees 12 singles looking for love on a South Pacific island.
It was a similar premise to MAFS but instead these wannabe influencers who signed up to ‘find love’ get married and then are left stranded on an island for their honeymoon. I know what you’re thinking, ‘Why didn’t they just leave them there?’ That’s a good question!
But perhaps an even greater one is, when will the series see the light of day?
According to an industry insider who spoke to PEDESTRIAN.TV, never!
“Insert the sound of a coconut falling from a tree and landing on a person’s head, that is how good the finished version of the show was,” says the insider who viewed an early cut. “No wonder the network has buried it,” they claimed
The bonkers idea to shipwreck these couples after marrying a complete stranger sounds like something thought-up after drinking too many spicy margs, but Channel Seven threw cash at the idea and after shooting it, they apparently realised the idea was completely unwatchable garbage and this week cancelled plans to screen it all together.
That’s a lot of money to put it in a vault and throw away the key!
Jackie O Henderson is one half of controversial radio duo Kyle and Jackie O. (Credit: Instagram)
Our source alleged: “The couples were badly matched and ended up all leaving the island single, something that was hard to hide considering they all left the show and told everyone they knew the show was horseshit and that nothing interesting happened.”
“I guess you could hardly pretend you are still married for 14 months just for the magic of TV… viewers aren’t stupid. Why do networks keep treating us like we are!”
A spokesperson for Seven has refuted these claims, telling PEDESTRIAN.TV that that’s “not the case at all”.
“Stranded on Honeymoon Island will premiere in 2025 on Channel 7 and 7plus,” the spokesperson shared.
The show was scheduled for early this year and you could imagine the horror these participants/contestants have been going through. They all thought their Instagram numbers were going to ‘skyrocket’ and everyone would get free teeth-whitening. I guess they will have to brush their teeth themselves?
Not since Jurassic Park one through six have people regretted being sent to an island they had no business being on.
“Channel Seven were excited to announce they had signed Jackie O to Stranded on Honeymoon Island earlier this year,” the source added.
“The opportunity to feature Jackie as the narrator made major news after she stole the gig of Home and Away actor Ada Nicodemou. A bullet Ada must be feeling quite satisfied to have dodged.”
Dropping the Home and Away actor to appeal to the Kyle and Jackie O audience seemed smart at the time. However, an industry executive revealed that was the first sign this show would tank.
“Jackie O doesn’t rate, we know that, look at her track record,” they claimed.
To be fair, she has more failed TV gigs than any other TV presenter in the country. Does anyone remember Australian Princess? The Nation? Most people do remember the first run of Big Brother back in 2008. The show was axed after Kyle and Jackie O hosted the long-running reality series (btw there’s mad tea about what’s happening with the return of Big Brother, if you care to sip it).
The rumoured axing of Stranded on Honeymoon Island following the misfire by Channel Seven with Made in Bondi has been a sad run. I think in 2025 instead of treating the network like someone has bought a bunch of DVDs at a recent fire sale, the network should invest in some new concepts that reflect the era we are actually in.
The post Did Channel 7 Quietly Scrap Its New Jackie O-Hosted Dating Series? Insiders Spill The Tea appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
