As the relationship between Married At First Sight (MAFS) grooms Chris Robinson and Sam Stanton begins to implode on screen, two former participants have revealed what needs to change in order for same-sex pairings to succeed in the experiment.
Though they entered the experiment on a high, Sam and Chris — who are only the fourth-ever same-sex MAFS couple — have had a rough go of it over the past few episodes.
The breakdown of the once-promising couple has been a talking point among fans who had hoped Sam and Chris would break the MAFS curse for gay couples, with none of the other three pairings from past seasons ending in true love.
That’s a pretty abysmal success rate, but Stephen Stewart — who was paired with Michael Felix on MAFS’ 2024 season — reckons one key change could fix the fate of gay participants moving forward.
“I think that having a gay producer for a gay couple would make a world of difference,” Stephen said on PEDESTRIAN.TV’s podcast Villain Edit.
While Stephen, who left the experiment after only a few weeks, insisted his straight producer was “unreal”, he still believed a gay producer would have understood his experience better.
“[Gay couples] will never fully understand the issues and the inner workings of a heterosexual couple, and vice versa. To have that inside view from someone who’s experienced it themselves would be a huge help,” Stephen said.
With that change, Stephen said gay participants could spend less time “trying to educate and explain” their experience to producers and viewers, which can be “exhausting when you’re feeling vulnerable and feeling sh**ty about a situation”.
“I didn’t really want the extra pressure of trying to explain the added layers of a gay relationship,” Stephen said. “I think just going forward, to have an advocate that is producing for the gay side would be a huge help.”
Samuel Levi, a gay participant who appeared on MAFS New Zealand in 2021, agreed that a change is needed for the show around “truly understanding” same-sex couples, but said the problem is much broader.
“If I could change one thing, it would definitely be putting the same level of depth and intention into gay matches as they do with the heterosexual couples,” Samuel said on Villain Edit.
In terms of casting, Samuel said it can feel as though the show pairs gay matches to “fill a category and tick a box rather than truly understanding compatibility between two people”.
“Gay relationships aren’t just a one-size fits all, which I think they kind of make out like we are,” Samuel said. “I’d love to see more time and care taken into getting to know individuals before matching them rather than focusing on the fact that they’re just both literally two gay men.”
Without that intentional approach in casting, Samuel reckons same-sex participants will always start off on the back foot.
“When I do see a new gay couple on the screens, I just think, ‘if only they put in as much effort as they do for the heterosexual couples’. It would be gold.”
Thankfully, Samuel did find his happily ever after, but with MAFS Australia’s season eight participant, Liam Cooper.
The jury’s still out on whether these shortcomings are responsible for Sam and Chris’ current marital demise, but we’ll have to wait and see whether the pair can break the gay MAFS curse as the season unfolds.
Lead images: Channel 9
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