BURSTI’ve become addicted to the show. But as a scientist I wonder: how many couples actually stay together?
It has finally happened. After a decade of avoiding the show, my wife and I decided that we would try out the new season of Married at First Sight. We consume quite a bit of reality TV, so it’s not that we avoided it precisely, but something about the idea of watching people struggle to build a healthy relationship amid a storm of cameras and manufactured drama just never drew us in. At least until we watched Love at First Sight and realised it was actually kind of fun.
Relationship drama makes for addictive viewing. But after watching most of a season of weird “marriages”, screaming matches and couch quizzes accompanied by deep and meaningful music, one part of the show has struck me as really weird. Everyone keeps referring to the saga as an “experiment”. From the narrator to the experts who counsel the hapless couples on their relationship dramas, the entire show seems to be calling the experience a social experiment for which we don’t know the outcome.
How many couples stay together until the end of filming?
How many couples stay together after filming is completed?
How many couples are still together and is it fewer than we’d expect?
Continue reading...