MAFS' Dr Trisha Stratford dead at 72: Former expert revealed why she left show in scathing interview

Dr Trisha Stratford, who starred as a relationship expert on the controversial reality show Married At First Sight Australia, has passed away at the age of 72.

The neuropsychologist became a household name when she appeared on Channel Nine 'social experiment' from 2015.

However, in 2020, she decided to quit, slamming the direction the show was taking and saying she ‘felt sick’ at what happened at some of the famously wild dinner parties.

In an interview with Woman’s Day at the time, Trisha, who also acted as an expert on the New Zealand version of the show, said it wasn’t what she signed up for.

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“By the end, I couldn’t compromise my professional and personal standards because there were participants on the show who I felt shouldn’t have been there,” she said.

“At a couple of dinner parties I felt sick. I felt in my guts that this wasn’t what I’d want to be watching at home on TV. The participants we got in season six and seven were so outrageous and outside the norm that it wasn’t what I signed up for.”

She echoed those sentiments to New Zealand’s Newstalk ZB, when she said she was stepping away from the role to focus on her writing, research and neuropsychotherapy.

“It became really clear to me over the last two seasons, but particularly the last season, that the type of people applying for the show were just becoming more and more outrageous,” she said.

“And it became very difficult to match people who were on the show for the wrong reasons. I’m in my integrity and it’s just not working for me anymore. I don’t feel I have enough involvement in the matching, cause it kind of moved from matching to casting.

“I understand the network and the production company need to make a show that’s going to rate. There has to be a happy medium in there, and for me, it just swung too much the other way.”

In a parting word to the station, she said at the time that her hope for the show was that they would focus on finding genuine contestants and that they would treat their mental health as a priority.

Trisha was replaced by sexpert Alessandra Rampolla for the following three seasons of the show.

Trisha's life in New Zealand

Trisha moved back to her home country of New Zealand in 2020 to be with her partner Roger who she met through friends in 2018.

"Lockdown was a nice time to reflect and it reinforced that I'd made the right choices in my life with leaving MAFS and coming back home," she said in her Woman's Day interview.

Trisha is survived by her daughter, Gina, and her partner Roger.

A Nine spokesperson said that the network was deeply saddened to hear the news of Stratford’s death.

“Our sincerest condolences and heartfelt sympathies go out to her family and those closest during this difficult time.”

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