MAFS expert shares surprising reason behind show's lack of diversity

Despite being Australia’s most popular reality show, Married At First Sight certainly isn’t known for its diversity.

Only three same-sex couples have appeared on the series across its 11 seasons - Craig and Andy in 2016, Amanda and Tash in 2020, and Stephen and Michael in 2024 - and now expert Alessandra Rampolla has shared a surprising reason why.

Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle, Alessandra explained that the series hasn’t featured more same-sex relationships simply because of the lack of applicants.

“One thing that I think always happens with our show is that it is a show. It is an experiment in the concept of how we put together the show, but we are a reality TV show and we are dependent on the people that choose to come on reality TV,” she said.

“I think that's part of the reason why we haven't had more representation of different sexual orientations and different sexual identities and whatnot on the show because we haven't necessarily had those people raise their hand and say, ‘I want to be a part of this’.”

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Alessandra went on to emphasise that she would love to highlight more sexual identities on the show and hopes this could change in the future.

“It depends on the humans that show up and want to share their stories and want to go on this wild ride with us and try and find love and definitely try and understand themselves and learn about themselves a little more because I think everybody leaves the experience with that,” she added.

Alessandra reveals her most memorable participant of all time

Alessandra, who joined the show’s eighth season in 2021, tells Yahoo Lifestyle her most memorable participant from the series is Lucinda Light “for all the right reasons”.

“Lucinda Light is the light. She is so lovely and she is so genuine and so consistent,” she remarks.

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“As you saw throughout the experience, she maintained her true self and was really loyal to her true self. That's something that I admire a lot about any human being but especially about women because it is particularly difficult for many women to maintain that sense of self.

“So yes, I would say Lucinda Light. Like the rest of Australia and the world, we're all in love with Lucinda.”

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