MAFS experts reveal how much they really see during filming: 'Very different'

Married At First Sight’s trio of experts are an integral part of the long-running social experiment: pairing participants together, observing dinner parties and sharing their guidance during commitment ceremonies.

Outside of these key scenes, viewers have often wondered if the experts are privy to the couples’ more controversial moments that occur at the weddings, honeymoons and apartments where they live together.

Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle ahead of the season nine premiere, Mel Schilling, Alessandra Rampolla and John Aiken spoke openly about the filming process on the reality TV show and how much information they actually receive.

“We literally see what you see us see. So it’s dinner parties and commitment ceremonies,” Mel revealed.

“We go by the participant’s accounts of what happened during the week because we don't see footage,” Alessandra added. “We don't go to the weddings. We don't know how they got on. We see nothing of the honeymoons.

“We just observe the dinner parties and we make comments on that, and some of those things we’ll bring to the commitment ceremony if we want to clarify, or we just listen to what they have to say and what they choose to bring to the table.”

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The sexologist went on to share that an interesting part of the series is that viewers often have more intel about the relationships than the experts.

“Audiences are watching and they have their opinions and they're very invested, but we have none of that information to add to our thought process or the opinions that we're going to get back,” she continued.

“So it's a very different experience for audiences watching the final result than it is for us going through the process of filming the series.”

Alessandra, who replaced clinical neuropsychotherapist Dr Trisha Stratford on the show last year, also admitted that it wasn’t until she watched the show on TV that she fully comprehended the experiment.

“Coming in last year, everything was new and even when we finished filming I still didn't feel that I really understood what this experience was,” she said.

“And I didn't get it until I actually finished watching this series, that was like the last missing link. Because it's one thing to go through but we're not there every day. We only film a certain amount of times throughout the filming period and then to watch it all come together, that’s when everything finally made sense.

“It's crazy to say that but it's how it is and I've been working in television for many years and I've done other reality shows, but the conclusion of the series when it aired is when I finally understood it.”

Married At First Sight S9 starts Monday January 31 at 7.30pm on Channel 9

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