MAFS star praises secret benefit of photo ranking challenge: 'It's a trick'

Out of all the tasks assigned by the relationship experts on Married At First Sight, the photo ranking challenge is by far the most controversial. Participants are required to rank the other brides or grooms in order of how attractive they find them, and then ultimately place their partner somewhere in the lineup.

While some of this year’s cast members made the wise decision to abstain from taking part in the task - with Billy Belcher using the opportunity to declare that his wife Sierah Swepstone is the only person he cares about in the experiment - others took a much more brutal approach. Wednesday night’s episode saw Jake Luik essentially roast his female co-stars in the task over their age, facial features, and even race.

“I'm not racist or nothing, but I do like Caucasian people mostly,” he said as he held Awhina Rutene’s photo. “Awhina is a bit more Maori I think in her physical features, which is probably why she is not ranked higher.”

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Jake also said Jacqui Burfoot has “crazy eyes”, Rhi Disljenkovic has “a little lazy eye”, and Sierah has a face that screams “I could stab you in your sleep”.

When it came to ranking his own bride Ashleigh Ackerman, Jake decided to put her in fifth place - but told the producers he could’ve moved her down a spot because he “wouldn’t conventionally go for someone that looks like that”.

MAFS star slams Jake for his brutal honesty

Ashleigh later admitted she was outraged by Jake’s “hurtful” and “nasty” comments, and she certainly wasn’t the only person who felt like this.

MAFS 2024 fan favourite Lauren Dunn tells Yahoo Lifestyle that even if participants have never watched the reality show, they should know to always put their wife first regardless of how “honest” they think they need to be.

“If you have to lie through your teeth, you lie. You lie straight to that girl's face and you tell her she's the most beautiful girl in the room. There’s no reason to ever not put your wife first,” she asserts.

“You can be honest about the other women, but you put your wife first, 100 per cent. [The grooms] are gonna lie about everything else or they're going to exaggerate in some other area of the relationship throughout the experiment, so why can't they just do it here? If it’s going to make your partner feel good about herself, have some basic human decency and treat that person that you have been married to with some kindness and respect.”

What is the point of the photo ranking challenge?

Lauren went on to say that she doesn’t understand how participants don’t realise the photo ranking task is a “test from the experts” who do the same thing each season.

“This challenge is a trick and everyone falls for it every year,” she details. “I think the point of the photo ranking challenge is to create these kinds of moments. It really is. Because it doesn't matter what someone looks like, you’re already married to them. Too bad.

“Unless they're like me and they go get a new face every few months, too bad, you’re stuck with them.”

Secret benefit to the photo ranking challenge

Although many fans argue that the show should scrap the photo ranking challenge altogether, Lauren says there’s a secret benefit to the task besides just being “really entertaining”.

“Do you know what it also does? It proves early on who the d**kheads are. That shows a lot about Jake for Ash, and Ash can make a clear assessment really early on,” she explains.

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“Also, saying it in front of a camera that you know is going to be aired to millions of people is wild and shows a lack of just anything. There's not a lot going on up there.”

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