MAFS star reveals producers' trick to cause drama at weddings: 'Sneaky'

Let’s face it, Married At First Sight's wedding ceremonies wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if they didn’t feature the bride and groom’s friends and family making comments about the partnership. Whether it’s Lauren Hall’s sister Tamara taking jabs at the newlyweds or Awhina Rutene’s twin Cleo refusing to answer Adrian Araouzou’s brother James’ questions, these one-episode cameos often create some of the most talked-about moments of the season.

Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle about what it’s really like filming a MAFS wedding, 2024 groom Tristan Black reveals that producers have a particular strategy when working out which guests to feature on the wedding day. Tristan, who was paired with Cassandra Allen in the experiment, explains that they ask plenty of questions about the guests before they’ve even been invited.

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“So [the producers] would be like, is anyone a bit more controversial? Or is there anyone that's not happy that you're doing this? Anything like that,” he details. “And then if you're like, ‘Yep, yep, yep’, they will target those people or move the camera over to those people because they have an idea.

“Some people are like that because at the end of the day, who doesn't want to be on TV a little bit you know? But then I also think to myself, why would you invite that person to your wedding?”

'Very sneaky'

Tristan recalls that he was “very sneaky” on his wedding day and told producers that his friend Ollie, who he describes as “the least judgemental person” he knows, was secretly known as ‘Judgey Ollie’.

“I kept on telling all the producers that he was the most judgmental person I've ever met,” he laughs. “So the producers asked all the guests who actually wanted to be miked up if they had any commentary or facial reactions or stuff, and when they were ticking off names he said ‘I’m Ollie’.

“They were like, ‘Ollie? Do you want a mike Ollie?’ and he said, ‘No no, I’m good’. And they were like, ‘Are you sure you don’t want a mike Ollie?’. It was hilarious, I thought it was so funny.”

Tristan reveals encounter with 2025 participants

While this year’s season of MAFS has only just begun, Tristan reveals that he’s already met two 2025 participants. He says he met Morena Farina at an event and Tony Mojanovski at the Maxim Hot 100 Halloween party last year.

“He was there and he was really nice. I only spoke to him for a couple of minutes and I was like, ‘Oh you seem lovely’,” he says. “And then I met Morena [at a different event] and she's obviously a bit more fiery, a bit more out there, but she was also really, really nice as well. So I actually don't know how that's going to work with those two, to be honest, but I'm excited to see.”

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Tristan adds that his two favourite participants after week one are the ‘gentle giant’ Dave Thomas and Katie Johnson.

“I'm really hoping that the gentle giant and his partner [Jamie Marinos] go really, really well, and I'm hoping that Katie's husband [Tim Gromie] gets his comeuppance,” he remarks. “So that's what I'm kind of hoping for.”

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