The second season of FYI’s insanely popular reality show, Married At First Sight, is now in full swing, with the Season 2 couples having tied the knot on last week’s episode. Tonight, we will watch as the new couples–Sean Varricchio and Davina Kullar, Ryan De Nino and Jessica Castro, and Ryan Ranellone and Jaclyn Methuen— go on their honeymoons and try to fall in love with their new spouses.
The new couples have a good chance of find lasting love, based on the success rate of the Season 1 couples; two out of three of them are still together. However, according to psychologist Dr. Joseph Cilona, one of the experts that helped pair both the Season 1 and Season 2 couples, it was much harder to match the second batch of couples.
“The successes of Season 1 made this task much more challenging for Season 2,” Dr. Cilona told The Ashley in an exclusive interview.
‘Married at First Sight’ has become a huge hit, and has even spawned the spinoff show, Married at First Sight: The First Year. This created a challenge for the experts, given that many Season 2 applicants had watched the first season and wanted to be famous.
“We had over 7,000 applicants for Season 2 (in comparison to approximately 1,000 for Season 1), and we discovered very quickly that many of these individuals applied for many other different reasons including fame and notoriety,” he said. “It was much more challenging to weed these people out when looking for matches for Season 2, but absolutely essential to the selection process.”
The selection process for both seasons was extremely detailed.
“For both Season 1 and Season 2, we placed tremendous emphasis on trying to be sure the individuals we picked were authentic,” Dr. Cilona added. “It’s critical that they are genuine, that they truly want to be married, and that they are open to the radical process of a blind arranged marriage. ”
Dr. Cilona said that they were skeptical of applicants with Hollywood aspirations, but did not completely rule these people out.
“Jessica Castro has done some modeling and acting in the past,” Dr. Cilona said. “Our assessments found Jessica to be very authentic, and probably one of the most heavily invested in the experiment so she was ultimately not eliminated. The important issue is being genuine and authentic about the experiment and that it is top priority.”
To ensure success for the Season 2 matches, Dr. Cilona said he revised some of the matching tools he used for Season 1 and studied the unsuccessful Season 1 couple, Monet Bell and Vaughn Copeland, to learn from their relationship.
“Just because a potential exists doesn’t mean it can (or will) ultimately be realized,” he said. “Sometimes what we think we may want in a romantic relationship is not actually what we need. I think Monet learned a lot about who she is and what is really going to work long-term in her relationships by going through the process and marriage to Vaughn. Much of what she initially described to us surrounding her desires and wants for a partner turned into not being what she actually needs or wants.”
So how real is this reality show? The marriages are, indeed, legal, binding marriages, and Dr. Cilona insists that the emotions and actions of the participants are very real.
“‘Married At First Sight’ has been referred to as a reality show, though would be much more accurately described as a documentary,” he said. “The only contrived element is the big one: the blind arranged marriage. Other than the marriage, all of the decisions of these participants are their own. The cameras follow them for six weeks and document their experiences for the viewers.”
All three couples ended up getting hitched this season, but Dr. Cilona said there was a plan in place if someone had decided not to go through with the wedding.
“At the end, if someone ran from the altar, that’s their choice and what happens after with each of them would be followed,” he said. “Thankfully, we’ve been lucky and haven’t had to face that situation so far!”
Dr. Cilona acknowledges that the show has its skeptics; he recently tweeted his frustration over journalists who criticize the show without ever having watched it. Although he says he was originally skeptical to have anything to do with the show when he was approached before Season 1 (“I thought it was utterly absurd and politely declined to even discuss the possibility”) he is now very confident in the matching process.
“I think the viewers would be extremely surprised at how much time goes in to this process,” he said. “The data yielded by my assessments of the finalists for Season 2 was over 3,800 pages! I had data on each individual that averaged about 150 pages each. It took me almost 400 hours to go through all of that data to come up with my recommendations for matches.”
From there, Dr. Cilona and the other experts review all of the data and footage collected of each applicant. When it comes to actually making the matches, all of the experts have to agree.
“We all must be unanimous when it comes to the final matches. If we don’t all agree, then there is no match,” he said.
While the Season 2 couples’ fates are currently unknown, viewers have been able to watch Season 1 couples Cortney Hendrix and Jason Carion, and Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner enjoy married life on ‘Married at First Sight: The First Year.’ The couples recently celebrated their one-year wedding anniversaries, and while their first year of marriage is over, their spinoff show may not be. The network has not yet reached a decision on whether or not to continue the series. (The Ashley will keep you posted!)
Overall, Dr. Cilona has high hopes for the show and its participants.
“At its core, ‘Married At First Sight’ is about authenticity and honesty, and how these individuals and couples grow and evolve in their relationships and as individuals.”
‘Married at First Sight’ airs Tuesdays on A&E and FYI.
(Photos: FYI)
11 Responses
Is it true that the reason Jessica is on this show is to further her modeling career and “take the acting scene by storm”?. Married smarried…what great exposure this will be…
http://www.mobilemodeling.com/portfolio/jessica-castro-2/
I hope that Jaclyn and Ryan R turn out like Doug and Jamie!
However, I feel like the “experts” have done JESSICA A GREAT INJUSTICE matching her to that immature, arrogant, anger-management case, Ryan D. That guy is insensitive and just emotionally abusive to walk out on her and then act like she said something so private it justified his anger. She needs to run and get someone who really values and protects her! He needs counseling and should not be involved with anyone in any way, until he can handle his stupid anger and manipulation!!!!
ok I stand corrected without her makeup she looks very young 🙂 I wish them the best Happy Easter!
I love this show, but I am getting so frustrated with the young lady who keeps saying she’s not attracted to her groom because she looks like she could be his mother and she should be so happy and thank your lucky stars that she has such a good looking fella on arm 🙂
I love the show and I admit I am transfixed by it..as boring as MAFS : the 1st year is most of the time I still make sure I download it or see it on TV… I just wanted to say something a little smart ass that I was thinking when I was looking at the debate going on about why marriages fail and I wanted to offer this:
What’s the leading cause of divorce? …Marriage.
🙂 I think having someone pick my mate would be a lot more successful than the ones I have picked on my own… and I am sure there’s plenty of other people out there who would say the same thing, if they were honest.
I love this show, the odds of these marriages lasting are just as good as any others, with the divorce rate being as high as it. Whatever numbers are reported are not correct. Ask people in their 40’s and 50’s how many have been in just one relationship/marriage, very few will say only one. That means most relationships fail, especially when entered into in the 20’s. You have a 90% failure rate with couples in their 20’s. Interesting show!
That’s exactly the point though. If you look at the studies and statistics, a lot of marriages fail because people rush into them without really getting to know their partner. And even if they aren’t what is considered “rushed”, they still tend to go into marriage without really talking with their partner about what they want in life and in the future. Next thing you know people get suprised when one person wants to have 4 kids, and the other doesn’t want more than 1 or 2 (or none), or one wants to spend money on vacations and trips while the other thinks they should be saving for a house, or any other thing they end up having serious fights over. Also, when people get married young, it’s hard because people tend to change as they get older. I think most people would admit they are a pretty different person in their 30’s and 40’s then they were in their 20’s. So even though you were on the same page about things when you were younger, that may change as you get older.
My point is, why would anyone even want to jump directly into marriage with someone that they just met? What is the point? If you want to find a great match for people, fantastic. But why shove them directly into marriage the second they meet? I see the TV entertainment part of it for viewers, but for the people doing it, what is the point of the rushed marriage?
You make good points and I think part of the problem is everyone’s “look at me attitude!” Especially with the advancement of social media, everyone is very interested in making sure everyone else thinks they’re having the time of their life. What happens is everyone become so invested in themselves that they stop putting the needs of others first and then wonder why these marriages aren’t working out. my husband and I always joke that anytime we go anywhere fun we see at least a dozen people taking selfies so they can post it on Facebook and tell the world just how much fun they really are having instead of actually being in the moment and really enjoying it. Everyone should just start looking outward and really being present instead of focusing so much on themselves and then see if their marriages are improved and long-lasting.
they are scientifically matched! According to a zillion different facts. Most marriages fail NOW because people especially men are not monogamous by nature. With the age that people are living to now, it’s flat out not realistic to think that if you get married in your 20’s you will be with same person in your 90’s. No matter how long you knew someone prior to marrying them. People change, bottom line. no one should get married in their 20’s, it most likely will fail over a 90 % failure rate by the time someone is in their 50’s. Meaning in 30 years more than 90% of the marriages from people in their 20’s end in divorce. Why even bother?