Married at First Sight

[StepfauxWife]

Anyone watching?

Am very intrigued to see how this goes..

[SouthWestmom]

I am! Such a weird programme. The bloke looks like a young David Cameron.

[BitOfFun]

It was quite good, I thought. I don't know what would possess anybody to actually do this though.

[cowbag1]

One of the couples were on This Morning yesterday!

[SouthWestmom]

Oh are they still together?

[poocatcherchampion]

It was interesting but I can't get away from the notion that it devalues marriage. For the sake of telly.

[cowbag1]

They, the woman in particular, were quite cagey so it was hard to tell. Was a really awkward interview actually!

[VivaLeBeaver]

I watched this. Thought they are mad. The woman who pulled out, I thought they'd make a sweet couple. I think the fitness instructor and the finance bloke will be a sweet couple. But I think James is too sweet for the blonde lady, think she might eat him for breakfast!

[InTheBox]

I wanted to start this thread! I find it very fascinating but at the same time this sort of thing happens in many cultures so I'm half trying to talk myself out of the morbid fascination whilst half thinking these people have lost the plot.

[StaircaseAtTheUniversity]

Loved it but can't see it ending well.

[ExitStageLeft]

How is it a legal marriage? I thought when I registered for our marriage I had to prove I knew DH.

[PinkParsnips]

I read an article the other day with James and the blonde woman saying they both agreed they didn't fancy each other and wouldn't have given each other a second glance if they met in a pub, but it didn't give away whether they were still together.

I recognise her as she was a contestant on Dinner Date a while back (before this was filmed!)

[VivaLeBeaver]

exit. I wondered this as well. When me and my now dh went Tom register our intention to marry we were separated and quizzed about each other. Not major quizzing but I think I had to know his middle name, etc. actually maybe the main question was to make sure I was marrying of my own free will.

So maybe if they explain the tv show but say they're happy to do it it's still legal?

[ethelb]

You now have to give four weeks notice. Where you prove you know each other and wedding details.

[Quasicrystals1456]

Yes I thought there were laws stopping this from being legal - not a sham marriage.

[Florriesma]

I wondered about the registry office thing too.

I'm not sure dh and I would have been matched up by their system. We have very different interests. As for his taste in music...We didn't have similar view either although we've both mellowed now and seem to have metbin the middle. It strikes me that whilst they don't know each other the researchers have sought out similarities and excluded differences.

They must have pre nuts in place?

[Florriesma]

Pre nup agreements. Bloody phone.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Also, they said after x weeks the couples would make a decision whether or not to get divorced.

Well you can't get divorced for a year, or that certainly used to be the case. I wonder if they don't have sex would they have grounds for annulment rather than divorce?

[cowbag1]

I just can't understand why they have to make it legal? Can't they do all the compatibility stuff but just have them living together instead? Then they wouldn't have the divorce/annulment faff if it goes wrong. But maybe they need the wedding to make good TV?

And I can't understand why on earth you would volunteer for something like this. Although the woman on This Morning (I think it was Emma?) seemed to suggest they didn't know it was going to be filmed before they signed up to it.

[notquitehuman]

They already did a show like this in the 90s, back when we used to pretend this reality crap was a 'social experiment'. Astonishingly, the couple broke up after a few months and I think the wife is now married to Jeremy Kyle. Why does my brain hold so much useless trivia?

[VivaLeBeaver]

notquitehuman. Just googled and you're right. I'm very impressed at your memory!

[VivaLeBeaver]

Wiki also says a NZ radio show did something similar and the three couples are still together. First couple married in 1999.

[BitOfFun]

[IsItStupid]

I know that in the Australian show they don't have a real wedding, according to wikipedia "the couples do not partake in a legally binding marriage, due to legal restrictions, but instead meet as strangers at the altar of a commitment ceremony."

According to the telegraph the channel 4 version 'only' performs civil ceremonies. Is that a civil partnership or non religious marriage? Because if it's a civil partnership maybe it has different rules?!

[WottaMess]

A civil partnership is for same sex couples. In this country civil marriage is the only one that legally counts (why gay marriage is a great idea) and why you have to sneak off to sign the civil stuff even in a church service. For practical purposes though civil partnership is marriage - gives you the same tax benefits, etc - and legal separation (dissolving) is equivalent to divorce and can be done after a year.

[2rebecca]

I agree a pretend civil marriage sounds more sane. The people on it were more normal and less fame obsessed than I thought they'd be though. Shame about 1 women chickening out.