Amid rumours the Married At First Sight experts are planning to boycott the series after a brutal pay dispute, Kyle Sandilands is considering jumping on board the sinking ship.
WATCH: Kyle Sandilands addresses rumours he will be joining MAFS
Speaking about his potential involvement in the next season of the dating experiment, Kyle said producers even asked his friend John Ibrahim whether he’d be keen to join as a relationship expert.
“John Ibrahim rings me up and goes, ‘Hey! I see in the paper that MAFS want you to go on that show and be the new relationship expert’. And then he said, ‘I have a friend from the production company who reached out and asked if you’d do it and whether you’re signed to Channel Seven.’ What sort of expertise have I got except disastrous ones?” he said on KIIS FM’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
While the Trial By Kyle star was unsure what he could bring to the table in terms of relationship advice, Jackie said he’d be the perfect fit.
“You should look at that definitely! I think that would be a great gig to have. If you could actually genuinely pair people up, and they were willing for you to take the reigns, I would say go for it. What a great idea,” said Jackie, adding he’d jump at the opportunity to ask about the participants’ sex life.
“Well look, I’m open to talking about it but you’ll have to be willing to pay a lot of money and I’m going to be running this whole show,” Kyle, 48, added.
That might be a little difficult seeing as Nine bosses are unwilling to pay the infamous experts another dime. An insider recently told New Idea that the trio kicked up a stink and threatened to quit the series if their modest pay packages weren’t revised.
“The experts are on $50,000 each for the whole series and they feel they are being underpaid,” the source told the outlet, adding they might walk if they aren’t taken seriously.
“With the success of the series they have had salary increases, but their involvement in the show is not huge and [it] is produced within an inch of its life,” the source continued, adding the relationship advice-givers don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to closed-door negotiations.
Contrary to popular belief, John Aiken, Mel Schilling and Trisha Stratford aren’t responsible for mismatching couples, with the source claiming they have “minimum input” and are ordered to follow “lines fed by producers”.
“They meet with producers to discuss their line of attack and the different scenarios to deliver the headlines, the promos and controversy, which ultimately turns into ratings.”
While their positions are currently up for grabs, John is said to be the driving force behind the experts’ push for change.
“If there’s an opportunity for John to be on camera, he will jump at the chance. Trish and Mel are … more than happy to just rock up to set and do what they have to do.”
His changing attitude towards the experiment is said to have upset Nine bosses and MAFS producers, with rumours swirling the Network won’t hesitate to shift the lineup.
“It could be time for some fresh faces. Unlike MasterChef, which will no longer feature Matt [Preston], Gary [Mehigan] and George [Calombaris], MAFS viewers won’t care too much if John, Trish and Mel don’t return. It won’t affect ratings.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
