For a lot of Married At First Sight viewers, one big question pops up at the start of very season.
WATCH: This bride’s family has ditched her wedding and it’s heartbreaking.
Just what exactly do the participants’ parents/brothers/sisters/friends/children think is actually going on when they’re invited to a family gathering… along with a full-on camera crew and a bunch of producers?
Why do they think they’re there?
Do they wonder why they’re wearing mics?
What all the lighting is about?
Have they already been told the ‘news’ and have to make their acting debut?
Well, friends, we now have an answer – and it’s all thanks to an unedited slip of the tongue by groom Ivan Sarakula.
Like so many MAFS brides and grooms before him, real estate agent Ivan sat his parents down for a super-candid, totally natural, nothing-weird-going-on-here chat to reveal to them that he’s decided to marry a stranger on national television.
As he took his place at the dinner table with Mum (who has absolutely zero chill, bless her, and kept smiling at the camera and producers) and Dad, he opened with a very telling line.
Taking a seat opposite his parents, Ivan began:
“We’re actually not here for a real estate program…”
Aaand then he went on to tell him that he’s going on MAFS, blah blah, but more importantly, he let us in on the little trick producers use to keep reactions au naturel: a big ol’ (little white) lie.
It sounds like Ivan told his parents the camera crew was there for something related to his work in real estate – which goes some way to answering the question fans ask at literally every single reveal: what do the families think is going on when the film crew shows up in their kitchen?
Who knows what other participants tell their families (and truly, who cares, as long as we get some good TV out of it) – but it sounds like we have this mystery well and truly solved: a little bit of fabrication is all it takes!
(Come on, this is reality TV, what did you think they’d do?)
Meanwhile, we didn’t get to see Ivan’s match Aleksandra Markovic deliver the news to her parents, as they decided not to have any part in her decision to appear on the show.
“Mum and dad aren’t coming to my wedding because it’s not traditionally what they would want,” the tearful bride revealed.
“I respect their decision… But it is going to be hard because I do call on my mum every day. It doesn’t matter what we’re talking about… Not having her there is going to be really hard.”
But while Aleks has to go it alone, she believes the chance for true love is worth it.
“I chose to do this experiment on my own,” she shared.
“I regard my parents so much that I seek their approval for my whole life, and this was just one thing – taking the risk of love and happiness and taking it into my own hands – and just going ‘Screw you all, I’m going to do this for myself.'”
Ivan has already hit headlines this year, sparking rumours he’s only on the show for fame after he was spotted in Instagram snaps with Cyrell Paule (MAFS class of 2019) and seasoned Bachelor villain Keira Maguire.
He also applied for another reality show before he found himself filling in the MAFS application form…
But the 30-year-old tells WHO he’s simply jumping an opportunity that came along at the right time.
“I was in a little bit of a rut, and I thought, I’m a bit lost for love… why not?” he says. “I’m a roll-with-the-punches sort of guy.”
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