When contestants sign their lives away to Married at First Sight, they are a key building block for a show that rakes a sh*t-tonne of money in for executives. So, you would think they would be paid rather handsomely for their starring roles, right?
WRONG! Well, when it comes to the Australian version, at least.
Unfortunately, the stars of Married at First Sight don’t exactly make bank for their time in the marriage experiment — no matter how much drama, backlash or wine-throwing comes their way.
MAFS contestants are paid just $150 per day to participate in the show, several former participants spilled to So Dramatic!. However, this sum went towards any and all expenses they had at the time.
‘We paid for all expenses,” one former star revealed. “Outfits, haircuts, food, bills… you name it.”
Further, in episode 169 of the So Dramatic! podcast’s AFTERMAFS series, season eight groom Liam Cooper dished that they got legitimately nothing for their clothing allowance.
“They only gave us a $150 budget and then the rest we had to put in and that’s all we were given as a reimbursement,” he dished.
Yikes!
Married at First Sight New Zealand Stars’ Pay Is a Different Story
Whilst contestants on Married at First Sight Australia may get paid peanuts for their time in the experiment, the cast of the show’s New Zealand iteration are paid rather generously.
Samuel Levi, who appeared on MAFS New Zealand in 2018, revealed exclusively to So Dramatic! just how much the cast across the pond received.
“We got paid a weekly wage of $2000 each week, for the number of weeks we are in the experiment for until you had written leave,” he dished.
So that is just over $285 per day, AKA more than $100 more than MAFS Australia forks out for each contestant.
“We also got paid pro-rata for days we came back once it wrapped, for the likes of our final Dinner Party and Reunion episode which was a couple of weeks later,” Samuel added.
“I think this was done so we as contestants were 100% in the experiment, and didn’t have to worry about distractions from the outside world… I guess it gave us no reason to feel not needed to have full attention during the show.”
The NZ groom spilled that Kiwi contestants also got a $100 supermarket voucher each week to cover grocery shopping.
Attention MAFS Australia: up ya game!
How About Married at First Sight USA?
Okay, so the MAFS Australia contestants are not paid enough — that has been established.
And, whilst the Married at First Sight New Zealand producers may be a tad more generous, the same can not be said for executives behind the show’s American version.
The exact sum that contestants are paid for MAFS in the U.S of A has never been confirmed. However, executive producer Chris Coelen told The Wrap in 2015 that it was, “Honestly, almost nothing.”
Welp, at least producers can be sure contestants aren’t in it for the money! (That’s not to say there won’t be a few blue-tick hopefuls in the mix, though).
Want even more goss about Married at First Sight? Listen to episode 169 of the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
Know something about Married at First Sight that we don’t? Spill the tea here!
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