It’s been confirmed that Married at First Sight Australia 2024 will honour former expert Trisha Stratford following her death.
Fans of the marriage experiment were shocked to learn of the 72-year-old’s death in September. The news was announced by her co-star and friend, John Aiken, on social media.
Channel Nine also shared a statement, which read: “We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Dr Trisha Stratford.
“Our sincerest condolences and heartfelt sympathies go out to her family and those closest during this difficult time.”
It’s since been revealed that the 11th season of MAFS will begin with an in-memoriam tribute to Trisha on January 29.
“No one was more shocked by the news of Trisha’s passing than John Aiken and Mel Schilling and they both wanted their former colleague and friend to be acknowledged,” an insider told Yahoo! Lifestyle.
“[John] quite worried how the network would handle the tragic loss of such an instrumental part of the MAFS family and he really made his voice heard to make sure that something was going to be done.”
The insider added: “It would really be making a statement if they don’t include her in the first episode. Fans of the show would be disappointed and not to mention John and Mel would feel cheated.
“After all, they have all put so much of their lives into the success of MAFS. They will feel more valued when they see this kind of acknowledgement.”
Why did Trisha Stratford leave Married at First Sight?
After seven seasons as an expert on the infamous marriage experiment, Trisha quit the show in 2019.
While she found the first couple of seasons to be “fulfilling”, Trisha said she found herself “conflicted” as MAFS began to steer towards drama rather than genuine relationships.
“I thought I had very strong resilience after everything I’ve done in my life, but MAFS took me to another level,” she told Woman’s Day in 2021.
“By the end, I couldn’t compromise my professional and personal standards because there were participants on the show who I felt shouldn’t have been there.”
At the time, Nine thanked the clinical neuro-psychotherapist for the “extraordinary contribution” she’d made to the show.
“She showed great courage joining this very unconventional social experiment in its first short series and helped transform it into the hugely successful franchise it is today,” they said in a statement.
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