Married at First Sight sees strangers meet on their wedding day. Getting married is stressful enough at the best of times, let alone in front of cameras, but are the marriages on this international reality TV franchise legitimate?

The format of the reality show consists of experts matching two single people together, who think are compatible. This couple marry, go on honeymoon, and live together. The show then follows their ups and downs, all guided by experts who work with the couple to help their marriage last.

First-time viewers may think these weddings are purely for reality TV, but on the American version of the show, the marriages are legally binding. In other countries, the marriages are purely for the show, and the couple’s relationship is acted out like a social experiment.

The Couples Legally Marry After Their Wedding Day On US’s ‘Married At First Sight’

Due to avoiding criticism from religious groups, all the weddings on Married At First Sight are civil. After the wedding ceremony, the couple must sign a marriage license to ensure the union is legal. Usually, a couple would grab the paper before the wedding ceremony and sign the documents after, MAFS couples can’t do this as they only meet at the altar.

Because a marriage license contains vital information about the spouses, the participants sign the paperwork immediately after the ceremony so as to not identify each other.

The brides and grooms have a small role in organizing their weddings, choosing from pre-set themes and picking out their own outfits. The bride and groom both submit their preferences for flowers, music, and food to the producers, who then plan the wedding on their behalf.

The MAFS participants are given a small budget to cover the ceremony, although they usually go overboard and spend more on the bachelor/bachelorette parties.

Other Versions Of ‘Married AT First Sight’ Don’t Marry The Couples Legally

While the couple marry legally in the US iteration of Married AT First Sight, this is not common in other versions of the show from other countries.MAFS is based on a Danish format and has been franchised all over the world, including in France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Australia — alongside the United States.

According to ScreenRant, because of different legal systems, some of the rules are different for many non-American MAFS couples. Australian Married at First Sight has never had legally binding marriages due to the country’s laws, and it is considered the most popular version of the franchise.

• Although it appears like couples marry at the altar and go on a honeymoon, it’s all for the show, and nothing is legally signed.

A rep explained in an article published by Hello explained more about the process.

Each participant embarked on a commitment ceremony with a wedding celebrant with all due intention to commit fully to this union for the duration of the experiment.

The rep continued, “At the end of the experiment, they are given the option to continue with the relationship or go their separate ways.”

Originally, couples in the UK version wed legally, but this changed after Season 5, as stated by the Beyond Law Group. When the production team noticed how well the Australian version was doing without the need for legal marriage, they changed their setup. The Brits revamped their whole show, making it younger and more dramatic like their rival dating show, Love Island.

A spokesperson for the UK version of the reality show said that while the couples don’t actually get married, their commitment ceremony is overseen by a wedding celebrant, and it includes guests, bridal gowns, dancing, speeches and cake like a regular wedding would.

According to TV Magazine, the French version of Married At First Sight, they ran into trouble because a marriage is only legal when the ceremony takes place in the residential area of one of the spouses or their parents. All weddings take place in the town hall of Grans and the producers get around this law by renting an apartment in the candidates’ name before filming starts.

On Spanish MAFS, all the weddings take place in Cancun to avoid Spanish legal rules which require all couples to meet before marriage. The marriages are legal by Mexican law but can be recognized in Spain by going to a central civil registry.

Who Pays For The Divorces On ‘Married At First Sight’?

When it all comes crashing down during Married At First Sight and the marriage breaks down, who pays for it? Speaking to The Wrap, Chris Coelen, the CEO of Kinetic Content revealed there is not any money specifically set aside for divorce costs.

He told The Wrap regarding the couple splitting: “We will contribute within a certain period of time if they get divorced. We will help them cover the costs of an attorney if they choose to do that. I don’t know what the amount is. It’s nominal.”

Over the last 17 seasons of the American
Married At First Sight
, 69 couples have been matched. 38 of them chose to stay married on Decision Day, out of which over two-thirds have since split.

Chris later revealed that the contestants were given a prenup, however. “It basically says what they walk in to [the marriage with], is what they walk out of the marriage with,” he said. It does have a clause that states that the couple can change this at any point during their marriage.

He continued, “We want to give them some protection walking in. If for some reason it does not work out, at least you are protected with this basic form.”

You are not going to get yourself into any legal trouble. Once they are in to the marriage, everything is completely up to them.

Season 2’s Clark told Cosmopolitan that contestants have to inform producers when they want to divorce. “The money was already in place when they put the bid on for the program.”

Clark, who was married to Melissa on MAFS UK added, “You have to legally be married for a year before you can apply for a divorce, so I had to wait until Jun. 19, 2017, before I could apply for a divorce. When I sat down with the production crew and explained to them why I was making my decision, they understood.”