For those of you who don’t know, Married at First Sight is a reality TV show in which three couples are matched by a group of experts consisting of a life coach, a sociologist, and a pastor/marital counselor. The three couples meet for the first time on their wedding day at the altar. They then go on a honeymoon, move in together, and just start living life as a married couple. At the end of six weeks, the couples make a decision on whether or not they want to stay together or get a divorce. Many of the couples are still together at this point, but only two have made it past the six months’ mark. This show is on its fourth season and so far, this radical social experiment has a 22% success rate. That may seem low, but there have only been nine couples thus far. This season is not over yet so it can’t be taken into account.

This show is my favorite TV show; I have been following it since season one. The first season couples consisted of Jamie Otis and Doug Hehnir, Courtney Hendrix and Jason Carrion, and Monet Bell and Vaughn. The experts that season were Dr. Pepper Schwartz, Dr. Logan Levkoff, Greg Epstein, and Dr. Joseph Cilona. Jamie and Doug are still together as well as Courtney and Jason. Watching these couples meet and fall in love was absolutely incredible. They went from being complete strangers to being madly in love. The experts did a good job that season. However, there was some controversy with seasons two and three. None of the couples stayed together and the one man turned out to have been involved in drugs. This season introduced two new experts: Pastor Calvin Roberson and Rachel DeAlto. This pastor and life coach teamed up together this season with the sociologist Dr. Pepper Schwartz to match three new couples.

There have been many ups and down this season. One couple even called it quits after the honeymoon, a first for this experiment. I have high hope for the two remaining couples. Yes, they have had their ups and downs, but they have been given the skills necessary to make their marriages work and they seem to genuinely care for each other. The couples this season were given a lot more homework than the couples are previous seasons. They were given “getting to know you” assignments such as guided pillow talk. The experts are also a lot more involved with the couples this season: they give the couples advice, check-in on them, and give them additional assignments based on their individual’s situations.

I love everything about this show. I love the fact that the show goes back to the ancient concept of matchmaking. The people who apply for this show fill out FBI style profiles and go through extensive interviews by the experts, including a house visit. They have thousands of applications for this experiment. I love that this show highlights the fact that people want find love and be married. This show doesn’t glamorize marriage, but shows marriage at its toughest. I am a hopeless romantic, so I love the romantic concept of the show: being matched with your perfect partner. I love watching the couples fall for each other. My heart breaks for those who miss out on love. I watch this show because I want this experiment to succeed. I want people to find love and happiness. Who doesn’t love love?

This radical TV show was the first of its kind. They take perfect strangers and marry them. Those strangers then fall in love. It’s a beautiful story and it’s a show that I tune in to watch week after week. When this show came out, it was only on FYI. Now it is on A&E, a major network. No one can deny the success of the show and I hope there are many more seasons to come.