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57,000 sign petition over MAFS expert

Producers should have had Mel Schlling's back to avoid this audience backlash.

A petition to dump psychologist Mel Schilling from Married at First Sight now has over 57,000 signatures in four days.

Viewer Tyson Smith started the petition after Schilling (pictured left) admonished Bronson for language used at Sunday’s dinner party, but did not pull ‘TV wife’ Ines into line over her behaviour.

Bronson’s choice of words were bleeped (and pixellated) by the network meaning viewers were unaware of just what he had said.

“When you use language like that in relation to a woman, how do you expect her to respond to you? A tip from me to you: Don’t use language like that if you want any chance of a relationship,” Schilling told him.

But press the next day revealed it to be the C*** word. The Nine show was classified as PG with further warnings on screen.

In media on Monday some questioned why Schilling hauled Bronson over the coals but not Ines for her behaviour.

It isn’t clear if Schilling did just that too, but it did not make the final cut. Either way, it wasn’t a good look and the audience is clearly unimpressed, if heavily engaged, in the drama. So far they are not switching off. Instead they are venting and sharing their outrage on social media and in online petitions.

But she did respond on Nine-owned website, 9Honey: “I’m gender-blind in that role,” she said. “Abusive or harmful behaviour is something I’m going to call out whether it’s men or women doing it.”

Network executive producer John Walsh added, “There were 12 women in the room that night and a man used language that was highly insulting and inflammatory in reference to his wife. Mel acted in the only way appropriate by calling out the language — language that is not ever considered acceptable anywhere, anytime.

“We are shocked at the backlash Mel has received for defending another woman.”

Question is, why did producers not forsee the backlash, given they are producing storylines to within an inch of their lives? They should have had Schilling’s back here and asked her to film a second response.

Were they just too busy pushing volatile storylines about losing virginity and partner-swapping?

Happy Valentine’s Day.

18 Responses

  1. I looked on change.org with MAFS & noticed that there are 2 of these petitions to sack Mel schilling. One of them had over 60k signatures while the other had approx 2200 signatures. I didn’t know which ones to pick.

  2. On Monday morning Deb and Georgie on Today interviewed ‘expert’ John and asked him about the controversy which was already building over Sunday night. He said the judges don’t see all the previous interactions between the couples so Mel did not know Ines had been speaking badly. Nine come out and give a different excuse so it becomes a ‘who do we believe’? Last nights episode sunk to a new low in my book. Sam really had chicken pox and Ines kissed it?? Judges didn’t comment on what they were doing on their secret rendezvous with cameras staring them in the face and where was Lizzie??

  3. So the ‘expert’ describes herself as gender-blind but John Walsh is shocked at the “backlash Mel received for defending another woman”. Um. Wait… And besides, I don’t understand why using a word that describes female genitalia is considered the worst possible word ever in the universe. It doesn’t make sense to compare a dreadful person with something that brought us all into the world and is, generally speaking, pretty amazing and fantastic and beautiful. I reckon it’s time we choose a different word as the unspeakable insult. Hey David, maybe a good subject for one of your polls?

  4. Sickens me how people will sign petitions for petty TV matters but for the real stuff that really matters (i.e. reopening the Christmas Island Detention Centre) people get nowhere near as passionate.

    1. You can’t really generalize. Some people can walk and chew gum at the same time.

      I will sign a petty TV petition if I feel inclined to do so, and I passionately support the Christmas Island Detention Centre.

      1. Sign all the petitions you want. I notice they aren’t organising a boycott of the show though. The more outrageous the behaviour gets the higher the ratings and more Nine loves it.

    2. I have long wished that these online petitions offered an “anti-signing” option, so that I can express my displeasure at the raising of the original petition. If a petition does not get much support, you can’t tell if it is because people don’t agree, don’t know about it, or are neutral.

      I would sign the MAFS petition but it is too narrow – it should be against the whole show. I wouldn’t sign a petition against the Christmas Island decision, but I would sign one for it.

  5. David, do you know if Schilling and the other “experts” have a professional obligation to look after the psychological needs of these people? I read that they only look at the interactions at certain events (e.g. dinner parties) and not at the totality of interactions. Just on this matter alone it would represent a absence of a duty of care, given what they are putting these people through. I thought there was some weasel words last year to the effect that they don’t have a duty of care to these people. If so then they should be branded as amateur psychologist, a bit like myself, and not “experts”.

    1. Fair question but there are off screen psychologists to take care of participants. That said the lines are very grey as to how on screen experts deal with conflict when it arises, given they work for producers.

    2. The experts are there for the money and celebrity, Nine needs them for the increasingly flimsy pretence that this is a valuable “social experiment” and to help the contestants find a partner . They are not treating anyone and don’t have a duty of care to them. They are however professionals and are bound by professions ethics. But that obviously isn’t being enforced. The psychologists behind the scenes do have duty of care, but they are mostly there to reduce Nine’s insurance premiums and potential liability if something goes horribly wrong, as has happened on these sort of shows before.

  6. When it comes to tv, a petition is just a list of viewers.
    Before they take notice of that, they will see if there is a ratings drop. ——-Stop watching that rubbish.
    MAFS and the word -expert- should never be in the same sentence.

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