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MAFS “wasn’t what I signed up for”

Dr Trisha Stratford gives a frank assessment of how Nine reality shifted from observational doco to something else entirely.

Former Married at First Sight expert Dr Trisha Stratford has spoken about her reasons for quitting the Nine series.

Her original reasoning was to “focus on my writing, research and neuropsychotherapy.”

But new quotes elaborate on much more…

“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,” she has told Woman’s Day NZ.

‘If someone gets through the critical selection process, when we say we don’t want them on the show because they’re quite fragile, they’re not going to do well after the show,” she said.

The New Zealand-based therapist went on to compare what the contestants go through as ‘a tough gig psychologically’ which she even compared to experiencing ‘conflict in war zones’.

“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.”

In Dr Trisha’s opinion, the show began in its infant stage as a proper social experiment, or at the very least an “observational documentary”, but over time has evolved to become something else.

“It got supersized, a bit like MasterChef, into what we know as MAFS now. The participants we got in season six and seven were so outrageous and outside the norm that it wasn’t what I signed up for.

“At a couple of dinner parties I felt sick. I felt in my guts that this wasn’t what I’d want to be watching at home on TV,” she said.

Dr. Trisha was replaced by Puerto Rican sexologist, Alessandra Rampolla.

Source: Daily Mail, MSN

10 Responses

  1. I’ve never watched it because from the beginning even though it sounded like a true experiment doco like she said I knew it was not going to be that and it’s just gotten absolutely disgustingly manufactured. I seriously dint know how people can watch it. Good on this doctor for being true to herself.

  2. I know the editors only show a fraction of what is said but Trish was only ever shown asking contestants about sex – it became memes and many criticised her online for being obsessed with sex and making the contestants really uncomfortable (like Ivan and Alex last year – hard to watch). She added nothing of value to the show whereas at least the others ask decent questions.

  3. Nice try Trish – she was part of the problem and was cashing those cheques for 7 seasons, 4 of those were in this format.
    And it was Trish who used to ask invasive questions about the sex lives of contestants, the people she is now so very concerned about.

    This attempt at reputation rehab should be laughed at – the MAFS experts are some of the very worst people tv, Trish is/was no exception.

  4. Her mistake was assuming that Nine would have conducted a “social experiment” in earnest, but props to her for knowing when to walk away.

    It’s also very telling that the producers would replace a neuropsychotherapist with a “sexologist” to keep that pot stirred, because every successful marriage is built upon the whims of our hormones/libidos, right? (and with an invasive production crew to boot)

    This could have been a great concept for a “reality” show that explored the lives of newlywed couples who do not know each other very well (if at all), but the reality is that it is little more than a trashy soap opera where the “characters” are real people, and OH&S regulations are the only thing hindering the cat fights common to the genre (though it hasn’t stopped other “reality” shows from depicting physical abuse/assaults).

  5. Lol she must be trying to rewrite history and save her reputation now that she’s left. Because she and her “professional and personal standards” sure stuck at long after the show had become the beast that it has been for a while now.

    1. Could there have been contract issues that prevented her from leaving when it did become trash?

      If so, she could have thought “well it would be easier to stick with it so 9 don’t pursue action against me & our violated contract”

      1. In my experience talent may be signed for a season with options for a few more, especially where it’s a new format. 2020 is S8. I imagine as the show moved to a stripped format there was a new deal.

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