Married at First Sight Season 17 Format Explained (What Will Be The New Norm?)

The different format Married at First Sight season 17 viewers have been witness to is new for the show and could potentially become the new norm if things don’t change. Season 17 has been mired in controversies with questionable casting choices being made. Dr. Pia Holec, Dr. Pepper Shwartz, and Pastor Cal Roberson were the experts tasked with matching the pairs and guiding them through the eight-week Married at First Sight process. However, this season has seen little success among the couples, giving this season a marred reputation.

Come Decision Day, Becca Haley and Austin Reed said yes to each other only to break up the next day, and both Cameron Frazer and Clare Kerr and Emily Balch and Brennan Shoykhet said no to each other. Lauren Goodger and Orion Martzloff broke up after returning to Denver from the honeymoon only for Orion to want to “build a bridge” back to Lauren. There was also a second wedding for Michael Shiakkalis in a Married at First Sight first. Because of the precedent and Decision Day aftermath, the show’s format has changed and may continue to have a different structure.

Married At First Sight Had Its First Runaway Bride

Married at First Sight season 17’s structure was supposed to involve viewers watching five couples get married, go on their honeymoons, and then ride out the remaining weeks together trying to get closer. What viewers got, was Michael arriving at his first wedding hopeful and elated only to be let down by his mystery bride who said she wasn’t ready to get married to a stranger (via Lifetime.) Michael was robbed of the entire experience, and the experts felt bad.

However, Michael was given another opportunity to marry someone else. Michael’s decision to marry a stranger again led to his union with Chloe, which started when the other couples were already halfway through their journeys and two of them were already broken up.

His late second marriage threw the format and timing of the season out of whack, and it all had to do with season 17’s matching failings.

Because Michael had an unprecedented second chance at being Married at First Sight, season 17 has had to compensate. The network has compensated by featuring after-Decision Day episodes instead of the customary Reunion episodes followed by a “Where Are They Now?” special. Since there are several post-Decision Day episodes and likely also Reunion and “Where Are They Now?” episodes, this season is aiming to be one of the longest seasons ever, with 25 episodes out already.

Season 17 Has Post-Decision Day Episodes

The post-Decision Day episodes have been necessary so Michael and Chloe’s love story on TV can play out for Married at First Sight viewers. It has also given a chance for more drama to unfold among the remaining exes. Since this is all new for the show because of the Michael and Chloe relationship needing more air time, these after-Decision Day episodes are the first of their kind and could potentially be paving the way were a runaway bride situation to ever happen again or something similar.

In season 17’s case, following the drama of the couples after they’ve given their final answers on each other has been entertaining. However, it might not work with future seasons if the couples don’t have TV-worthy drama.

This season has seen a lot of failures amongst the couples, and continuing to follow their storylines has proven to be interesting.

Chloe & Michael Have Yet To Give Their Final Marriage Decisions

Married at First Sight viewers are going to have to continue watching the season with its new format following Michael and Chloe and the other couples in their post-breakup lives, but there is a lot of content there. Everyone’s breakup in season 17 has been messy, and each participant is trying to carve out the lives they want in their new lives as divorcees. Becca expressed interest in rekindling with Austin, and Orion has vocalized wanting to repair things with Lauren. Once Chloe and Michael make their final decisions, viewers will also know if any reconnections happened before the Reunion.

The MAFS Format Could Change Depending On Couples’ Success

This new format of having a late-coming couple and therefore, post-Decision Day episodes could become the new norm. If the experts keep getting it wrong, and mismatching couples, then having worthwhile post-Decision Day episodes air could be a worthwhile thing for the franchise to start doing. The premise of the show has always been to end the experiment after the eight weeks comes to a close, but this season has shown there can be wiggle room with that, especially if there are any surprising new developments among the couples.

There could also be an opportunity in the future for other couples to join the season and take the place of those who request a divorce early, that way, the content is kept fresh and fans don’t have to suffer through boring storylines.

The point of Married at First Sight is to match couples successfully, but the experts have underscored by their extremely low success rate that they are incompetent and more often than not, their matches will end in divorce. It’s even rumored that Michael and Chloe have split, making this season a total bust.

The beginning part of the season is the most exciting part for a lot of viewers, when there are still a lot of unknowns, so having more couples on different time scales could work out. Since viewers can count on several of the couples not to make it very far in the season, having alternative couples ready to fill in could be beneficial to the franchise. The changing of the format means Married at First Sight could change things going forward, since the structure change has worked this season.