Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What shocking truths about Married At First Sight Australia are revealed?
Welcome to the first episode of The Downfall of Married at First Sight Australia, an investigation by The Maths Funny Podcast, hosted by me, Joshua Fox. Trigger warning, this investigation will cover topics such as anxiety, depression, domestic violence, misogyny, homophobia, and suicidal ideation.
What you're about to hear will shock you, infuriate you, and upset you as I reveal the outrageous truth behind the biggest show in this country.
Just reading up on this new television show, Married at First Sight. Married at First Sight, what a great show it's been over the last couple of months on Channel 9. Australia's biggest TV blockbuster. The season was the best ever and I don't know if they'll be able to top it.
From negligence at the highest level, repeated failures in duty of care, the lack of background checks, cast members being pushed to the point of wanting to end their own lives, the enabling of domestic violence, etc, etc, etc.
Now, I was eagerly awaiting Sunday night or weekend to watch Maths. Last night on Maths.
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Chapter 2: Who is Tara McWilliams and what role does she play in the show's production?
Every season you go, it can't get more drama. It can't get bigger.
And then it does. And I say the true award goes to the producers for creating that. Every year, cast members of this show always come forward blaming the Reddit, blaming the producers and trying to share their truth and just defend themselves.
The show is edited. The main thing with my edit was. We all know that you only see 1%. Almost questioned who you are.
You look in the mirror and be like, is that the real me? And also every year, us, the fans of this show, we just instantly roll our eyes thinking, oh, here we go again. And we'll comment things like, well, you said what you said and no one made you do what you did.
You can't edit your bad behavior. You can't edit what came out of your mouth. And it's like, well, yeah, you can. And they're really good at it.
And we immediately disregard these rogue posts and interviews from whoever has become the latest victim of the show. Because we have whatever has just unfolded on TV in our minds as we make those instant judgments.
How do you react when you're public enemy number one now? Yeah, look, if we're being honest, I've taken absolute beating.
Plus, given how fast this show moves, how relentless the 24-7 news cycle is, and how every hour something new and something more shocking takes the spotlight and steals our attention, we forget these isolated incidents and interviews and we just move on. But when you compile what every cast member has said across every season for nearly 10 years now, it isn't quite easy to just disregard that.
I've spent weeks reading hundreds of articles and interviews and I've listened to hour after hour of podcasts with cast members. I've spoken to participant after participant after participant. And well, one person claiming something against production is an accusation.
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Chapter 3: How did the show's format evolve from a documentary to a dramatic reality series?
two people making the same claim could be seen as a coincidence but an endless stream of people all sharing similar horror stories across an almost 10-year period well to me that's a pattern that being said in this series i won't be focused on specific participants and their individual issues i'll be focusing on the show as a whole and the people who pull the strings behind the scenes those people are now the main characters they were always destined to become and the biggest star amongst them for
former executive producer and current director of content, Tara McWilliams. My first impressions of Tara were pretty good.
I'd met her on a Zoom chat, had a chat with her, seemed like she was really nice and very open about the experiment. When you meet her,
you you want her on your good side like you want to impress her there's just like something about the way that she carries herself like that then meeting her in person i guess i really did believe her that everything was going to be good tara single-handedly made married at first sight the monster we all know as today and anyone who's worked with tara has their own way to describe her pursuit to the top ruthless that woman
You know that telling her no is gonna be one of the worst things that you've ever done in your life. The only person you ever hear in this whole process is Tara's voice. She gives this vibe that if you tell her no, she's gonna make your life a living hell.
Tara took Married at First Sight to such new heights that the show's newfound level of success was credited for Nine's $4 billion merger with Fairfax Media in 2018.
She would scream at you. She would manipulate you. I've heard Tara say, I don't care if you're happy. We just need your story to evolve. You're here. You've signed a contract. Your ass is mine. I've been told that my ass belongs to her so many times.
A quick Google search of Tara will bring up articles calling her a mastermind, the most powerful woman in television, all because of how her work and what she's achieved led to that $4 billion merger.
The new deal would bring together television, radio, print, online and streaming on demand. You know, we'll certainly be reaching more than half of Australia every day.
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Chapter 4: What manipulative tactics are used by producers to create drama?
I've always wanted to get married. Eight Aussie singles are set to tie the knot.
This is insane.
There's just one catch. They'll meet for the very first time on their wedding day.
But then over time, that wholesome premise and approach has morphed into this. And if you're wondering how that happened, that's the Tara effect, which I will get to. But before that, we must also ask why that happened. Well, us, the consumers, we're kind of responsible.
Since Married at First Sight launched in Australia in 2015, how we watch TV has changed, how we consume content has changed, and well, society has changed. Our attention spans have become shorter, short-form content on social media has taken over, and 75% of people now admit to scrolling on their phones while watching the TV.
which means traditional TV networks have had to continually go to new extremes just to compete and also to try and keep people engaged, which is something that neuroscientist Andrew Huberman has talked about previously.
When we first get on social media after a while, for the first time or after a long period of time, the amount of dopamine that's released we think is quite substantial. The dopamine quickly wanes, and then you find that you're just sort of, and we've all been there, you're scrolling, and you're like, why am I doing this? This isn't that interesting. This isn't that interesting.
Now, the algorithms that they've incorporated function on the most powerful level way to keep people doing a behavior, or an animal for that matter, is intermittent random reward, a random intermittent reward that you don't know when you're going to hit the jackpot. So you're scrolling, you're scrolling, and then you see something, a riot or a person that is base jumping off a building.
And then what happens is you start getting the system working for that next dopamine hit that you don't know when it's going to come. It's just like gambling. If we were to look at ourselves through the lens of an experiment like we would an animal experiment, we think that animal is sick.
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Chapter 5: How do cast members describe their experiences on the show?
Alongside that, the bosses of these shows also need to ensure that each of those spikes doesn't just captivate us, but compels us to then want to engage with it on social media, share it to our followers, talk about it in work the next day.
They need to make sure that we cannot escape what they are creating, which is why in 2016, Endemol Shine Australia, who create Married at First Sight, brought in Tara McWilliams as the show's new executive producer.
And in no time at all, Tara supersized the wholesome format we were all now familiar with, and she introduced sex scandals, cheating storylines, and weekly dinner parties full of drama.
Pregnancy Obsession is Married at First Sight Australia.
And in two episodes, turns into three episodes.
Just the way that it's filmed, the way that it's edited. The TV show that I'm currently watching is Married at First Sight Australia.
A friend of mine sent me, like, a couple of episodes of Married at First Sight Australia. And the fact that it's intense, man. It's a vibe.
Yeah.
But how did Tara ensure that each scene went to such an extreme that it'd give us the dopamine hit our brains and our train to want more and more of? And not just that, but how did Tara, with her successors, Molly and Alex by her side, then increase this year on year?
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Chapter 6: What mental health challenges do participants face during filming?
So yeah, she's the puppet master and we're the puppets. Like I was like vomiting nearly every, like with nervousness before every commitment ceremony, before every dinner party. Like I was there like physically vomiting, like just from nerves.
In an interview with Get Real Entertainment on YouTube after his season finished filming in late 2019, Michelle's co-star David Cannon elaborated on this further, discussing how him and his co-stars found working with Tara.
She would scream at you. She would scream at you. She would manipulate you. She would turn around and say that... we you know this is what you signed up for i believe jonathan was was confronted to with by tara and he was told to have a go at other cast members and he he didn't want to do it and he ended up having a small episode of you know emotional trauma she she's very well practiced
at making you feel like you're the one that's doing everything wrong. It's very well practiced in making us feel like we're the bad guys. Very well practiced at that. She's obviously seven seasons in it.
Going into detail about just how dark things got for her during filming, Michelle explained in her 2019 interview with Get Real Entertainment that she even contemplated ending her own life just to escape the experiment.
Like when it got to the point where I just, I couldn't cope anymore. And I said, look, if you want me to do this, like I just can't do it. Like I wanted to actually physically jump off the balcony. And then they said, oh no. So they locked the balcony. I said, okay, I'll just jump off. You wanted to physically jump off the balcony? Really? Really? You had suicidal thoughts? Yeah, I did.
I really did. It's not even like, not even pretend thoughts. It's like, I just, this is an easy way out. At the time, you thought that was your best option to get out.
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Chapter 7: Why do participants feel trapped in their roles on the show?
Did you think, I need to reach out to somebody and get some help? Well, I did. I did ask. I asked for help. So I went to see a doctor in Sydney who, like, I spoke to at length about the whole process and what was going on and if she could help me, like, just settle my nerves. And Then I also spoke to their doctor because I needed some Valium or medication because I just couldn't cope.
And so yeah, he gave me some medication so I would be a little bit calmer and maybe not vomit every three seconds. But yeah, it was like very hard. How bad did things get? Oh, it gets so bad that you just want to end the whole thing. Like you are willing to commit suicide or like jump off the balcony to get out.
In an email I sent on Wednesday, I asked Channel 9 if they'd like to comment on this directly. as well as if they'd like to comment on so many other claims I've included in this podcast, and I have had no reply. But for the sake of journalistic fairness, Nine have previously shared this statement in regards to the mental health of the cast members.
Nine and Animal Shine take their obligations in respect to the health and well-being of the participants of this program extremely seriously. All participants have access to the show's psychologist and welfare resources during filming, during broadcast, and once the program has ended.
NINE also have an additional service for the participants should they like or need further individual and confidential psychological support. This service gives participants access to clinics to support those involved in the program in relation to their experiences. This service is available to all participants for as long as they need it. It does not end.
As shocking as that is to hear, I assume you're all now saying, well, why didn't Michelle just leave? Why won't any of the cast just quit when things reach that point? And unfortunately, that isn't quite as easy as it sounds.
I've spoken to so many different cast members from so many different seasons over the years, and all of them pretty much tell me that Tara uses the same threat to them if they ever say they want to quit. As Michelle explains here.
I wanted to leave so many times and you can't. You can't. You just aren't. Until your story is told, unless your value has diminished, then you do not leave.
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Chapter 8: What are the consequences of leaving the show for cast members?
You leave when when you're boring or when you have nothing else to offer. I had a few girlfriends that I could call and speak to who had said, Michelle, this place is killing you. You need to get out. You need to get out. And I'm just like, I've got a plan with Steve. I've got a plan with Steve. We're going to leave. We're going to leave at the next one. And that would always come unfoiled.
We didn't get out. If you've worked in your life and you've established something to make yourself like and something for your children, then they use that, you know, against you so that, you know, you could lose your job, you could lose your house, you could lose all your property, all your assets. Because you've got assets. If you don't, then what have you got to lose?
You've got to lose your dignity, your pride, everything else. So not only are you going to lose that, if you've also worked, you're going to lose all the stuff that you've hoped to leave to your children.
The line about, if you do leave, we'll ruin your reputation, is one that Michelle's co-star, Poppy Jennings, says terrified her when she made it clear from the very start that she wanted out.
You are told things like, Australia's going to hate you. I was freaking scared. scared of being so hated if I didn't, you know, play to this part. I was pulled up a couple of days into the honeymoon and basically told, you're the next Ines. You're treating him really badly. Just a whole lot of stuff that absolutely petrified me.
Earlier this week, season eight groom Bryce told me that this threat wasn't just used if you wanted to quit. It was also rolled out if you said you didn't want to take part in a certain task for whatever reason.
So it turned for me when we had a task that involved writing a feedback letter for another couple weeks.
in the experiment and basically we'd been asked to write a letter to Rebecca and Jake and there was no secret that Liz and I had a clear dislike and lack of respect for Rebecca due to her behaviour towards us prior to being asked to do the task.
We had no issue with Jake, we thought Jake was a good bloke but we just didn't think it was going to be beneficial for us to write a letter or give any feedback to Rebecca and Jake on their relationship.
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