‘Married at First Sight’ Producer Hints Season 20 Marriages Weren’t Legally Binding
The revamped version of Married at First Sight may have ditched one of the show’s most famous elements.
The long-running reality series involves expert-matched strangers meeting and saying “I do” at the altar. Ever since the U.S. version of the show premiered in 2014, those marriages have been legally binding unions. The couples remain married for the duration of the show’s experiment, and then reveal whether they will stay together or get a divorce on Decision Day. The fact that each couple was in a real marriage gave a special weight to their new relationships and encouraged them to take the experience seriously (at least in theory).
But it seems that when the couples in MAFS Season 20 said “I do,” those words may not have meant what they used to.
Noah Samton, SVP of current production for Bravo and Peacock unscripted, recently chatted with Variety about various changes Peacock made to the show for season 20. (MAFS moved from Lifetime to Peacock starting with season 19.) He was asked about rumors that the couples didn’t really get married this season. His answer was vague.
“I would say that their experience is that they are a married couple, and they are living their lives as a married couple, and every aspect of what they experience on that is a marriage,” he said. “They have a wedding at the beginning, and then they have a divorce if they want to go their separate ways at the end.”
MAFS Season 20 was set in Seattle. Marriage records for King County suggest that the weddings were seen on the show weren’t legal unions. Marriage certificates were not issued for six of the seven couples, according to an online search. One couple is legally married – Michelle Le and Cameron Mitchell. But their application was not filed until October 2025. Season 20 reportedly filmed in the last summer and early fall of 2025.
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