Married At First Sight UK will welcome its first gay couple to its upcoming sixth series. (Channel 4)
Married At First Sight UK will see its first-ever same-sex wedding, with two gay men set to be paired up in its eagerly-anticipated new season.
The hit reality show sees total strangers be paired together by relationship experts. After meeting for the first time at their weddings, the couples live together for a time under the experts’ watchful eyes.
Married At First Sight UK has revealed its line-up of 16 contestants in its upcoming sixth series, and there are two gay men looking for love in the new series, according to Metro.
The identities of the same-sex couple haven’t been revealed yet, but it’s a huge step forward for LGBT+ representation in the UK iteration of the global franchise.
Melanie Schilling, a psychologist and Married At First Sight expert, told Metro that she is “so excited” to welcome the series’ first same-sex couple, saying that inclusivity is “important” to her.
“This is a big one and I push for it every season,” Schilling said.
“You’re just going to love every moment of their journey.”
However, she stressed that despite their painstaking methods, the experts never know if their couples will find happily ever after.
“You don’t always get it right and we’re not going to put a same-sex couple together just because they’re both gay, it’s got to be a good match and we don’t always find that,” Schilling said.
Actor Paul C Brunson, who will also be joining Married At First Sight UK as an expert, told Metro that he thought this “could be one of the most diverse shows in the love genre” that he had seen.
“It’s incredibly diverse, and it’s a great reflection of what modern-day the world looks like,” Brunson said. “It’s very cool!”
Across the Married At First Sight franchise, there have been several LGBT+ contestants
The same-sex wedding will be a first for Married at First Sight UK and the first male same-sex wedding across the wider franchise – though there have been LGBT+ contestants in the popular Australian version.
In 2020, Tash Herz was the first lesbian on Married at First Sight Australia to search for a bride, and she was paired with Amanda Micallef.
Their marriage eventually came to an end, but Hetz and Micallef said they were bombarded with “blazing” homophobia after a promo for their season dropped.
The 2021 season of the Australian spin-off saw its first openly bisexual groom in the form of prison case manager Liam Cooper. Cooper was unfortunately outed at his own wedding to Georgia Fairweather and has suffered abuse from his co-star Jason Engler after the show.