With these changes I’ll be wedded to MAFS

MAFS Australia needs to start getting real, says Anna Murray. Drop the science, bring back the humour and tell the contestants to lose their toxic behaviour.

With the new decade rolling around, there’s been the usual flood of resolutions about turning over a new leaf, learning from past mistakes and trying to do better in these new roaring 20s.

But not so over at the production offices of Married at First Sight Australia. As the new season’s premiere date looms, the show’s promos suggest few lessons were learnt following their stream of toxic bile last year, when the MAFS cast were frequently subjected to ritual humiliation, courtesy of the participants themselves and the show’s relationship ‘‘experts’’.

And, with allegations of plenty more partner swapping this year and, more worryingly, reports of filming having to stop for two weeks to put a cast member into rehab, 2020’s brides and grooms look to be in for more of the same.

But, as a committed reality TV tragic, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that producers have made at least some of the following tweaks to ensure this year’s season is lighter on the hurtful garbage.

They stop pretending there is anything scientific about proceedings

MAFS has always boasted about being a ‘‘social experiment’’, with claims the cast members are very carefully matched for the best chances of romantic success.

Last year’s show even featured expert Trisha Stratford wearing a white coat in a laboratory as she asked a contestant to swipe through photos of women on an iPad. Give me strength.

These contestants are carefully matched all right – but for their best chances of generating the best ratings.

So let’s just drop that whole scientific pretence, especially when we see that this year’s experts have matched a woman who’s been cheated on seven times with a man who has previously cheated.

That said, let’s hope some attention has been put into finding at least one great love story, a la Jules and Cam from last year.

Their instant – and lasting – connection was that season’s one small morsel of sweetness to balance out the overwhelming sourness of everything else that took place.

They manage to find some new dramatic storylines

For two years in a row now, we’ve had brides and grooms sneaking behind their respective partners’ backs to hook up with other cast members.

Dean and Davina provided MAFS with their first ever ‘‘affair’’ in 2018, while Ines and Sam made some attempt at an illicit get-together last year. And let’s not forget another of last year’s brides, Jessika, who did her very best to find another match on the show (and eventually succeeded).

If reports of the partner-swapping floodgates opening this year are true, it’s going to be far from shocking. Been there, seen that, guys!

They rein in the amount of toxic behaviour on screen

The emotional manipulation that comes with a show such as Married at First Sight is a given these days. But the toxic storylines on last year’s series took that to a whole new level.

The behaviour of a handful of grooms (and some of the so-called experts guiding proceedings) brought ‘‘gaslighting’’ to the public’s attention like never before.

In a very, very small way, that did some good, in that it identified the pattern of behaviour and had viewers condemning it for the dangerous and damaging process that it is.

But last year’s season of MAFS verged on psychological trauma as a form of entertainment for the rest of us.

Let’s hope if this year’s contestants try pulling the same stunts, the relationship experts at the very least call the behaviour out – rather than add fuel to that fire.

They tread carefully with Lizzie

Speaking of gaslighting, one of last season’s victims of the practice, Lizzie, is back this season for another pretend wedding.

As much as I hope she does find her love match this time around, I do worry about how the show will handle the messaging.

Lizzie’s first ‘‘husband’’ Sam infamously fatshamed her on their wedding day, by saying he didn’t ‘‘usually date girls her size’’ and would have to ‘‘get her running in the mornings’’.

With some Australian media outlets already touting the fact that Lizzie is now 10kg lighter, let’s all keep our fingers crossed the show’s producers don’t make a big issue about the same.

Nobody really needs to watch any kind of correlation between losing weight and finding love. Nobody.

They bring back some comedy

Finally, let’s hope 2020 is the year MAFS Australia finds a streak of comedy once more. One thing sorely lacking from last year’s season was any kind of levity to lighten up those drama-heavy proceedings.

I know it would be hard to find another groom like Troy from the MAFS class of 2018, but a man who eats a can of tuna on his wedding day and then brushes his teeth like an absolute maniac is the TV groom we all want and need in 2020.

Married at First Sight Australia premieres Sunday, February 9, on Three.