This year’s cast of Married At First Sight have been left disappointed after appearing on the reality dating series but failing to find fame.
The 2024 participants are ‘furious’ that they haven’t built up a social media following during their time on the show and are now frantically finding ways to earn money after quitting their regular jobs when production was underway.
According to Yahoo Lifestyle, viewers of the Channel Nine series have ‘failed to warm to the participants like in previous years’ and most cast members haven’t gained enough social media followers to become full-time influencers.
A source told the outlet that many brides and grooms were ‘banking on’ their television appearance to become famous.
The only star to receive a significant growing fanbase is Byron Bay native and fan-favourite Lucinda Light, who boasts 139,000 Instagram followers as of March 19.
This year’s cast of Married At First Sight have been left disappointed after appearing on the reality dating series but failing to find fame. Pictured: Eden Harper
Meanwhile, Lauren Dunn’s official Instagram account has 67,800 followers, Eden Harper has 67,000, and Cassandra Allen has 53,300.
Madeleine Maxwell, who appeared as an intruder on the show, has the least amount of Instagram followers among cast members with a dismal number of 1,254.
This year’s cast followings are far from previous seasons’ participants, with stars like Martha Kalifatidis boasting a whopping 705,000 followers on Instagram and 135,600 on TikTok.
An anonymous participant from season 11 told the Daily Telegraph that they are now ‘broke’ after ditching their full-time job to star on this year’s show.
‘I couldn’t even make my rent payments with what we were being paid,’ they told the publication, who revealed the participants were given $150 per day and $125 worth of food allowance.
The participants are ‘furious’ that they haven’t built up a social media following during their time on the show and are now frantically finding ways to earn money after quitting their regular jobs when production was underway. Pictured: Sara Mesa and Tim Calwell
Viewers of the Channel Nine series have ‘failed to warm to the participants like in previous years’ and most cast members haven’t gained enough social media followers to become full-time influencers. Pictured: Andrea Thompson
‘We would film late, so I would be ordering takeaway most nights. I spent a bomb on outfits, hair and makeup, and to top it off, they didn’t even let us wear what we wanted.’
In recent years, a number of former participants have spilled the beans on what they earned on the controversial show, with most claiming they barely made enough to survive.
Speaking with Daily Mail Australia earlier this year, season nine participant Al Perkins admitted he earned a pittance for his time.
‘MAFS will pay you just over like a grand a week… But it’s not until the endorsements afterwards, that’s where you make your money,’ said Al, who appeared on the show in 2022.
Brides and grooms were ‘banking on’ their television appearance to become famous. Pictured: Tristan Black
Domenica Calarco, who appeared on the series in 2022, also previously disclosed she received a weekly wage of around $1,050.
Similarly, MAFS 2023 groom Jesse Burford claimed he earned almost the same amount, revealing in an Instagram Story last May contestants on his season were paid $1,175 a week.
And Nasser Sultan, who appeared on season five in 2018, also previously revealed his salary on the show didn’t even cover his living expenses.
‘You get $150 for the day, that’s it,’ the former music promoter told Now to Love in January 2023.
‘But on top of that, you have to pay expenses – your living expenses with the woman that you marry.’
Fan-favourite Lucinda Light currently boasts 139,000 Instagram followers
Lauren Dunn’s official Instagram account has 67,800 followers
‘It’s not $150 clear. You still have to pay rent if you’re renting, you’ve got to pay your rego and it’s 12-hour filming days,’ he added.
Nasser, who was ‘married’ to single mum Gabrielle Bartlett, added none of the participants’ groceries were covered and producers would make them shop at the same expensive grocery store when filming.
‘Gab and I would sometimes spend up to $70 a day on just living, so we didn’t have much left after that,’ he said.
The controversial star also claimed he earned less than some of his co-stars, calling out Davina Rankin and Sarah Roza, who he says made $50 per day more than him.
An anonymous participant from season 11 recently admitted they are now ‘broke’ after ditching their full-time job to star on this year’s show. Pictured: Tim Calwell
‘Basically, the more you did for the show, the more you got,’ he continued.
Mikey Pembroke from the 2020 season meanwhile said participants didn’t earn a cent while filming MAFS, and the only money they received was to ‘live off’ during production.
‘You don’t get paid at all – this is a thing that needs to change,’ he previously said on the I’ve Got News for You podcast.
‘But the show makes an incredible amount of money. And, say, you were on, you know, a TV show that does really well, the actors get paid more and more because it’s doing so well.’
