Wedding celebrant shares 'shocking truth' about Married At First Sight UK

A wedding celebrant has shared the "shocking truth" about Married At First Sight UK after series 10 of the social experiment saw the introduction of nine new newlywedded couples. The Channel 4 show first aired in 2015 shortly after the success of its Australian counterpart and has grown in popularity ever since.

Hertfordshire-based celebrant Kelly Hawes, who has appeared on the programme herself, has taken to TikTok to point out a key legal matter when it comes to the nuptials. "One question I am often asked is do they actually get married on Married At First Sight UK?" she began in a video.

She continued: "Well, no. They don't do the legal registration of marriage. What they are having is a commitment ceremony."

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Kelly acknowledged that this is a "good thing", however, as she declared: "The last thing we want to do is add to the number of divorced couples.

"This way, if the relationship doesn't pan out, then really it's just a relationship that hasn't worked - rather than a marriage."

One sceptic penned in response: "So they're [sic] not actually getting married then. So it’s not marriage at first sight then."

A second person noted: "So the very title is misleading? 'Married' at first sight. As opposed to 'Committed' at first sight."

It prompted Kelly to explain: "TV is for entertainment value remember - and the title is to catch attention. At the end of the day the experiment is to match two people who should be compatible for marriage."

Another TikTok viewer added: "They used to in the very early days, the problem was they then had to get legally divorced, the divorce meeting was shown on the show. That was back when the people on the show were genuinely looking for love and not wannabes wanting airtime and publicity."

McAlister Family Law explains that for the first five series in the UK, couples were in fact legally married. Partner, Lisa Brown says for the purposes of the show, the audience need only buy into the principle - but legally, getting married is very complex.

"Being married is a change to your legal status and if things don’t work out you have to apply to the court to either have that marriage annulled or get divorced," she explained. "Further, when couples get married, they gain the ability to make a financial claim against the other person under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973."

Brown continued: "One of the peculiarities of the law as it stands is that a couple could live together for 25 years but not be able to make a financial claim against each other (save in limited circumstances) but somebody can get legally married at first sight, never live together and divorce as soon as they can and they would be able to make a claim.

"That claim could include property being transferred to them, a share of the other’s pension, a lump sum of money being paid and/or monthly sums being paid (spousal maintenance). In Married At First Sight circumstances, the reality is that it is unlikely that such a claim would be particularly fruitful and generally the expectation would be that they would exit the marriage with what they brought in but the ability to do it remains."

Married at First Sight UK Season 10 continues on Sunday night on E4.

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