Married At First Sight UK row breaks out over 'wife swap' suggestion
What did you miss?
Married At First Sight UK got off to an explosive start when a row broke out over one of the contestants seeming to ponder a wife swap before he’d even been matched up.
The Channel 4 reality show returned for its ninth series on Monday, 16 September. The first episode introduced a new crop of singles who are looking for love by letting the science determine the right bride or groom for them.
But just minutes into the new instalment, Alex ruffled feathers by questioning what would happen if he didn’t like his own wife but was keen on someone else.
What, how and why?
In the show, the singles are matched up based on compatibility and they then tie the knot, after meeting at the altar. The male and female hopefuls had been discussing the experiment before meeting their new spouses, when 28-year-old Alex, who has been single for seven months, started talking about what may happen if he didn't feel enough for the lady picked for him.
"What if I am not totally attracted to my wife?" he asked. "And there is another lady that I am attracted to?"
The others looked shocked, with one of the women saying: "I can’t believe you are already talking about wife swapping – we’ve only just met."
"Come in with your wife and if you are going to leave, don’t leave with someone else's wife," Kieran said. "Wife swapping shouldn't even be coming into someone’s head right now," he added.
Caspar agreed: "For me the idea of walking into this process and having that in my mind, that I might want someone else’s wife and then see what happens, that’s just ludicrous."
Read more: Married At First Sight UK
However, Alex defended his comment, saying: "You are coming into this and you have to consider every option, have you not? I’m not thinking about wife swapping, I haven’t even met her yet," he added.
"I haven’t even met my wife yet, and everyone is getting on to me like I am going to go and take someone else’s wife,” he went on.
What did viewers say?
Viewers were also miffed by Alex questioning what would happen if he didn't connect with his wife, suggesting it was a bit early in the process for him to be mulling that over.
"Been on the show for 0.5 seconds and thinking about wife swap, keep those thoughts in your head at least????" one viewer wrote on X. "Talking about wife swap when you’re not even married yet is crazy," commented another person.
"Alex this is not Wife Swap, that show is off the air," another said. "Not a great start from Alex," said someone else.
Married At First Sight UK airs on E4 nightly at 9pm.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/married-at-first-sight-uk-row-wife-swap-220110138.html
