0:00

So Dramatic would like to acknowledge the

0:02

traditional custodians of the land this podcast

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was recorded on, the vigil and Gadigal

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people. Always was, always will

0:08

be Aboriginal land. So

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Dramatic Daily, your

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daily dose of the latest and

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most dramatic reality TV news. Welcome

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to So Dramatic Daily, I'm Megan Pastello. Coming

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up today, Married at First Sight expert

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Mel Schilling has shared a health update

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amid her cancer battle. It

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turns out that Married at First Sight

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producers really do mismatch participants and we

0:35

know why. And the MAF's

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cast are reportedly furious that they won't

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be making it as influencers after failing

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to attract enough followers. So much

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drama, so little time, let's get into the

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show. Married

0:50

at First Sight expert Mel Schilling has shared

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a health update amid her battle with cancer.

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Back in December, Mel took to Instagram

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to reveal that she'd been diagnosed with

1:00

colon cancer after experiencing severe stomach cramps

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while filming this season of MAFs. Speaking

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to Heart Breakfast this week during a

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week off her chemo cycles, Mel revealed

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that she's doing well and has a

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lot of energy today. She

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said, I've learned there are different types of chemo.

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The type of chemo that I have doesn't make

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me sick. It's not going to make me lose

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my hair. However, Mel did

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say that she does have other side effects

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to the cancer treatment, such as tingly fingers,

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sensitivity to the cold and feeling a little

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bit tired at times, which has forced her

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to wear gloves a lot and rest, but

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said overall she's doing well and we are

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so happy to hear that. It's

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been alleged that Married at First Sight

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producers purposely mismatch some participants so that

1:43

they can control the storyline and also

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how long they last on the show.

1:47

Of course, it's no surprise

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that producers are highly skilled at manipulating

1:52

storylines in the infamous marriage experiment. However,

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I am a tad shocked that they

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actively push the participants and their relationships.

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According to one masked insider, the show

2:04

is orchestrated to have breakups occur evenly

2:06

throughout the season. One insider

2:08

told Yahoo, we all know when the

2:10

couples will call it quits. Part

2:12

of the success of this format is

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that you get couples riding leave at

2:17

different times. The worst case scenario is

2:19

a masked walkout, which is why this

2:21

kind of manipulation from behind the scenes

2:23

is warranted. And is it though? The

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insider explained that producers are responsible for

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keeping things interesting and that's means

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consistent conflict to keep viewers engaged. They

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said the order of when people will

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leave the experiment is always locked and

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predetermined. There have been very

2:39

few couples that have proved us wrong

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over the years and they can be

2:43

the odd subject to the rule, but

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we are almost always actively controlling the

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lifespan of each couple to keep viewers

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engaged. Very very interesting. Now according to

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this source, 2021 participants Bryce Rodburn and

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Melissa Rawson were expected to break up

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during their season. However as we know,

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they are now happily married for

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real and shared twin sons. Of

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this the insider said, everyone working on that

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show knew Bryce would stick around and that

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Melissa would stick around. But it was expected

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Melissa would leave him at the final vows

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to give the viewers the perfect story arc.

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That's truthfully how producers saw that love

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story ending. However in most seasons we

3:19

get it right and we just tick

3:21

them off the list as expected. Now

3:23

a little bit of tea about this

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season, listening to Lydon Timothy Smith were

3:27

actually planned to fall apart after Collins

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Christian and Natalie Parham left. They said

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Bart producers changed their mind when they

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realised Lucinda was TV gold and continued

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to coordinate their relationship behind the scenes

3:38

to keep them in the experiment as

3:40

long as possible. Everyone

3:42

on set fell in love with Lucinda and

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that is why Channel 9 changed their minds

3:46

on them leaving the experiment second. And

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thank god they did. They

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are married at first night cars. They are

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reportedly furious that they won't be making it

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as influences and we have heard this one

3:59

many times. The

4:01

second year in a row, the cast of

4:03

the marriage experiment has struggled to bring in

4:05

enough viewers to turn social media into their

4:08

full-time job. And let's be

4:10

honest, is there even a point going on

4:12

married at first sight if Instafame is out

4:14

of the picture? I don't think so. According

4:16

to Yahoo, the current brides and grooms are

4:18

struggling to make enough money after giving up

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their day jobs during filming. And

4:23

just as Collins feared, it looks like many of

4:25

them will be going back to work. Mancers

4:28

even told the outlet that they were furious

4:30

about this outcome since they were banking

4:32

on becoming famous on social media. So

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which married at first sight stars have

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the most followers? Well, at the time

4:38

of recording, Australia's Queen Lucinda is the

4:40

most followed cast member with 145,000 followers

4:42

on Instagram. Next

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up is Lauren Dunn with 70,000 followers

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followed by Eden Harper with 68,000. Now

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whilst these numbers may seem impressive, they

4:54

really do pale in comparison to stars

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from previous years such as Martha Caliphatitis

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who currently has around 700,000 followers and

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Domenica Calico with about 513,000. Among

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the least popular cast members this season are

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Jonathan McCullough who only has 7,000

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followers, Intruder Ashgalati, he's got 4,000 and

5:14

Ben Walters with close to 4,000. Meanwhile

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Intruder Madeleine Jevig has only managed

5:19

to gain 1,200 followers

5:22

on Instagram. Now this comes after one

5:24

contestant told the Daily Telegraph that they

5:26

were broke after starring on the show

5:28

and couldn't even make their rent payments

5:30

with the amount of money they were receiving from

5:32

the network during filming. Now contestants are paid $150

5:34

a day to star on the show and they're

5:37

also given $125 for food

5:39

but I think after all of the drama

5:41

and entertainment they've provided us, I think they

5:43

deserve a hell of a lot more. That

5:48

is the latest from So Dramatic Daily. If

5:50

you would like even more piping hot tea,

5:53

head straight over to our website sodramaticonline.com or

5:55

click the links in the show notes to

5:57

find us on social media. Bye

6:00

guys, I'm sure, same time, same place,

6:02

next episode, goodbye good riddance and good

6:04

luck. Ciao for now, kind

6:07

regards. So dramatic daily.