Married At First Sight (MAFS) was a ratings winner for Nine but not everyone is thrilled to see the show back on air after an X-rated best man speech left many feeling unsettled.
In the seasons premiere on Monday night, Tim’s best man, Ben, delivered a bone chillingly awkward speech leaving many viewers disgusted. Within the speech, Ben referred to Sara as just another one of Tim’s many experiments, regaling the time he “experimented” with a four-day-old rancid chicken sandwich at a music festival. “And Sara? You can find solace in the fact, rancid or not, Tim will still eat you”, Ben said.
Ben also listed a number of Tim’s other “experiments”. “Experiment 552. Is it okay to get head in the ER since you crashed your car and you’re here now anyway?” Ben said.
The disgust didn’t stop with viewers, many guests at the wedding were visibly disturbed by the speech with Sara’s friend Lauren calling the comments “disgusting”.
Sara also appeared unsettled by the comments, sipping her champagne awkwardly through the speech. Tim on the contrary, laughed his way through but eventually conceded that there were some not so “PG” moments. “I hope it doesn’t come back and bite me in the ass,” he said.
Critics took immediately to social media after the episode aired, calling Nine out for airing these kinds of controversial storylines and many demanding the show be cancelled. “Can’t wait for the day this show is canned!” one user wrote on Facebook. “Thank god for Netflix” another wrote.
With the show airing in the 7:30pm timeslot, many are questioning how a speech like Ben’s managed to make it into the final cut. It is important to note that the series is rated M and that the segment in which Ben’s speech occurred aired past 8:30pm. Nine declined to officially comment on the controversy.
Despite all the debate, MAFS had a massive opening night enjoying a national reach of 2.46 million and winning bragging rights over rival Seven’s debuting Australian Idol (1.78 million) and the launch of 10’s Survivor (1.12 million).
