Regular viewers of Married at First Sight will be familiar with the heavy profanity used by cast members on the show.
But on Tuesday, Nine chose to air 10 F-words in a row – with none of the usual censorship.
Groom Scott McCristal was shown video of his bride Gia Fleur meeting her ‘alternate match’ – a male candidate recommended by the show’s experts. Watching the flirting, though, was too much for McCristal. Despite having an increasingly tense relationship with Fleur, after starting out strong, McCristal was genuinely taken aback and hurt whilst watching the recent clip.
And so, the expletives flew out as he raged and teared up.
But a Nine spokesperson on Thursday morning told Mediaweek: “In reference to the episode, it met the M classification along with the consumer advice on coarse language.”
Although Fleur’s comments, which implied that McCristal perhaps wasn’t of a good enough standard for her, would be no surprise to many regular viewers after she was portrayed as a ‘bully’ earlier in the season, unfortunately McCristal was shocked and took them very personally.
“I’m f***ing torn apart. I just got f***ed. I just got f***ed for three months. I just got f***ed,” he cried – with no ‘bleeping’.
“She just used me. She used my money. She used my life and she f***ed me. She f***ed me up. Holy f***!
“I’m done, I’m done, I’m done! I just want to run away. I’m done. I just want to go home and live my life!
“I don’t give a f*** anymore. She just broke my heart completely.
“Holy f***. She just f***ed me up. She just ruined me.
“And this happens to me with everyone. They just use me. They use me. The more money I make the more used I get because I give so much to them. I give people so much and they just use me because they know I’m too easy to win.
“I’m never gonna let this happen again.”
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10 F-words in a row on MAFS
TV Tonight reports that Nine intentionally aired the scene uncensored,
This may be expected news as the show regularly engages its viewers with high-level drama and adult language (that is typically ‘beeped’ out).
Nine and Endemol Shine Australia told TV Tonight: “[We] felt it showed his raw emotion and conveyed his storyline better uncensored.
“In its 7:30pm slot the show was classified as M, recommended for viewing only by persons aged 15 years or over. Coarse language is permitted but aggressive or strong coarse language should be infrequent overall. Impact must be moderate and all elements must be justified by context.”
Interestingly, it was noticeable that earlier in the episode, the F-word was censored multiple times – as it has been in many of the episodes this season.
TV Tonight suggests that was to keep the overall profanity-count for the episode down, thus helping Nine to maintain an M rating for the show – thereby allowing a broader audience than if it was rated higher.
It is clear that the ‘marriage’ between McCristal and Fleur has now hit a significant trust roadblock after the Sunday night’s mutual decision to continue with the ‘experiment’. With final commitments ceremonies – where couples decide whether to try their ties in the real life – impending, only time will tell if McCristal will give Fleur another chance – and if she will even want one.
Top Image: Scott loses it on MAFS. Image: Instagram