As more strangers walk down the aisle and exchange vows for the latest series of Married At First Sight UK, one participant has lifted the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes.
The latest series has so far proved to be just as explosive as last year’s, with three new couples set to enter the experiment and ruffle feathers in the coming days.
While some couples are looking stronger than ever and others may have called it quits, Georges Berthonneau has revealed the truth behind the show.
The online fitness coach, who was married to Peggy Laurence in last year’s series, has divulged that the dinner parties are faked and E4 bosses tightly monitor their drinking.
The surprising claims come after the latest dinner party saw some couples pushed to breaking point after the honesty box posed some tough questions.
In a new interview with The Sun, Georges explained that the glitzy dinner parties often start at 11am and can go on all day.
The former participant revealed that the producers encourage them to start drinking in the day but tightly control how much they sip on so no one gets too drunk.
Georges explained that the dinner parties are often a pressure cooker and bosses want things to get out of control, but not descend into total chaos, and as a result their alcohol intake is limited.
Georges also explained his outrage that instead of champagne, the stars are all given Prosecco and branded the move just a symptom of the ‘smoke and mirror’ approach to the show.
The former husband of Peggy added: ‘They used to have a tally chart, so we’d have our pictures, you know the cast sheet, and everyone would have a line by their name and as one person gets a little bit too drunk, they start to decrease the alcohol on the table.’
But he conceded that some people are careful about how much they drink because the cast have to be up at 6am the next morning ready to carry on filming.
Georges also branded the dinner parties a facade.
He said: ‘It’s all a facade. It’s all smoke and mirrors. There’s no truth to it.’
The fitness coach revealed that some participants play a game which adds to the feeling that the show is fake and Georges revealed he felt some of the couples were ‘two-faced’.
He explained that those couples most on the rocks would often try and steal the limelight as a way to deflect from their martial woes.
The star added that the husbands and wives would take two approaches – diffuse their tense situations off camera and present a united front or air their grievances around the dinner table.
The former MAFS groom went on to say that he often wondered what the couples had to hide and felt that not everyone was truthful.
He added that the way the show is edited adds to the fake nature of the show and branded the reality series a ‘pantomime’.
Georges claimed that each episode is heavily edited to create a storyline over the whole series and that characters are manipulated to provide a more entertaining character arc.
In the exclusive interview with the publication, he described the producers as ‘magicians and wizards when it comes to editing footage.’
In the current series, Caspar Todd has been criticised for ‘body-shaming’ his new wife Emma Barnes.
He shocked fans by branding the blonde bombshell too curvy for him and revealing he doesn’t find her sexy and ‘doesn’t usually go for curvy women’.
But Georges believes that producers are toying with viewers and are editing footage to tease out a storyline and a character arc in much the same way they did for Georges.
The fitness coach’s time on the show was a roller coaster and changed dramatically over the series.
He started the show as a comical jester and many viewers thought he was immature – and so did his new wife Peggy.
His comments about cosmetic surgery and sex initially put the bride off but she came round after he revealed his more sensitive side.
Speaking about the editing process he said: ‘It’s a pantomime, we already they already know the ending.
‘I think if you’d solely looked at my wedding day you’d go this guy doesn’t make it past week two.
‘But then you watch episode two of me and my honeymoon, and all of a sudden everyone’s like, ‘Oh, this guy’s not actually so bad.’
Georges candidly revealed that the editing did have an impact on his life because it encouraged viewers to form negative opinions of him.
He added that people took to social media and were harsh and while it initially affected his mental health, he learnt to move past it and decided to ignore the negative reactions.
The online fitness coach, was married to blonde beauty Peggy in last year’s series but the couple parted ways at the start of the year.
Georges then branded his ex-wife Peggy a ‘calculated manipulator’ after she blindsided him with a breakup announcement on Valentine’s Day.
The E4 contestant, 30, told MailOnline at the time that the couple, who mutually decided to part ways in January, agreed to issue a joint statement to inform fans they had ended their relationship.
But he claims that without his prior knowledge, Peggy, 33, told her following she was single in a move Georges says was purposely done to hurt him even after he had sent a bouquet of roses, balloons and a card to let his ex know he still cares on Valentine’s.