As Australians devour this year’s season of Married At First Sight and its lineup of love-seeking singles, the show’s creators are still fine-tuning the behind-the-scenes details – including brand integrations.
For the show’s executive producer John Walsh, their integration has to be seamless. “If it was forced into the show it would break the spell of authenticity,” Walsh told Mediaweek.
It is a sentiment echoed by EndemolShine Executive producer Alexandra Spurway, who stressed to Mediaweek the importance of authenticity when it comes to brand integration.
“When we’re making MAFS, first and foremost, it’s about relationships and it’s about the people that come into the experiment,” she said. “If there are integrated brands that want to work with MAFS of course we’re open to that, as long as it fits the essence and the authenticity of the show. We’re not an infomercial.”
EndemolShine Executive producer Alexandra Spurway.
The 2025 sponsorship lineup remains strong, with KFC marking its ninth year as a key partner. Other returning sponsors include Nestlé (3 seasons), Stan (4 seasons), Chemist Warehouse (2 seasons), Uber (2 seasons), and HBF (2 seasons).
Brands like Youi Insurance, Snooze, Cocobella, Palmer’s Skincare, BIC, Garnier, Maybelline, Simon Curwood Jewellers, Domain, Finder, KenoGO, and Snaffle are also back, reinforcing MAFS’ commercial appeal as it continues to dominate screens.
Walsh said the decision making process for which brands eventually end up on the show is a long and detailed one. “First of all the request gets filed and then it gets filtered by the sales department and then it gets to us,” he said adding, “then it’s discussed by the producers and everyone has to agree that it is something that will fit naturally into the show”.
MAFS 2025
“We limit the opportunities for what brands can ‘make it’ into the couple’s residence, because it has to work editorially, for example take Uber Eats, food delivery fits very easily into the show. There’s a young couple living in an apartment and they get food delivered – that’s a very natural thing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sarah Stewart, Powered’s director of content partnerships and client experience, said: “It is fantastic to again see so many brands align with MAFS and further extend their sponsorships. The audience of Married at First Sight is deeply engaged and research shows brand recall is high.”
Married at First Sight screens Sundays at 7pm, and Mon-Wed at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.