For seven seasons, the Married at First Sight experts have paired hopeful singles together with the goal of creating a lifelong marriage.
After tying the knot with a perfect stranger, oftentimes things go south for the couple, but others have worked on turning their odd arrangement into a deep love. But in season 7 of the Lifetime series (produced by Kinetic Content), fans may get to see the most perfectly paired couples yet, expert Dr. Jessica Griffin revealed to PopCulture.com exclusively ahead of the July 10 premiere.
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When asked whom among the three couples — Amber Martorana and Dave Flaherty, Danielle Bergman and Bobby Dodd and Mia Bally and Tristan Thompson — was the most perfect match of the season, Griffin joked, “Do I have to choose?”
Dodd, a 27-year-old project manager, and Bergman, the 30-year-old distributer account executive, do stand out from the show’s entire run as an especially well-matched couple, she continued.
“Although all of the couples were well-matched, Bobby and Danielle felt like the easiest match we’ve ever made. Other than the age difference between them, everything else just fell into place. There were no other options but each other,” she said.
That doesn’t mean the couple won’t have stumbling blocks.
“I had some reservations about Danielle not being as emotionally expressive and how that might impact Bobby as he may not know where she stands,” Griffin added. “However, we addressed this very early on and her insight about this and ability to work on herself was refreshing. She’s terrific.”
Matching the couples certainly isn’t easy, Griffin added, and is something she and her fellow matchmakers Pastor Calvin Roberson and Dr. Pepper Schwartz take very seriously.
“I’m always nervous at the outset about the couples in general; we want to make sure we got it right — that we made a good ‘match.’” she told PopCulture. “These are real people, with real lives and we care about their happiness first and foremost. So, for that reason, we are waiting on pins and needles to hear about whether they will form a connection. We do not attend the weddings, so we’re waiting with bated breath to hear what those first moments were like.”
While in the past, some couples have struggled to form intimate relationships with their new spouse, Griffin revealed that this season’s marriages have progressed surprisingly quickly.
“Getting Married at First Sight is an accelerated process, but to see the attraction happen so quickly was incredible to experience,” she explained.
Experiencing cold feet, especially before walking down the aisle to a total stranger, is a normal part of the process, however, and one Griffin expects after years of doing this.
“I would tell [participants] that freaking out is completely normal when they are doing something this outrageous in the name of finding the love of their life,” she said of the advice she would give a couple leading up to their big day. “I would tell them to breathe and remember that some of your biggest risks have the greatest rewards. I would tell them to hug their friends and family who are there supporting them.”
As for what she says to the couple’s friends, family members and even the viewers at home who think the whole process is completely insane?
“They are right,” she admitted. “It is totally crazy. And, when it works, it’s totally awesome. I believe that we are all here on this planet to love and to be loved and when you find that person, even if in the wildest of ways, it all becomes sane and makes sense.”
We can’t wait to see how the couples progress!
Married at First Sight (produced by Kinetic Content) premieres season 7 on Tuesday, July 10 at 9 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
Photo credit: Lifetime/Kinetic Content
