This is what a Married at First Sight dinner party is really like - and it lasts much longer than you think

The dinner parties have become one of the most eagerly anticipated part of the MAFS experiment. For the cast members who are living it, it’s a chance to meet with their peers and share in the love, or have a good vent, depending on how their relationship is going. For the viewers watching it, it’s the place where a lot of drama unfolds so it’s truly unmissable viewing.

Tonight, (Monday September 29), the UK series 10 cast will experience their first dinner party and, judging by the preview that aired in last night’s episode, it’s going to be a good one. It looks like issues will resurface particularly for Sarah and Julia-Ruth; Sarah is still seen to be struggling to find her husband Dean attractive while Julia-Ruth is still struggling with spouse Divarni’s deep and apparently negative conversations.

We’ll have to tune in tonight to see exactly what happens. But, while we await 9pm for the episode to air, a former MAFS UK bride has been giving some behind-the-scenes juice about how the dinner parties, and the preceeding mixer where all the couples enjoy drinks together, works. And let’s just say what she has to say has shed some light on why the situations usually end up so tense, as it may have something to do with how hungry and tired everyone is.

Erica Roberts, who took part in MAFS UK in 2023 and was remained in a relationship with her TV groom Jordan for a number of months post-show until they ended up having a very bitter split, spoke out in a social media Q&A in the past week.

She explained: “The dinner parties last all day. You start your getting ready shots in your apartment, getting ready, talking to each other, being filmed, at like 7 or 8 o clock in the morning. Depending on where you are coming into the mixer you then go in to the mixer and maybe 11am/12pm. You’re in the mixer for maybe three hours.”

So, what looks like the couples enjoying a drink or two before they got called for their meal a short time later isn’t the reality at all. And even after all that time, around six hours, the cast still don’t get any food - there’s one more thing they have to do first.

Erica explained: “You then do little vox’s which are individual interviews about how the mixer went down. You then actually have your dinner. It’s about 5/6 o clock by the time we actually go in to the dinner party.”

Even then the cast don’t really get to eat. “The dinner party food that you see . . . nobody really eats it to be honest,” the former TV bride said. “That’s because it’s freezing cold because it’s probabaly been sat there for about an hour while they take shots of it and stuff.”

The dinner party itself then concludes filming at around 1am or 2am, according to Erica. So, that’s about 18 hours in total for what is edited down to an hour at best on our screens.

Erica has also spilled secrets about how MAFS weddings work - including strict rules cast have to follow and why one part of it is 'pointless'.

* Married at First Sight UK 2025 is airing on E4 every Sunday to Thursday now. You can watch Erica in MAFS UK 2023 on Channel 4 On Demand any time.