It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast last week that line Welcome to TV Reload. My name is Benjamin Norris, and this is your podcast to get all the inside goss on the popular TV shows that you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably, our TV sets are a major part of our home entertainment, and very little is known about
how our favorite shows get made. Each episode, I find guests that want to dive just that little bit deeper into the shows they're currently making, so that you can hear all the exclusive stories and gain access to the biggest names in television. I want to thank you for downloading or subscribing to this podcast. I love hearing your feedback, so make sure you leave a comment on your chosen podcast platform and I'll make sure you feel is included in the production of this show as I possibly can.
This episode, I was lucky enough to organize a special guest from Married at First Sight, someone who has been with the show for quite some time. It is relationship expert John Aiken. John Aikin is trained in the field of relationships and has worked in private practices for over twenty years. He focuses on giving out practical advice to singles and couples. And this is his tenth season on MAVs and it's exciting to hear what we have installed for the twenty twenty three season.
The experts this year go much harder than before.
We will get some insights into his relationships with former contestants.
But generally speaking, I don't stay in touch with too many of them.
I will find out what common mistakes people make when watching the show.
And they're going, we don't understand this, this must be set up.
John talks about the experiment and why he thinks audiences can't stop watching.
Singles watch it and say I got avoid that type of person, and couples watch it and go, you know what, we can't act like that.
We will also find out how he has improved during the ten seasons working with countless couples on a mission to find their forever partner.
I'm much more direct with holding that mirror up to the participants in calling out bad behavior.
And of course we will also get plenty of exclusive stories from John Aiken and I feel like this is the perfect way to kick off the tenth season of Marret at First Site, which debuts on Channel nine this Monday at seven thirty, the thirtieth of January. However, we probably should bring John into the podcast. This is the first maths chat I've had ever on the podcast. So guys, I really hope you enjoyed this episode. Hi John, thank you for coming onto the podcast TV Reload.
Well, look, it's a pleasure. I'm so excited about season ten have Married at First Sight, and you know, we're at that point of the year where it gets launched and then you just sit back and watch how the audience respond. It's always unpredictable and I love it.
How are you going? Are you mentally prepared for another season of Married at First Site?
Well, it takes. It takes a lot to do the show, particularly the filming part of it. You really immerse yourself in three or four months of intense filming. So when it gets to the stage where it's going out to the public, you're sort of at a point where you want to watch it like everyone else. I've lived it, but I haven't seen the final product. So I'm going to be sitting there on the couch like you watching
it every episode. You know, there'll be times when I'll be shocked and times when I'll be deeply moved and it's a wonderful ride.
John, do you put the phone away? Because I can only imagine having the amount of people watching this around Australia all would love to have a way of texting you to find out what you think about what's being shown on screen. So do your friends and family start texting you and you have to go and hide the phone? Like, what's the process like for you when you're watching it?
Well, it begins with a good glass of wine. I'm sitting there on the couch, usually with my wife, and we will essentially turn the phones off or at least onto silent, and I just hone in for ninety minutes. I escape. I watch it. Sometimes I cringe at how I look on screen, but that's a part of it. I don't think you ever get you used to that, and you know, you just sort of get taken away
with it all. You know, you keep reminding yourself that this is real, that they do and say these things, and that sometimes it's unbelievable where certain storylines end up.
I can imagine my partner and I've been together for a long time, over ten years, and you know, he has. He's a very opinionated person, so he's willing to say what he thinks he's watching of my content. Does your wife sit there and critique how you're coming across on the show, And.
Yeah, absolutely, not just me, but all the participants as well. Yeah. And you know, sometimes Kelly, my wife, she'll have friends over and it'll be a maths night, usually on a Sunday because that's when a commitment ceremonies on, and you know, the champagne will come out and I'll just sit there and listen to them, you know, give their opinions on things. And that's one of the great aspects of merrit at
first sight is that everyone has sort of opinion. You love it, you hate it, you love this couple, you can't stand that couple. But it really promotes reactions. And I think that's one of the things I realized when it first started to get big. I saw people around me becoming really moved by it.
I mean, the show can really polarize its audience. Why do you think that so many people are fascinated with this concept?
Well, it certainly wasn't like that when we set out. We didn't think that it go past one season, so ten seasons. In the fact is it reaches a lot of people, both here and overseas. Why that is, I think is be well a number of things. I think there's a number of ingredients. The first thing is that
it appeals to both singles and couples. Singles watch it and say, I got to avoid that type of person, and couples watch it and go, you know what, we can't act like that, So it reaches both sorts of camps, if you like. I think also people like the experts on it because we get hold, we get held to account, they push back on us, we call out bad behavior. So that's very compelling and tense and riveting when that happens.
I think also people believe in the fairy tale, so they want to see strangers really fall in love, you know, at first sight, and that always drags people in, you know. And I think also I would say, sometimes people watch
it and it takes them back to high school. You know, they're looking at it thinking, oh, I remember people like that, or you know, I wasn't part of the cool group, or I was kind of a shy person, or I went out with a guy back in the day that was like that, so it reminds them a lot of some of the things they may have experienced at high school or later on.
It is relatable. I mean, it stirs up something in all of us as we watch this show. And you know, even the naysayers that are out there, Oh, I can't watch that show. I so often ask a few more questions, and it turns out they have watched the show, because what they're revealing to me is that they know specifics. And I think that as much as people might find the show polarizing, I think we're all very drawn to I guess, the reality of love and the need to
be in love, the need to find somebody. I think the biggest mistake of all time is we all think we are deserving of love and we can find it. It's very hard to attain, you know. It's very hard to find someone you know that is the right match.
It is very very hard to match these big personalities. And one of the biggest obstacles I think that you see when you're watching it is that they are not aware of why they're single or what their problem patterns are. So you'll watch it and you'll realize, oh, I know why that guy's single. I know why she's not found anyone, but they don't necessarily understand that or see that. And so when you put them in an experiment with another big personality, they really resort to type and old patents
and it holds them back. And the ones that make it are the ones that actually go, oh well, I actually could do this differently. No one's ever told me that I'm going to change it up and do better. That's not always the case, of course, but when it is, you do get love stories like Cam and Jules, like Martha and Michael, you know, like Melissa and Bryce, Johnny and Kerry got married the other day. So it happens. It can work, but it's not easy.
I mean, it is just amazing to watch these as to who are the ones that are going to stay together? Everything that you say and do is very much scrutinized over. Do you ever worry about how the audiences will interpret what you say? Are you in the moment thinking about what Australia is going to say? Or do you just have to give yourself up to it.
I don't think about what I'm going to say, and I don't think about how it's going to land. I think if I was worried about that, then I wouldn't be authentic and I would be scared to really get off my chest what needs to be said. So look, I go in and I'm very clear with them I'm not there to be their friend. I'm not going to take sides. I'm going to be objective and I'm going to call out poor behavior. I also say to them,
this is not about personality. It's about patents. So when something's going wrong, you don't need to take it personally. I'm just going to hold a mirror up to you, and I want you to listen and look at that pattern and do it different. And so I'm very much in the moment. I don't at any stage think about Twitter or media scrutiny, or how it's going to have a ripple effect outside for me, my family or the other participants. It's just in the moment at the participants.
How did you originally get approached to do something like this? I mean that's a very interesting question. I mean it's a very unique and very specific role that you play and not something I think it would work for everybody. Like you know, this is a very niche skill set, so did you hear about the show being made and then put yourself forward for it.
I had done some previous TV work on an ABC documentary series called Making Couples Happy and then Making Families Happy, so I think that's what put me out there. But ultimately what happened was like everyone that auditioned, and there was plenty of just plenty of different people actually, whether it were psychologists, clairvoyance, matchmakers that are all in this room, counselors,
you name it, relationship experts. And I just got an email in twenty fourteen from the production company saying would you like to audition for this relationship show called Married at First Sight which came out of Denmark. It was very small, observational documentary. I remember reading it that email.
I showed it to my wife and she was like me, thinking, this is very weird, this concept and probably pretty noisy, and I thought, well, you know, I don't know exactly what's going to happen with it, but I think it would be fun. So I thought, I think I'll just go into the audition see what happens. And well, there were four auditions over a month long process, and they were lengthy ones, and I managed to get it. So
it was really right place, right time. They were looking for a relationship expert, and I wanted you know, I've been working private practice for a while, so I just wanted a new challenge. Well, I think you're right, Benjamin when you talk about a distinct skill set, because it is very niche. There's a lot of the things that you do in this show that you never really thought about before being in the media. You know, just doing this with you now over a podcast or radio interviews,
doing you know, TV with twenty cameras on you. You know, sometimes it can go to four in the morning, you know, doing all the promotional stuff, even a photo shoot. There's so many things outside of just being a relationship expert, which I think, thankfully I enjoyed doing and I found it comes easily. So it reminds me that I'm doing the I'm in the right job.
If you like, when you are doing something that you're genuinely passionate about that it feels differently, It lands differently, do you know what I mean?
Look, I do, yeah, And interestingly, I never thought about going into the media when I first started working in private practice as a relationship expert and a couple of singles. I enjoyed it. I did that for twenty five years and then this out of the blue email came in and I went from there.
Your life was never the same again.
You know that is true, and I do tell people that my life is so different now. You know. I don't do any private practice. I just focus solely on the show. There's a lot of promotion, there's a lot of filming, there's a lot of matching that goes on before we press play in the experiment. So it's a
really intense show to be on. And then you've got the other side of it, which is also the notoriety that comes from it, whether you're in a supermarket or an airport or at a mare, and the social media aspect to it as well, which is now very intense that it's a lot of change in my life that wasn't there before.
What's it like interacting with the general public? I mean, this role is seen by so many people, you know, and you are having to have opinions, you are putting your opinion forward, you know, is the interaction from the general public warm or what's it like walking around the street and what is it the people that are asking what's the most common question.
To answer the first part of your question. Some people will come up to you tell you that they love the show or they love what you've said on the show, and frankly, others will be very outspoken and angry, and sometimes abuse comes in my direction because they're so polarized by it that they want to tell me exactly what they think. So there's that aspect. You never quite know when you're in public whether it's going to be a positive or negative interaction. I tend to just smile and
say thank you and move on. Probably off the top of my head, is this show scripted or not? We think that this must be staged because we can't believe that there are people out there that do and say these things. Is at stage, John, So I think that's one of the most common questions I get, which the answer is very clear, No, it's not, and that the people on this experiment are very real and they do
these things and it's a good representation of what they like. Also, when the camera's not on them and you know it is. That's one of the reason why it's so compelling, because I think people don't come across reality participants in their day to day world, so they see it and kind of confused by it and think, maybe this isn't real, but it is.
I often hear people saying this, and I, you know, covered the show when I did radio, you know, years ago, so I wasn't watching it. I'd watched the clip. I'd see like packages that the network would send out, like the cheat sheet. Yeah, And the people that would listen to the radio show would always call up and say,
don't you think that they match them? Don't you think they find the perfect people, and then sort of spin all of their names around so that they're matched with the wrong person and that that means that they're going to jump ship from this marriage and go on to the next one. You know, that seemed to be the most popular question. But my question to you with that is does that feel a little bit offensive at times?
Because you have put in the work to make sure in your mind that you are finding people that are going to find forever match.
I don't get offended by it. I understand why people ask that because they're frustrated with the way in which the match is unraveling, essentially, and they're going, we don't
understand this, This must be set up. But ultimately what people don't realize is that, you know, it is a good couple of months of intense scrutiny and matching that goes into it, and testing and getting them to meet you meeting them, and that when you do put them together, you just simply don't know what they're going to be like when the cameras roll. Now, some big personalities shrink some.
You know, if you like people that you think will probably be relatively quiet in the experiment or level headed, they may explode. A great example of that was last year with Olivia and dom and their arch rivalry that blew up on our screens, none of which we all saw coming. So it means that essentially the match is well, we know why they're put together, and our fingerprints are all over it. At the same time, it can unravel in a dramatic way and makes it all look you know,
like you know, it just doesn't make sense. But what I can say is that we do take a lot of time when you think about putting them together, and you know, whenever they ask us, you know, why did you put us together? We're very clear about the main reasons. And typically when we do that they are okay about moving forward because they realize, all right, we're not set up to fail here, We're set up to succeed. But we're also making mistakes here that we have to look at.
So that's what I know to be true, but it is for the viewer sometimes very confusing.
How have you improved as the show's gone on. I mean, I would expect that this has been quite the learning experience for you, and we are here, we are ready for our tenth season of the show. How have you improved? I mean, is there anything off the top of your head that you think?
Yeah, I think there are. These are great questions, Benjamin. I would say for me, the way in which I address the couples of the commitment ceremonies has become more direct, blunt at times, but very much. It's now an approach where I'm holding their feet to the fire. I have very little time with them, so I want them to stop, look at themselves and say, Okay, this is a reality check. I've got to I've got to change this up if
I'm going to make this work. And I don't think I probably was like that when the show started ten years ago. It was more reflective and I was more of a mediator role, whereas now I'm much more direct with holding that mirror up to the participants and calling out bad behavior. So I think definitely that has been
a big change. And also I think when I'm watching dinner parties and I see behaviors and I see the different fight styles, because I've been doing it a while now, I see certain themes that I can jump on quickly. I don't need to watch it that long now to know where they're coming from, what's happening there, what this means about their relationship. You become very very efficient at analyzing what's going on on the screen.
Absolutely, I mean, do you know what was interesting for me was that watching last year with Dom and Olivia who you just mentioned before, two girls both married to these different men and navigating their own way through that series and their life. I mean, this is their life.
They then came off the show and you know, arn't with these men that they married, and then there's been so much media scrutiny over the two of them, and they're thrusting themselves into the spotlight still wanting to continue that story. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, do you think that they if the marriage hasn't worked out, that they should probably put a line under it and move on. I mean, how do you feel about the tooing and throwing that we see online.
Well, it's definitely become a part of the post Maths experiment, not just for those two, but for a number of them. You know, really, once the show got big, maybe four seasons ago, you know, you see these rivalries going on in the media after the show, and it actually is very similar and has a similar field to what you saw, but it's just now playing out in real life rather than on the experiment. And I mean, I've got used
to it. I don't tend to react too much to it at all, other than to think that in some way it keeps the storylines going, you know, they and to be fair, after the show, some of them have made real careers for themselves in the media, so they are kind of creating a larger brand, if you like, by doing this. Anyone that goes from Maths into the media, you know, they're pretty vocal, you know, so it carries on their brand, if you like. And I think that's just a part of it now.
I don't know, like for these people to come off, and then they sort of push the narrative and continue these fights that have existed on that show. I think some of them, especially Dom, I thought, you know, she could really have had a bigger media career. But the more they talked about what happened and I hate this person and cheated this, the more that it kind of makes them look a bit silly.
Look, it's a difficult space to be in, and I'm in a very different space to them, because, you know, usually when the show is not on the air, you don't see a lot of me, you know, I kind of disappear. And then when it's on and the spotlight is shining brightly, you know, you've got a podcast, You've got media to do around it. And so I guess I have a very different approach to it than those that jump into the spotlight and the social media side
of things. And it must be exhausting, you know, because and also I think what I do very differently now is that I don't really read any of the comments. I'm not focused heavily on social media, even though I will post or have the odd video, it's generally speaking, that's not my driver, you know, Whereas I think a lot of people that go from reality TV into the media, that is a driver. You know. They've got to create content and stay relevant and be in the spotlight and
go into different areas and increase that brand. And so they just have different drivers. For me, though, I really like you know that, I kind of just stay in my wheelhouse, which is relationships, maths, and doing what I can to promote the show.
Do you have a relationship with any of the former contestants? Do they ever try to keep you on file as their permanent relationship.
Except all of them have access to on set psychologists and follow up counseling services, so they look after those areas of their mental health. In terms of me bumping into them, occasionally, I will bump into them, but generally speaking, I kind of I've really enjoyed my time with them, and then I let them go on and you know, to build their careers, and so I think when I do see them, it's great to catch up and see their success. But generally speaking, I don't stay in touch
with too many of them. They're onto bigger and better things, and often they end up overseas too.
Yeah, well, I mean the show's huge overseas. I mean watch the launch episode of this on Sunday night. Wow. Looking at those headlines that this show has generated in America in the UK, it's unbelievable, unbelievable.
Unbelievable, Benjamin, I can't get my head around one hundred and twenty countries by this version of Maths that we produce, and they eat it up, they love it, And you know, it's such a strange place for me to be where I'm at the pointy end of it as an expert fronting a number one show that's going around the world. Ten years ago, I was working quietly in private practice, seeing singles and couples. We're talking.
You're talking to you today. I think that you seem very humble and seem to have keep yourself. I don't know what's the word for it. I think you've kept the reality of the situation.
I appreciate that I've had to. There are moments where you've got to I think you've got to try and stay ground, and I keep reminding myself that you know, this could stop at any stage. Yeah, it's like it's almost like being in a boy band. It's like this intense spotlight. For a short period of time. You ride it for as long as it goes, and then you know at some stage it's going to come to an end.
And so I'm okay to do that. But I also am realistic and I think also social media, you know, while you try and stay away from it, you're always going to get feedback and you get good, but you also get really bad, you know. So it's hard to you know, have tickets on yourself when you you know, get some feedback about certain things that you've done.
Not everyone's going to love you, you know what I mean like that?
No, And in fact, I've kind of got used to the idea that, you know, if you're a part of maths, you're going to have a lot of people that won't like you, you know, that will have their opinions, very very strong opinions. I mean, I've been stopped when I've been on the phone. I've been you know, stopped when I was at a cafe chatting to friends, you know, and people literally interrupt my conversation to tell me how you know, offended or you know, just displeased they are with me.
And so it's very hard to get you know, high on yourself when you get to get both the good and the bad coming at you.
I say to people that come off their shows all the time, and I interview a lot of people on this podcast. You know, people are coming off these shows and you can't really connect to the positive. You can't connect to the effusive. You know, the a few people that are going to love you on these shows as much as you really can't connect to the people that hate you. I mean, both of those sides of the coin are really just as ridiculous to connect to. And
that's what I learned. You know, you can't read all that stuff and think I'm amazing, and you can't read all that stuff and think, oh, I'm terrible. You kind of have to just be like, well, that's something else. But I was going to ask you. You know, we're at the tenth season, and every season it feels like we get a different slice of a pie, even though the concept is still the same. What do you think
is different about this season? Do you feel like producers or the people that make this show have made have learned things from last year and are now trying to do something different. I mean, what are we going to see differently in this new season?
Well? I think I think producers do hone the product as the years go along, But I think what stays the same pretty much as the format. What changes is the casts and their backgrounds and the patterns that they have, and their family upbringings and their relationship heartache and all of that. They bring that to the table and their culture and they're overbearing parents. I mean, there's so much. Every single year is different because everyone has different stories
behind them that they bring in. Saying that, though, I think the x Berts this year go much harder than before because the behavior is poor in some ways, you know, some of the most shocking stuff we've seen. I think we have a twist about halfway through where we throw a new challenge, completely new challenge at the participants that they haven't seen before. And we do that because you know, they've all watched nine seasons of it, so they're like thinking, Ah,
you know, I've got this. I'm just going to coast along here, and we don't want them to be complacent, so we throw that in there, and that's very telling because some of them can get on board and others simply can't. I think this year the issue of sex is very strong, particularly who's initiating how much is the right amount of sex? How do you say no to someone if you're not feeling in the mood without them
feeling rejected. What is essentially a healthy relationship and a healthy sex life that's very strong throughout And I think this year also with with the fight styles, you know, I was really shocked at times about how some of them, you know, they say pretty cruel thing, they assassinate people's characters, and then they'll tag on, I'm just being honest, I'm just speaking the truth, and so so it's like it's like a free for all. You can say anything, you're like, man,
just totally destroy someone. But then as long as you just speak in your truth, you're good to go. And so we have to really call out some of these exchanges because it's not okay, you don't talk to people in a disrespectful way, in a cruel way, that's not being honest, that's actually been totally offensive. Ah, but they don't like that, but they need to know that. So I think that is going to be different this year. I mean, we saw plenty between Olivia and Dom and
some of the other girls last year. This year, certainly, the guys are very outspoken.
I think the worst thing you can say to someone in this day and age is to try and make someone accountable. Use the accountable word with people, they hate it, you know.
And I think that's so.
And even in arguments with my partner, you know, I'll say, you know, but I want you to be accountable for this. That seems to be more offensive to him than swearing on him, you know what I mean.
That's right. You make a good point, Ben, because you know, these participants often when I'm speaking to them and trying to really hold a mirror up, I sometimes wonder whether this is the first time ever that they've heard that, you know, that they have been held to account. So I think there's a number of people out there that don't like you know, putting the hand up saying sorry, I could do that better. I had no idea that this behavior is so toxic, and that is that's a
real role and a responsibility we have. You know, we don't know what they're going to do on the show. We don't expect certain poor behavior. We can't control for that, but when it happens, we do have a responsibility to, you know, really try and put a stop to it. And so that's kind of how we look at it, but that word accountability does make a lot of people die for cover, and you often get as a result, not someone saying I'm sorry, but someone's saying you've got
it wrong. You know you don't know the full fact. So they go into this defense mode, which just makes it even more problematic, particularly to dinner party, when people are trying to get things off the chest, they just get louder and things escalate even more.
I think as well, because people try to get you to understand how they feel by creating false narratives. And I don't think it's a bad thing. I don't think they're meaning to do it. But you quite often see on this show that someone says, oh, well, this person did this and it's not what they said. It's not what they did, but it's how that person was made
to feel. So they are trying to simply put that on the table, and yet then they'll call them out for being word no, that's not what I said or whatever. And I guess what people should say is you did X, Y, and Z and more you made me feel like this, And I think that would be more beneficial to some of the arguments that go.
Oh, that'd be heaven. But unfortunately we don't get a lot of that. What we get is what we would call the sledgehammerck coming out. You know, they begin their exchange with a you always, you never, The finger is pointed. They're very global, you know. Every time I come back to the apartment, I see you always doing this, and you can just see the person that they're talking at, just the red mist coming over them as they're about to,
you know, come back at them. Look, if I'm totally honest, when you watch married for singles and couples, you learn what not to do. You learn, Wow, you know that guy over there has five red flags that I'm seeing already. I cannot go out with someone like that who has those red flags. I've got to be aware of that. I'm not going to follow through and repeat that there and the couple's going, wow, we start conversations with those sort of comments you always, you never. We've got to
stop that. That is going to create all sorts of problems. So in a strange way, and we certainly didn't set out when we began this journey with marriage for it to be educational. I don't think it was more sort of a fly on the wall bobdoc. But now I think people watch it and go, wow, we're learning what not to do here.
I put my hand on my heart, and I've seen bad behavior on that show that I am culpable of myself, and I've been like, oh, and it's so funny. So much of the things that were allergic to seeing on other people is things we do ourselves. You know. Sometimes that hits harder than anything else. And so I don't think that's on the box. I don't think when people buy married at first sight they are going to get that kind of learned behavior or mirror being held up
against them. But maybe that's the reason why this show is as popular as it is, and that is because it's one of the shows on television that is a real interactive show. It's real, it's uncomfortable.
Remember when I thought, oh, this is weird, this We're onto something big here was about series four or five, when people started coming into my private practice and I sit down, I'd say, okay, so what's brought you in here? Mysell? You know, we argue like Nick and Cyrel or we have got you know, I've got a problem. I keep going after guys like this guy. So they use the names of the people on maths to describe their relationship issues. And I'd worked in the few for twenty years that
it never happened. So there was some tipping point where people started to relate to it so much and realize, oh, no, this is this is not behavior. It's going to be good for us. They come and they talk to me about it in that way, and that was a real eye open. That's when I thought there's something going on here with the general population.
You can hear it. I was at a pub last year and I overheard this two girls talking and one of them said, that's you know, he's a brice. It became an adjective. It was a terminology. Not about him anymore, it was about the behavior. It was just, you know, that's where you're like, this show is penetrating.
Isn't that weird? And yet I'm sure, like we've all got ideas on what the secret source is the ingredients to making this show work, but I don't think anybody really knows, And that's probably why. It's a bit like music. You know, when a certain artist hits no one kind of knows why, but they've just come out of nowhere, and they've they've become huge this. I mean, look, we went up against MKR back in the day and we were a tiny little show. You know, an MKR was
big and it was a cooking show. It was cooking, singing, dancing and renovation shows. Here this little relationship show that people kind of liked but no one really saw as a threat, and then it exploded.
It's huge. I missed the Ding Dong now because I said to you earlier, I had only gone back and watched the last two seasons that I've seen, and then I had to go back and see more. Like then I had to go back and see chunks of people that I'd missed, and I loved that. The marriage, you know, the chapel bell, whatever that is. I think that needs to come back on the ad break because that was just so iconic to the show, and they've lost it, you know what I mean, Like it's gone.
Yeah, I mean watching this series, you know, with the media, you know, over the last few weeks before the launch, what's been amazing is to see you know, the quality of the production now it's almost like watching a movie.
It's unbelievable, Like it is just the Best may Television. I had Adrian Swift from nine on the podcast last year to launch the first episode of the twenty twenty two season, and he was like, we get the music. We've got a composer to put a lot of this music together. Do you know what I mean?
Like this is I hear and I think that's amazing music. But I didn't know they went that far.
Yeah, anyway, I have been so like it to have this chat. I just want to say before we go, one of the questions ask everyone who joins this podcast or is about television and the shows that they're on, is what is something from behind the scenes, something that we won't see, kind of like something that is it behind the scenes secret of working on maths for you?
You think, well, I mean, I don't know whether people know this, but certainly you know, the dinner parties can can go through the night. So you know, when we get on set and we start hair and makeup, and then we kind of begin at about eight o'clock when it goes dark. You know, sometimes we might be getting home at five in the morning. So they are they are long and grueling sorts of ceremonies where we're all just you know, opening our hearts, not just the participants
but also the experts. You know, we are very raw and it is grueling and as I get older, it takes me a while to recover from them. But when you're in it, it's like a real event. You know, you're turning up on set late afternoon and you know you've got a big ceremony. You're ready, but you don't know what the heck is going to be said or
what's going to come out, and it's incredibly exciting. So hopefully you know that gives you a little insight into into what it's like when we're filming, because we've got about seven of them that we do every week, sorry, once a week, so it's a very intense sort of two months for us.
It's the real I think MOUs is like a mistress to you. You know, you come home at five o'clock in the morning, you say to your wife, no, I've not been at the clubs.
I know it's bad. When I get out of the taxi and there are you know, runners and joggers just passing me by on the street. I know, you know, it's been a late one and a tough one, but you know. Look, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. This to me, has been such a privilege to be a part of. And I just love the fact that people talk about relationships now, you know, because that's my wheelhouse. That's what I'm passionate about, and this promotes all that sort of conversation.
Thank you so much for taking the time to come and have this chat with me today. It was so fascinating and you've been very candid with it. Good luck, enjoy the tenth season.
I love it. I'm just as excited as you are, Ben, because I haven't seen it, and I think this year there's so much that's going to make you laugh and make you.
Cry and throw things at the television.
Yeah, and I'll be sitting there, Ben, and I'll be doing the same thing.
You describe it like a wite. This one's got legs. This one's gone.
Season, Jen, It's definitely got legs.
Thank you so much for coming. This has just been amazing.