South African television production companies are finally getting on board with the rest of the world.
Since last year viewers got to sink their teeth into South African versions of popular shows like “The Masked Singer”, “Wheel of Fortune” and more recently, “The Ultimatum South Africa”.
Now, fans of the US version of “Married at First Sight” will be happy to know that the local edition is on its way to Mzansi Magic.
“Married at First Sight Mzansi” will premiere on June 16, at 6pm and takes eight local singles on a social experiment to find their perfect-match.
Season one participants include Sebenzile Ngwenya, a sales consultant and a personal trainer; Thabang Mvuyane, a software tester,; Thami Nyandeni, who works in the education sector and Litsoanelo Seturumane also known as “Dee” from in the insurance industry.
Victor Khutso Mokoena, a campaign data analyst; Zithobile Sibaya, an educator, Khumo Ngobeni, who is in aviation; and Boitshepo Mashetla, a marketing specialist make-up the rest of the cast.
During the social experiment, the singletons will be paired with relationship experts who will scientifically match them with their “perfect partner”.
The paired couples will first meet at the wedding altar for the experiment to continue.
Should they agree, each pair will spend their wedding night in a hotel before leaving for their honeymoon.
Upon returning home, they will live together as a married couple for six weeks, with the help of specialists nurturing their budding relationships.
When D-Day comes, the couples must choose whether to divorce or stay married.
Shirley Adonisi, director for Local Entertainment said: “‘Married at First Sight’ is a franchise show that has been embraced across many countries in the world and has seen some of the singles’ dreams of finding a life match come true.
“As Mzansi Magic, we are looking forward to having this show on our platform to see if strangers can indeed end up as each other’s ‘forever’.”
∎Watch the season 1 premiere of “Married at First Sight Mzansi” on June 16 at 6pm on Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161). The series will also be available for streaming on Showmax.