It looks like that Celebrity MAFS Australia season is over before it could even get started!
After heaps of rumours that a celeb version of MAFS was in the works for 2023, the So Dramatic! podcast has revealed that the series has been shot to hell.
An unnamed celeb who was in talks to star in the new season revealed to the poddy: “I’ve been told it will not be featuring celebrities anymore. They’ve had to hold it because they didn’t have enough interest.”
Meanwhile MAFS is in the process of casting normal folk for the new season.
“They are currently casting for the new season of MAFS and there are some interesting people who have auditioned,” a MAFS source told the podcast.
“They held the auditions over at Surry Hills a few weeks ago with normal people.”
Another source claimed that MAFS producers emailed them asking them to audition for the new season.
Apparently the producers are intent on having more diversity on the show so they’ve reached out to some POC content creators and TikTokers to see if they’re interested in signing on.
We first got word of Celebrity MAFS when New Idea published a wild report claiming producers had approached a bunch of celebs to star in the celebrity version of Married At First Sight Australia, although folks poo-pooed the rumour at the time.
Then just recently entertainment journo Richard Wilkins legitimised the rumour when he told Fitzy & Wippa that he was once offered a whole lotta dollarydoos to be on Celebrity MAFS.
“I won’t mention the amount of money but a lot of zeros,” he said.
More stars have since come forward with claims that they, too, were offered big bucks to do the show.
Ugandan-Australian socialite Suzan Mutesi told Daily Mail Australia that she was offered a role but decided to “stay well away” after seeing how her “sweet” friend Olivia Frazer was portrayed “as a crazy person”.
Playing a bit fast and loose with the word “sweet” there, but sure.
She added that she’d “rather do a show like The Bachelorette.”
The publication also claimed that a well-known fashion stylist with over 100k Instagram followers was asked to join, but they preferred to remain anonymous.
A production source told the publication that Nine’s considering two new formats for the next season of MAFS: a celebrity ‘mini season’ and a ‘heroes vs villains’ reunion.
“They want to bring back all the success stories for one episode, and then bring back all the troublemakers for another,” the insider said.
“It’s that or Celebrity MAFS.”
Back when New Idea dropped their report, the idea was in v. early discussions.
Someone claiming to be a producer at Endemol Shine, the production company responsible for Married At First Sight, told the publication that they want to “be bold and change things up.”
“A celebrity edition is exactly what MAFS needs – it’s a tried and tested format,” they said.
They went on to reveal that there were top line discussions happening about which celebs would be a perfect fit for the show and the following local stars came up: Richard Reid, Yvie Jones, Ash Williams, Tully Smyth, Harry T and Paulini Curuenavuli.
The insider claimed that the idea for the show “only became a possibility due to celebs in Australia already putting their hands up to take part in the experiment”.
“The truth is, the show has made some of the participants household names, and now some household names need a career boost,” the said, adding, “that’s the MAFS machine!”.
Meanwhile one of the aforementioned celebs who was “mentioned” as an ideal pick for the show, ex Gogglebox babe Yvie Jones, said hell to the fucking no to the potential of joining the show.
Taking to Instagram, Yvie Jones wrote “Hahahaha AS IF,” along with a vomit GIF. I mean, who could blame her considering the calibre of men that have appeared on the show?
What, you want her to sign up and find her equivalent of Bryce Ruthven? Yeah, hard pass on that one.
