With each new MAFS UK season, Twitter is engulfed by countless comments questioning what makes the Married at First Sight experts, well, experts.
The issue with MAFS is that a lot of things are simply subjective. Yes, some of the couples seem painfully mismatched – we’re looking at you, Leigh and Leah – but it’s not like the experts throw darts at a board and hope for the best – or do they?
Throughout this season alone, one person wrote: “The experts were the worst this season in terms of pairing. They wanted to always sound so profound, yet they failed the majority of the cast members.”
“These experts are the worst thing about this show… bad advice, horrible pairing with that borderline abusive contestant and wanting to jump in after the fact to tell her not to react to his behaviour… oh, ok,” another said.
The armchair experts certainly have a lot of opinions, so here are the qualifications of MAFS icons Paul C. Brunson, Mel Schilling, and Charlene Douglas.
Mel Schilling is about as qualified as they come
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Whether she’s on MAFS UK or Australia, Mel Schilling is frequently dropping truth bombs on the couples and looking glam as ever while doing it. Mel got her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her graduate diploma in psychology, so at least you know she’s not spouting rubbish when offering advice. She also achieved a graduate certificate in human resources and industrial relations in 1998.
Having been a practising psychologist for over 20 years, starting out in 1998 at Morgan and Banks, Mel later moved onto consulting, where she worked for Personnel Decisions International and Extraversion Consulting. Before being booked as a MAFS expert, Mel had been working for nine years as the director and consulting psychologist of Be. Talented.
Alongside her work, Mel has also been a public speaker and author, so essentially, if she says you’re a red flag, you proboably are.
Charlene Douglas has years of experience
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MAFS UK’s resident s*xpert, Charlene Douglas, recieved a bachelor’s in German studies (random) before getting her masters in psychodynamic psychotherapy and counselling and psychotherapy. She also got a diploma in psychosexual studies and psychodynamic counselling.
Though Charlene did work as a psychodynamic therapist for a number of years, she also applied her education to support young people at Enfield Youth Support Service, ThinkForward UK, London Southbank University, and Islington Council.
Outside of MAFS, Charlene has continued to offer her wealth of s*xual health knowledge in various consulting and public speaking capacities.
Paul Brunson might be the least qualified of the MAFS UK experts
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Paul Carrick Brunson might be the MAFS UK expert with the least amount of qualifications in the relationship field, but that isn’t to say he isn’t qualified for the reality TV position. After achieving a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in business, Paul moved on to investment banking.
Though he doesn’t have the psychology degrees boasted by his colleagues, Paul’s real-world knowledge of the dating game is just as valuable. He founded the largest matchmaking business in the US and is now the Global Relationship Science Expert for Tinder.
Of course, he also has a wealth of knowledge from the public speaking circuit, and one of his podcasts, We Need To Talk, is often lauded as the best relationship podcast out there.
So yeah, while Paul doesn’t necessarily have the psychological background of Mel and Charlene, he does know what he’s talking about. Maybe the rest of us should just stick to watching the show?
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