Married at First Sight’s Clark reveals what it’s really like to be on the show… and says the ‘science’ was pointless and the whole thing cost HIM money
IT'S one of the most fascinating reality shows to hit our screens in recent times - but what's it REALLY like to take part in Married at First Sight?
The Channel 4 programme, which returned to our screens earlier this month, sees two complete strangers meet for the first time on their wedding day.
Experts select compatible couples from thousands of applicants, then invite them to get hitched minutes after laying eyes on each other.
A hair-strand test, which measures cortisol levels, or stress – an indicator of how people react to difficult situations - hormone tests and interviews about personality, likes and dislikes, are used to decide who will work well as a team.
In 2016, viewers watched as Clark, from Milton Keynes, went through with his wedding to Melissa and moved into her pad in London.
However, they didn't stay together and split after just five months.
The handsome business development manager didn’t rule out them working things out in the future.
Now he's lifted the lid on what the experience was really like.
Speaking to , he explained how he decided to apply to take part in the "social experiment" one hungover day after flicking through Tinder and spotting the advert.
He didn't expect to hear anything back but got a phone call at 9am the following Monday.
Clark admitted: "Nobody’s forcing you to go through with the process, but there are definitely pressures.
"You feel like you’re too far in to back out. I would talk to people about it and nine times out of 10 they thought it was a terrible idea."
Clark branded the scientific process "pretty pointless", and said it was never properly explained to the contestants how the matching system worked.
"They measure your height, your shoulder to waist ratio, the size of your index fingers, all of that, but I kind of felt like, ‘OK, how does this actually have any impact on a future relationship in this day and age?'," he said.
He also revealed the questionnaire he had to fill out contained 500 questions that asked about his likes, dislikes, religious and political views, sexual history and what he finds attractive.
Clark claimed there was "no real thought" behind where they'd end up living - something that contributed to the couple's break-up.
He said he never met any of the other couples taking part in the process as there's no crossover and their social media is hidden - something he wasn't bothered about as after watching the show he said he knew he wouldn't have got on with them anyway.
He added that there was no financial gain in being part of the show - and the experience actually COST him money.
"There’s budget for things – her wedding dress, a small budget for the suits. There’s some money for hen-do and stag-dos, but it was mainly out of my pocket," he revealed.
"I think they put money towards travel or something. But there was genuinely no monetary gain. Lots of people think, ‘No one would do that for free’, but actually I spent quite a lot of money on the process."
When it came to their wedding, the couples were given six options to choose from in terms of food, music, style and theme - but everything he opted for didn't get picked.
His bride Melissa got her way, but Clark said he didn't mind as he believes "the wedding day is about the woman anyway".
The one thing that did grate on him was only being allowed to invite 20 people, which caused "some friction" with his family.
Clark said he was nervous on the day itself, which was a "bit of a blur" and happened very quickly, "but not memorably".
He and Melissa also had to repeat some of their vows several times for different camera angles - but he said the crew and team was "fantastic".
Clark spoke less favourably of the counselling provided to the couple when their relationship hit the rocks.
"I didn’t feel like it was worthwhile, it was rubbish," he said. "It didn’t have any positive impact on the marriage – if anything it made me resent the situation more."
Thankfully the divorce process was easy - he pointed out that budget is set aside for this - and the last time he saw Melissa was in October 2016.
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He added: "As soon as you were married, you were left to your own devices as a married couple for a few weeks.
"You go on honeymoon, you move back to the apartment they rent for you. You’re now living with a complete and utter stranger, which is fine, and the camera crew pop in once, twice, three times a week to talk to you to see how everything’s going, but that’s it.
"I felt like there should be more to it. I felt like there should be more actions around helping develop the relationship."
A show spokesperson said: “The article on Cosmopolitan Online contains substantial factual inaccuracies as all of the contributors who apply are fully aware at the application process of what the programme is and are matched by experts on a range of criteria.
"All are fully supported throughout the process and beyond.”
Series 3 of Married At First Sight continues on Thursday at 9pm on Channel 4 - and these are the couples who have lasted.