Not everyone is set up for the instant marriage game. Some require a little extra TLC and attention before they prepare to take that step. Others are just in need of some tough love to point out quirks that may be in the way of their true happiness. In the case of Lifetime’s new series “Married At First Sight: Unmatchables,” the participants are ready to transform into upstanding dates and carry the hope that they’ll get their lives together and find a partner to match their energy.
With the craziness that has unfolded with season 12’s “Married At First Sight,” this new spinoff is definitely is a change of speed.
Pastor Calvin Roberson and Dr. Viviana Coles spilled the tea on what to expect during this brand new season and what they look forward to the audience taking away.
What are the key themes that viewers should keep an eye out for throughout this season?
Pastor Cal: Unmatchables is such a great, great new show and we are privileged to be a part of it. Individuals applied from Married At First Sight but we could not find matches for them, hence the name, Unmatchables. Over 75,000 people applied to be a part of MAFS since its inception and we just could not choose for a myriad of reasons. So who you’ll see on this show are just some of them. Some of the strange reasons that they were not ready to be married at first sight and some of them not ready to be married at second, third, or fourth. But, they are awesome people, funny, they have great hearts and are attractive. They are single people who just can’t figure it out and we’re helping them.
Dr. Viv: We’re forcing them to go through some transformations, physical and emotional. Hopefully, at the end of the week with us, they are going to go on a blind date and we hope and pray they’ve learned something from their time with us and can implement it.
Out of all the applicants that had to be vetted, how did you narrow down 16 folks to work with you both this season?
Dr. Viv: The applicants come from the MAFS season in Atlanta and we hope to have many more. Casting has helped us figure out who will really benefit from this process. Then, we get to meet with them, learn about them, figure out what they really need and throw them into the trenches.
Pastor Cal: Additionally, we had to figure out which were not matchable from MAFS but take a step further to pick the unmatchables out of the unmatchables (laughs). We had to ask the question “who are the most unmatchable?’
Are all of the participants a match made in heaven?
Dr. Viv: Sometimes there is a spark, sometimes it is a total trainwreck. We can’t predict that either.
Pastor Cal: The goal here is not to be married. The goal is to be marriable.
Are there any special Unmatchable cases that viewers will get to see play out for the better?
Pastor Cal: We’ll give you a little sneak preview. We have quite a few characters of the show. We have a serial ghoster who has been known to leave his dates at the table.
Dr. Viv: Another person who sees ghosts because they work at a funeral home. (laughs)
Pastor Cal: We have a number of divas. We have a superhero, with a cape, and none of this is made up. These are actual people. We have someone who loves to eat on the toilet. Not from the toilet, on the toilet. A full appetizer, glass of Chablis, a burger.
Dr. Viv: These are folks who just need help in the intimacy department and it might require it being enforced with a whip.
What makes this show different from “Married At First Sight?”
Pastor Cal: Think about it, how many people do you know who are a little strange? You want to tell them “if you stopped doing this one thing, you’d probably find somebody.” That’s all it is. We all have our quirks, differences and challenges. We just found some people that have a few more quirks.
Dr. Viv: We are married to folks who love our quirks already. We want to help the contestants find someone who will love all their quirks, too. We are not trying to transform them completely or tell them they are not good enough. But we want them to make some tweaks before they can get their twerk on.
For those at home who may be trying to rethink the approach to their own dating situation, what do you want them to take away and apply in their own lives?
Pastor Cal: At our core, we all want and deserve love. Past situations, trauma, or any variety of circumstances can cause you to act in strange ways. However, it doesn’t make you an unlovable person. Specifically, it means you have some things that need to be redirected. You have some areas of your life that can use a mirror. We sit as the mirror for the individuals so they can make their own corrections. We only have a week to make those connections because each episode is self-contained. We wrap it up and prepare for a new connection.
Dr. Viv: There are so many ways that you can and do get in your own way when it comes to love. But you can move on from that. You don’t have to repeat the same mistakes over and over. With the proverbial slap in the face that we give on the show, we hope that you can unlearn them for yourself.
Tune into "Married At First Sight: Unmatchables" on Wednesdays at 10 PM on Lifetime.
