This season, the pundits matched six couples out of the 3,000 singles who signed up for the season. In contrast to previous years, presenter Carlo Boszhard does not raid them one by one, but tells the participants – who think they are on the last day of testing – in two groups that not one of them, but all of them will get married. And no one sees it coming. “People have to tell me a couple more times. I won’t realize it yet, it has to land for a while,” said future groom Remco, 49.
For some, the big day arrives earlier than for others. The first couple to get married is the one formed by Nicole and Martijn. Nicole, 47, is a driving instructor, lives with her dog Bram in Amsterdam and loves to party. She can therefore be found regularly in Ibiza. Though she’s quite spontaneous, she can’t seem to find a man in our bustling capital. “There are a lot of nice single men. And the men who are there, they also see a lot of beautiful single women, so they go-hopsakee-on-the-other,” she explains.
Who knows, she might get lucky with her match: Martijn, 50, from Brabant. Just like Nicole, the sales manager loves parties and has the following motto: work hard play hard. Martijn has three children, aged 11, 16 and 19, but still has plenty of time for parties and festivals. Martijn, who is “pretty tired” of dating, also likes to go to Ibiza, just like Nicole. Martijn has already been married and therefore knows what to expect. “I look back on it with great pleasure,” he says. “I think above all that now I know better who I am, what I stand for. And that I can also radiate this, so that there is a better balance between the two of us.”
When the best day of their lives finally arrives, it turns out the experts are better at matching than they think. Nicole and Martijn have many mutual friends from Ibiza, all of whom are at the wedding. “Strangely, there’s a huge overlap. We all know each other a bit from nightlife,” says Martijn, who has never met Nicole before. “The coincidence doesn’t exist, so this is already a very good game.”
The second married couple we meet in the first episode are Wilfred and Francois. 48-year-old Wilfred from Emmen is striking in appearance, just like 49-year-old Francois from Maastricht, who has had two long relationships and is looking for “an agent”. “I especially miss you coming home and knowing that someone else is here. I miss it a lot.” Wilfred feels the same way and says: “I wish a partner would go together with friends. I miss it more when you go somewhere. Then everyone is always together. And then again I’m the one who goes alone.”
Married at first sight it can be seen weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 20:30 on RTL 4. The program can be seen three times in the first week, namely on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
