The curtain has fallen on Married at First Sight (MAFS) for 2026 in Australia, but across the globe, the season is only just getting good. ICYMI: MAFS is a huge hit in the UK, where it airs annually just a few months after Australia on Channel 4 and E4.

In the latest episodes, UK viewers got to endure enjoy the couples’ retreat. You remember that saga? Everyone turned on Bec! Rachel cried an awful lot! Juliet dropped the C-bomb! What fun!

But for MAFS fans on the other side of the world, they watched a slightly different version of the couples’ retreat than what Australian viewers saw. For us, during Bec Zacharia’s beautiful toast, she kindly announced to the whole group that the couple, Rachel Gilmore and Steven Danyluk, had… umm ‘finger-banged’.

To sum up the group’s recent successful steps, Bec announced to everyone: “We’ve had I love yous. We’ve had a couple who I thought could not come back from the brink of hell, and we’ve had finger bangs!” Lovely!

This was played without censorship on Australian screens, but in the UK? That whole part was completely beeped out.

This meant that UK viewers had to rush to Google exactly what was said by Bec that left Rachel in tears in a throwaway comment that dominated the couples’ retreat’s drama.

Given the UK’s strict laws around sexually explicit language, our friends across the world are probably a bit confused that this ever went to air. As Cosmopolitan UK wrote, “Yes, that was really said on Australian national TV.” It sure was, folks! No regrets!

And the ultimate culture clash is set to come when MAFS Australia and MAFS UK collide in an upcoming spin-off series, aptly titled Second Marriage at First Sight.

Everything we know about Second Marriage at First Sight

Airing in the UK on Channel 4, Second Marriage at First Sight will welcome eight ex-brides and grooms from both the Australian and UK versions of MAFS, who will get hitched to one another. They will spend half of the experiment in the UK before flying to Australia to test whether they can make their marriage work. What could go wrong?!

“These eight well-loved MAFS singles didn’t find lasting love the first time, but they haven’t given up – and neither have we,” Channel 4’s Steve Handley said last year. “Everyone deserves a second chance at love and this time they’re saying ‘I do’ to a stranger on the other side of the world.”

The Aussie brides and grooms joining the spin-off are yet to be announced, but many expect Jessika Power’s name to be in the ring. Since relocating to the UK, the breakout 2019 bride is a frequent guest on British reality TV, so it’s a no-brainer. “I would definitely do it. I think it’d be fun,” Jessika previously told Chattr about doing an all-stars season.

According to The Sun’s reports, the first UK bride added to the line-up is Emma Barnes, a fan-fave 2024 contestant who got hitched to Caspar Todd in season nine.

We’ll keep you updated as soon as the Aussie brides and grooms are announced. Stay tuned!

Stream MAFS 2026 on 9Now.