After being axed last September due to “concern for the mental health of those involved” TALKING MARRIED is back.. but there’s a twist for the MAFS spin-off show.
TV Blackbox can exclusively reveal shooting has already begun on the 2020 season of Talking Married, despite Nine acknowledging its cancellation last September in a statement to The Daily Mail;
“We can confirm that Talking Married will not air in 2020”
That statement was in response to the TV Blackbox exclusive announcing the show had been cancelled due to a series of incidents on the live program that led to headlines around the country.
A hit reality show like Married At First Sight involves a lot of managing of the contestants. Typically, PR teams will follow the reaction to episodes on social media and then train talent on how to answer any curly questions.
Unfortunately, due to the live nature of Talking Married there was not time for that process to be followed, leading to awkward moments. One of the biggest headline-making interviews was in the finale where Dan and Jess faced tough questions about their relationship.
Since the announcement in September Nine has since reconsidered and will use the show to promote the 9Now website by making Talking Married one of its marquee locally produced programs. This means the show will no longer air on 9Life but will instead be broken up into four shorter shows and made available on the website four times a week.
Channel 9 has exclusively revealed to TV Blackbox other changes include pre-recording the series instead of airing live after each episode. This change will overcome Nine’s main problems of coaching talent on how to deal with tricky questions and will allow the network to cut out any content that may contribute to potential issues for the contestants.
The mental health of reality TV stars became one of the biggest issues of 2019. Sources say Nine takes its role very seriously.
The launch date will be Feb 3 with Shelly Horton as solo host. Jayne Azzopardi is on maternity leave and the decision has been made to have Shelly host by herself as she is a proven performer with a passion for the show.
Co-Creator and Editor of the TV Blackbox website, Robert McKnight is highly regarded Australian Television Producer, he has worked at SEVEN, NINE and TEN, and is most well-known for creating and producing STUDIO 10. Currently Rob is the host and producer of the TV Blackbox, McKnight Tonight and Monsters Who Murder podcasts.
TWITTER