“Married at First Sight” Season 3 Release Date; Cancelled or Replaced? FYI and A&E Are Still Silent

Oct 13, 2015 02:34 PM EDT

Considering that Season 2 of Married at First Sight could be considered a public relations disaster after one couple divorced and the other two decided not to stay together after 6 months, with one of these couples having a harassment charge.  With the negative results of Season 2, FYI and its sister network A&E have probably thought twice about Season 3 of Married at First Sight.  Or have they thought at all?  This is what we know of the probable Married at First Sight Season 3. 

Yet there is still no official word from FYI that Married at First Sight has been cancelled.  In fact, it looks like the producers are doing their best to defend the show.  According to Day Herald, Sam Dean, the executive producer of Married at First Sight, has stated in an interview that "the producers are not the ones who should be held responsible for the high failure rate in the second season and neither should the experts be held responsible". 

Apparently, the show uses a "very sophisticated and stringent record and psychological tests, one that are used by the CIA and FBI", and season 2 of the Denmark version of the show is doing reportedly well.  The Australian version of the show has been renewed for a second season as well.   

What is interesting about Married at First Sight is that the "Singles Wanted" portion of its website still has its "casting now closed" message on.  However, does this mean that Season 3 is happening, and the casting call has many.  It was reported that more than 20,000 applicants wanted to be a part of Married at First Sight. 

So, is Married at First Sight coming back for a Season 3?  In defense of the show, the marriages are essentially 50/50 propositions of stay-together or divorce, and it just happened that Season 2 ended up with every one being the divorce.  There is no guarantee that this will happen again, and perhaps the coin flips on each couple will end up stay-together this time.  However, there is absolutely no guarantee of each one being positive, and another all-negative result would look really bad for the show and the network.  Perhaps FYI doesn't want to make that bet. 

The fact that FYI still has the Married at First Sight section up on their website is a sign that they don't want to completely divorce themselves from the brand.  What is interesting is on the Married at First Sight website is a link to a "Find My First Love" Casting Call.  This show doesn't seem to have anything to do with Married at First Sight, but it is about being reunited with a past love.  Considering the speculation that Married at First Sight could be replaced by some other similar show, perhaps this is the one that will attempt to eclipse it. 

Right now, it looks like FYI is focusing a lot of energy on Married at First Sight The First Year, which broadcasts on October 13th, at 9/8c.  The preview video on the FYI site shows couples enjoying time together, and then takes a huge tonal shift as the couples begin to fight.