Married At First Sight reunions ‘won’t be a regular thing’, says Nine boss

Married At First Sight reunions ‘won’t be a regular thing’, says Nine boss – after the two-part special was beaten in the ratings by Seven’s Holey Moley

The Married At First Sight Grand Reunion delivered plenty of drama when it aired last month, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to expectations in the ratings.

And Channel Nine has confirmed this week that pre-season reunion specials will not be a regular occurrence.

Ahead of the season eight premiere on Monday, Nine’s programming boss Hamish Turner told Mumbrella: ‘The specials were good – they were kind of a snack before the main course.’

See ya! The Married At First Sight reunion in January brought with it all the drama you might expect, including a now infamous wine-throwing extravaganza from Cyrell Paule (pictured) – but sadly for viewers, it appears it was only a one time thing

Mr Turner said the two-part Grand Reunion was a good way to generate buzz for Married At First Sight’s new season because ‘a year is a very long time in television’.

But he clarified that it wouldn’t be an annual tradition going forward.

‘I don’t think it’s a regular thing,’ he said, adding: ‘I think it’s one of those things where, when you get people who want to take part, and we had a critical mass of people, ex-participants, who we were talking to, and we thought, “Yeah, okay, given that we’ve now got some air time, why don’t we do it now?”‘

Done: Speaking to Mumbrella , program director Hamish Turner said: 'The specials were good - they were kind of a snack before the main course.' (Pictured: Ines Basic)

Done: Speaking to Mumbrella , program director Hamish Turner said: ‘The specials were good – they were kind of a snack before the main course.’ (Pictured: Ines Basic)

The returning brides and grooms were paid at least $2,500 each for the two-part series, while others were believed to be offered more.

Despite Nine’s high hopes, the Married At First Sight Grand Reunion didn’t beat Channel Seven’s Holey Moley in the five-city metro ratings.

The show attracted 866,000 and 781,000 metro viewers respectively when it aired on Sunday, January 31, and Monday, February 1.

What went wrong? Despite high hopes for the episodes, they didn't beat Channel Seven's new show Holey Moley in ratings. (Pictured: Host Sonia Kruger)

What went wrong? Despite high hopes for the episodes, they didn’t beat Channel Seven’s new show Holey Moley in ratings. (Pictured: Host Sonia Kruger)

Meanwhile, Holey Moley scored an impressive 983,000 for its launch show on the same Monday evening.

However, the mini gold-themed show hosted by Sonia Kruger did lose a significant portion of its audience as the season went on.

The new series of Married At First Sight premieres Monday at 7:30pm on Nine

Decline: However, the show has endured a slow decline since its powerful launch, with 737,000 tuning in for the second episode

Decline: However, the show has endured a slow decline since its powerful launch, with 737,000 tuning in for the second episode