It's time to meet the 16 singles who'll be saying "I do" to a complete stranger as they take part in a brand new series of Married at First Sight UK.
Following a record-breaking run last autumn, Married at First Sight UK is heading back
down the aisle for an extended 30-episode run on E4, promising to be bigger and more dramatic than ever before!
Once again, a fresh batch of singles will be hoping for love and a happy ever after by saying "I do" to a complete stranger, whom they’ll meet for the first time on their wedding day.
At a glamorous ceremony, overseen by a wedding celebrant, that includes guests, bridal gowns, dancing, speeches and cake, the couples will make a lifelong commitment to one another.
After the ceremony, and once celebrations are over, true love is well and truly put to the test, as they embark on a luxurious honeymoon before moving in with each other and their fellow couples.
At weekly dinner parties, their relationships will be put under the microscope by fellow brides and grooms. And at recurring commitment ceremonies, the couples must choose whether they want to stay in or leave the process.
All this and more will build to a dramatic series finale promising glossy, high-stakes vow renewals, in which each couple must decide if they will recommit to their partner or go their separate ways, for good.
Across the process, the couples will be matched and guided by Melanie Schilling, Paul C. Brunson and Charlene Douglas who each return to bring their expertise to the matching process.
In the 2021 series of Married at First Sight UK, the expert panel had an impressive success rate with two couples still together and one of those couples with a baby on the way!
It's time to meet this year's singles...
Adrian
37, Digital Designer, Manchester
"I hope that this experiment goes really well, and we end up falling in love."
Adrian is described as a confident, caring northerner with a heart of gold. A creative person, he loves expressing himself through fashion and takes time on his appearance. He loves socialising on a night out, hosting dinner parties and movie nights at home.
He hasn’t had the best experience with the relationships he’s been in and puts it down to people taking advantage of his nice guy persona. He says he’s been a serial dater for the last three years but is now ready to settle down.
Looking for an upbeat and positive partner, Adrian wants someone who will make him laugh, be up for an adventure and, most importantly, be someone he can trust.
April
32, Dress Designer, London
"The experts have a great success rate, so I feel like I’ve got nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain."
Former Miss Great Britain, April is a dress designer and successful wedding dress designer, however, she’s not so good at finding the right guy. In fact, April’s friends joke about her being ‘always the bridal designer, never the bride'.
For April this joke is wearing a bit thin and she's determined to change this label. Ready to take the plunge, she wants to put her love life in the hands of the relationship experts.
April thinks she is the most driven and ambitious person she knows and her friends say she won’t stop until she succeeds in anything she gets involved in.
In her first two Miss GB beauty pageants, she came second but, not to be deterred, she came back the next year to win it.
April considers herself a positive, bubbly sociable butterfly, with a ‘live every day like it’s your
last’ ethos, and says her personality can be quite silly and jokey, but also sensitive and empathetic towards others.
She wants someone who won’t mind her being independent and wants to live life to its fullest with her. It’s a dealbreaker if they don’t love cheese.
Chanita
29, Social Worker, Derby
"It’s so hard to pick out the right people, so I thought why not give the experts a challenge and they can do all the hard work for me."
Chanita is described as a caring, loyal and protective social worker from Derby who after leaving school, decided she wanted to spend her life helping young people and has dedicated her life to being a social worker.
She makes friends wherever she goes and is always checking in on them to make sure they’re all OK. Lots of people think of her as their best friend and having come out of a 10-year relationship two years ago, Chanita feels now is the time for her to meet her future partner.
Other than helping young people through her work, Chanita’s big ambition is to be happily married with a family and a stable home.
Duka
31, Recruitment HR Coordinator, Birmingham
"People see me and think ‘oh he’s a d**k head’... but that’s not the case – people are too quick to judge me."
Duka has lived in the UK since he was 10 years old when his family fled the former Yugoslavia to escape conflict. He arrived not speaking a word of English and was bullied because of it.
His struggles growing up had a definitive role in shaping the man he’s become and finds it difficult to let people in and puts up his guard when people start to get close emotionally.
Nowadays Duka’s a man about town who says women fall at his feet, but they’re never the right girl. He finds that the girls he fancies are often superficial and he gets bored of them easily.
He loves art and poetry and wants to find an ‘Instagram girl' that loves looking after herself, but can also have a deep conversation about world issues.
George
40, Financial Advisor, Worcester
"My only concern is that I might not be good enough for her."
Dad-of-four George is generous, loyal and dedicated to his kids. After divorcing his wife, George has struggled to find that special someone who he can share his life with.
He loves his life in the countryside and lives with his two eldest children, whilst his two younger daughters live with their mother. Content with everything in his life, Geroge feels there’s something missing and hopes the relationship experts can solve this for him.
George is a true and old-fashioned romantic and was heartbroken when his relationship with his wife broke down. He wants someone who excites him, someone, to keep him on his toes and who can be open emotionally.
Jenna
32, Zero Waste Shop Owner, Blackpool
"I don’t like dating apps and I don’t go out anywhere to meet anyone, so this is the only way I’m going to find love... hopefully."
Small business owner Jenna never envisaged herself getting married and hated the traditional concept of marriage, as it did not sit right with her that traditionally the woman would take the man’s name.
She wants to find love, commit to someone and build a long life together.
Jess
31, Dental Hygienist, Cambridgeshire
"On dating apps, people just want to get their leg over – they don’t want to settle down. I want to settle down!"
Jess describes herself as unique, weird, but extremely fun and outgoing. For Jess, the key ingredient to life is laughter and enjoying herself.
She is not afraid to do something that will make her look silly and will happily get up on a table and start dancing and believes she needs her future partner to match her same energy.
Equally, Jess says if she has the hump with someone, then they will know about it as her face often says it all! If she wants to do something, she will do it and does not necessarily think about the consequences, which has hindered her relationships in the past.
Jess admits that jumping into something quickly does get her in trouble sometimes and she thinks that this is the main reason why she is still single. She has a habit of moving fast in relationships and tends to skip the “dating” bit.
A self-proclaimed Harry Potter fan, she will happily force her future partner to watch a Harry Potter marathon with her and wear one of her cloaks, even if they hate it!
Jordan
29, Account Manager, Darlington
"I want to get married and have kids, and the clock is ticking."
Jordan is described as a fun, outgoing guy with a massive sense of adventure and by his own admission, "...a great catch!". A spontaneous guy who owns his own home, he has a great job, is close to his family and does all his own cooking.
Open about his emotions and feelings, when it comes to relationships Jordan is not willing to settle with someone and cruise through life for the sake of being comfortable. He wants to find true love and a real connection.
In the past, Jordan has been known to overthink situations and is not someone to stick around if he believes someone isn’t right for him.
He acknowledges that he’s single because he’s too particular about what he wants and knows he needs to relax and give girls more of a chance.
Kasia
36, Businesswoman, London
"I’m successful in a lot of other areas in my life and I’ve been through a lot, but the one area that I’m not successful in is my love life."
Kasia left school at 16 to have her first child and says she felt that the odds were stacked against her. However, through sheer graft and determination, she has not only managed to raise two children and have a successful career but she’s also launched her own business, a successful body contouring clinic.
Now that her kids are older, she’s decided to focus on herself and (hopefully) meet a partner that she can settle down with forever. She’s described as a calm, focused and extremely driven individual who won’t let anything stand in her way until she finds the right guy.
Kasia hasn’t worked a 9-5 since 2015 and loves the freedom it brings. Her appearance is very important to her. She loves makeup and making the best of herself.
Despite being the boss at work, she’s after a man who can take the lead but shares the same drive and passion that she does.
Kwame
42, Business Consultant, London
"It's not just a match... it's a wife."
Kwame is described as a confident and sophisticated business owner who exudes charm and style. He says he’s done it all; travelled extensively, established himself in a successful career, got married, had kids and got divorced.
A self-professed ladies' man, he can talk the talk and although he admits he’s a bit cocky, he also says he’s a nice guy and not arrogant.
Growing up, Kwame lacked confidence which he puts down to his appearance, but this changed once he reached college where he bulked up and grew his beard. With his newfound confidence, he entered and won Mr Ghana in 2000 and has never looked back since.
Kwame came from humble beginnings, but his father pushed him toward education and he is now a successful bachelor who wants another chance at finding love.
Lara
49, Waitress, Nottingham
"The experts couldn’t pick any worse than I could pick."
Canadian ex-dancer Lara has lived an extraordinary life. She’s been married and divorced twice and has led a luxury lifestyle. She once flew from Japan to New York for dinner and was used to spending vast sums on clothes.
Her life is very different today though and her relationship role models are her parents who have been married for 51 years and are one another’s best friends.
Lara says they are madly in love all these years later and finds herself trying to force every relationship she has to be like theirs, often letting red flags slide to try and make the relationship work.
Although she’s been single for 12 years now, Lara still believes in fairy-tale romance and is forever looking for her prince, to introduce to her two sons.
Pjay
31, Dancer/ Performer, Birmingham
"I want to find out who I really am. I’ve got a lot of love to give and I just want to give it 110%."
Birmingham boy Pjay wants to find love with someone with whom he can create a peaceful and loving environment. As part of the world famous, Dreamboys, he's never been short of attention, yet can’t seem to find the right person that he wants to settle down with and his job has been a barrier to finding the right woman.
His ex-partners have struggled with trust, but he’s a firm believer in providing reassurance when he’s off touring and performing for thousands of screaming fans.
His best friends are his mum and his sister. He tells him mum everything and his future wife will need her seal of approval.
Richie
51, Sales Advisor, Sheffield
"I don’t care what the consequences are or what they uncover – never underestimate a man who has got nothing to lose."
Richie worked in the music industry for 23 years and was constantly on the road, meeting new people, which he credits with keeping him young.
He’s written a song which appeared on a Russell Watson album and boasts that he’d be able to get him to perform at his wedding.
Richie has also done session work with Sheryl Crow (... but didn’t manage to get her number) and considers himself to be deep, emotional, a good laugh, clever, and socially and emotionally intelligent.
Thomas
31, Mental Health Care Assistant, Liverpool
"I’m really concerned they might not like me. That’s ok, but I don’t want to waste their time or my own time."
Thomas is described as someone bursting with energy, sarcasm, and bawdy humour and for as long as he can remember, he’s always loved being the centre of attention. He’s extremely sociable, unapologetically loud, and not one to back down in an argument.
Thomas’ worst nightmare would be for someone to describe him as “nice”. When he enters a room, Thomas is used to having all eyes on him and is looking for a partner to help balance him out.
Whitney
31, PA, St Albans
"I need to get my s**t together and embrace the situation."
Whitney is described as fun, confident and sexy and isn’t short of male attention. But in order for her to settle down and commit, a man has got to tick all of her boxes. This has never happened.
After losing her mother, Whitney has had a tough couple of years. Her mum was her best friend, and though she had a strict upbringing, she’s proud it made her the strong and independent woman she now is.
Although she has dated lots of men on a superficial level, she’s never found anyone good enough to bring home to her family. She has such high expectations for her potential partner and worries she’ll never actually let anyone in.
Now her biggest fear is ending up 50 and single, alone with her dogs! So finally, she feels ready to give someone a chance and thinks that putting the responsibility of finding her partner into the experts’ hands might be her only solution.
Zoe
30, PA, St Albans
"I’ve never been with someone and thought ‘I want to grow old with you’"
Zoe is described as an outgoing, ambitious and successful professional who works hard and plays even harder.
She describes herself as dominant and assertive but is looking for a genuine connection, someone she can share her softer, more intimate side with.
Having recently turned 30, Zoe no longer wants to be known as a serial dater and is bored with the stale repetition of dating and wants to settle down and eventually start a family.
Zoe is hoping 2022 will be the year she finally finds true love.
Married at First Sight UK returns Monday 29th August at 9pm on E4