A professional match-maker’s take on ‘Married at First Sight’

The recent Channel 4 documentary, ‘Married at First Sight’ was watched with great interest by the professional match-making team at RSVP dating agency and singles club, the dating agency and singles club. We match on a variety of factors that are predictors of long term relationship success, ranging from personality, to shared interests and personal criteria; we found it interesting to watch the panel of experts make matches of a more permanent and arguably dramatic nature and see how the results unfolded.

RSVP members are genuinely single and, when they join, they are looking to commit to a long-term partner. However, chemistry and attraction are hard to scientifically predict, so even if a match appears great on paper, it doesn't mean that the couple will gel when they meet in person. This can also work the other way round with people you would never think of putting together, meeting each other at one of our RSVP exclusive Singles Events and getting on like a house on fire!

Therefore, we had mixed feelings watching the six people meet each other as strangers on their wedding day. The sociologist expert did suggest that the tradition of the marriage would trigger a psychological reflex to bond the couples together, but, of the three couples, only one pair actually made it to the end of the experiment. The other couple who made it down the aisle rode on a wave of adrenaline through the special day; but as soon as it came to an end, they went back to being strangers and clashed on the most basic of things, despite the panel thinking they were a sure-fire match.

This is why we encourage our members to take it slow with their matches, so they can warm up as times goes on. At RSVP, we do all the legwork of finding the match and exchanging the personal profiles of the people but then we suggest that the member send a text first to introduce themselves properly and to find a good time to speak over the phone. Hopefully after the phone conversation, they can set up a meeting. We promote the idea of meeting more than once before making a decision to start ‘dating’. This gives them a chance to get to know each other a little and, even if they are not immediately struck by love at first sight, chemistry and attraction can – and do – grow!