When New Idea first revealed last year that there was an Australian celebrity version of Married At First Sight in the works – it seemed too out of reach.
WATCH BELOW: MAFS’ Brent, Ella and Al party in Melbourne
Now, the rumours have resurfaced after Channel Nine veteran reporter Richard Wilkins revealed he was once asked to appear on the show.
In a chat with Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa, Richard explained how he was offered a lot of money to sign up to be on the spin-off.
“[Former Nine CEO] David Gyngell once said to me, I’ll give you – I won’t mention the amount of money but a lot of zeros – if you do Celebrity Married At First Sight,” he said.
It’s since been revealed a few other Aussie stars were also approached for the show. Here, we’ve tracked down everything else we know about Celebrity MAFS.
The cast
While Richard only just revealed the news this month, he’s currently in a happy relationship with former air hostess Nicola Dale – meaning he had to have been asked earlier on.
In leaked texts obtained by NW two years ago, MAFS relationship expert John Aiken appeared to float two concepts for the all-star season past a mystery celeb named Reece.
“Producers are changing up the format. They’re going to bring back past participants and match them with celebrities,” a source told the publication.
The source also claimed that producers reached out to former MAFS stars Jo McPharlin, Mikey Pembroke, Nasser Sultan and Tracey Jewel.
Last year, a producer at Endemol told New Idea that names like Richard Reid, Yvie Jones, Ash Williams, Tully Smyth, Harry T and Paulini Curuenavuli were “mentioned” by casting directors.
What’s more, Ugandan-Australian socialite Suzan Mutesi recently told Daily Mail Australia that she too was offered a role but declined the offer.
Suzan told the publication that she decided to “stay well away” after seeing how her “sweet” friend Olivia Frazer was portrayed “as a crazy person”.
The publication also claimed that a well-known fashion stylist with over 100k Instagram followers was asked to join, but they preferred to remain anonymous.
The format
While the celebrity season is yet to be confirmed, fans can still expect a change for the reality TV series next year.
A production source told the Daily Mail that Nine is considering two new formats for MAFS’ upcoming tenth season: a celebrity ‘mini season’ and a ‘heroes vs villains’ reunion.
“They want to bring back all the success stories for one episode, and then bring back all the troublemakers for another,” the insider said.
“It’s that or Celebrity MAFS.”
When New Idea first revealed the news, it was when the concept was still in its early stages, with the source saying they wanted to “be bold and change things up.”
“A celebrity edition is exactly what MAFS needs – it’s a tried and tested format,” the source said.
New Idea has reached out to Channel Nine for comment.
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