Married At First Sight sex expert Alessandra Rampolla reveals why the 2026 brides are the show’s most ‘feisty, combative and toxic’ EVER

If viewers think Married At First Sight 2026 is being hyped as the most explosive season ever, they’re not wrong.

Speaking to Daily Mail, Sexologist Alessandra Rampolla says the chaos is very real – and it is coming from every direction.

Now in her sixth year on the experiment, Alessandra admits this season pushed even the experts to their limits, with volatile personalities, emotional meltdowns and intimacy breakdowns unfolding across the entire cast rather than centring on one or two villains.

‘This is now my sixth year doing the series, and I can look back at some seasons where one or two participants carried most of the load of the drama,’ she began.

‘With this cast, it’s really spread out. It’s not just one person doing all the drama. Many of them have many explosive situations throughout the season.’

According to Alessandra, that is exactly what sets MAFS 2026 apart.

‘It’s going to be nice and varied in that sense, which really adds to the series,’ she explained.

‘Ultimately it’s about observing behaviour and relating to what the participants are going through. 

‘It’s such a human experience trying to find love, allowing yourself to be vulnerable and being put in these really intense situations that nobody’s prepared for.’

She described the 2026 cast as a collection of ‘big personalities’ who were willing to expose their rawest emotions on camera.

‘They’re very courageous in allowing us to go through the journey of really strong, raw emotions with them,’ she said. ‘It’s going to be fabulous.’

‘They’re lovely in casting… then dinner parties happen’

Despite the volatility that unfolds on screen, Alessandra insists there are no obvious warning signs during casting.

‘I never know during casting,’ she admitted. 

‘They’re lovely during casting. They speak to me, they have it all together, they’re hopeful, their behaviours are going to be honourable.

‘And then you watch them interact at the dinner parties and sometimes I wonder, who is this person? I spoke to you a few months ago.’

Alessandra said participants present their best selves early on.

‘During casting, they come with hopes and dreams. It’s much more positive,’ she said. 

‘They never say, “I’m going to have horrific reactions and berate the person I’m with.” I don’t get that until I see it.’

That is why, she believes, calling out behaviour during the experiment is so important.

‘Oftentimes participants don’t recognise these behaviours in themselves,’ she said. 

‘And that’s where MAFS has value, beyond the drama and the train wrecks we all love to watch.’

Asked whether there is one personality type that consistently struggles on the show, Alessandra was clear.

‘Whoever is not really ready to open up and be vulnerable and be real is going to struggle,’ she said.

‘This is very much an experience of ‘we’re all in this together’. If I’m allowing myself to be vulnerable, I expect everybody else to do the same.’

She explained that the 2026 group was particularly quick to call out participants who held back emotionally.

‘When they saw people holding back, they were very quick to call it out and expect everybody to go there the same way they were going there,’ she said.

One of the biggest relationship issues this season, Alessandra revealed, was the cast’s obsession with instant chemistry.

‘Oh my God, yes, attraction can grow,’ she said. ‘I don’t understand why participants are always so hung up on initial attraction.’

She pointed out that many real love stories develop slowly.

‘Oftentimes love grows from friendship, from knowing someone, feeling safe, feeling comfortable and being able to be yourself,’ she said. 

‘That comes with time and trust, and then you get the sparks.’

Alessandra said the expectation of love at first sight is a Hollywood fantasy that sabotages real relationships.

‘Because they’re married at first sight, people assume it has to be love at first sight,’ she said. 

‘But we’re thinking about commitment first and then building the relationship. It’s the other way around.’

‘I absolutely think a slow burn can turn into a really intense, delicious fire,’ she added. 

‘But many participants don’t believe that and they self-sabotage because they’re disappointed when they don’t feel it straight away.’

Intimacy struggles also played a major role this season, particularly as couples compared their progress to others.

‘A lot of people felt frustrated they weren’t having regular sex,’ Alessandra said. ‘They saw other couples progressing and started putting pressure on themselves.’

She said comparison is natural but dangerous.

‘The moment you start comparing, you put pressure on the relationship and that’s not good,’ she explained. 

‘But it is also about learning how to handle that, because in real life you will be around other couples doing things differently.’

The group experiment, she said, intensifies those feelings.

‘In real life, you don’t meet your friends every day and rehash everything happening in your relationship,’ she said. ‘This is a very specific environment and reactions are amplified because of it.’

What surprised Alessandra most was how some participants handled rejection.

‘Sometimes the lack of emotional restraint,’ she said. ‘They had a very difficult time handling situations beyond the pure emotion. The insecurities underlying their reactions were very prominent.’

She believes viewers will clearly see that many blow-ups are driven by fear rather than malice.

‘For viewers, it will be easy to see, “Oh, this is fuelled by insecurity”,’ she said. ‘But participants don’t necessarily see it themselves at the time.’

Some grow, others do not.

‘Some gain perspective, others sadly leave with no perspective on their own behaviour,’ she said. 

‘But it’s compelling because we all mess up. None of us are glorious all the time, especially when feelings are involved and exposed publicly.’

Alessandra explained that there was no shortage of difficult moments on the couch.

‘There were a number of situations that were difficult,’ she said. 

‘There were times where basic respectful communication had to be called out, even in the way some people spoke to us as experts.’

‘There’s a lot of bad behaviour, as there always is,’ she added. ‘There’s no shortage of mirrors being held up.’

As for which confrontation was the hardest, she laughed.

‘I can’t tell you just one. There’s a lot to choose from,’ she said. ‘You tell me after you watch the season.’

‘The women are feisty… and sometimes toxic’

When asked directly about the cast, Alessandra did not shy away from the truth.

‘A lot of the brides this year are very feisty, very combative and bring a lot of drama,’ she said. ‘You mentioned the word toxicity. There is some of that.’

She added that what makes 2026 different is the gender split.

‘It’s startling how many of the women fall into that category, compared to the past couple of years where a lot of men stood out for not displaying good behaviour,’ she said.

However, she was quick to stress it is not one-sided.

‘It’s not all the women and it’s not all the men,’ she said. ‘There is salvation.’

In fact, she said the grooms surprised her.

‘I was very positively surprised by some of the calm, reassured handling of situations we saw from men,’ she said. 

‘It’s just as important to highlight good behaviour as bad behaviour.’

Love, growth and grenades

Despite the chaos, Alessandra insists real love does emerge.

‘We do find love,’ she said.

As for what she hopes viewers take away from MAFS 2026, Alessandra said growth is the real prize.

‘If you don’t walk away with love, you walk away with growth,’ she said. ‘The difficult moments have an underlying pattern, vulnerability or wound from the past.’

But she warned not everyone evolves.

‘In other cases, there is no growth,’ she said. ‘They come in, throw grenades and disappear. And we’ll see that too.’

One thing is guaranteed.

‘Audiences are going to be very enthralled,’ she said. ‘It’s an explosive, fabulous season.’