Former Married At First Sight bride lifts lid on show: 'They got it so wrong'

Roni Azzopardi was paired up with events manager Michael O'Dea simply because they were both "social". Photo / Channel Nine.

It might be one of the most entertaining reality dating shows on TV, but Married At First Sight doesn't exactly have a great track record of matchmaking success: out of thirteen hopeful couples, only two are still together.

Among the unlucky ones is Roni Azzopardi, who was paired up with events manager Michael O'Dea in season one, and knew it wasn't going to work within "a couple of days."
And she believes there's something very wrong with the system.

"I would love to know who is actually doing the matchmaking - you can't help but wonder that. I remember they said on TV - because I was social, and he was social, that's why they matched us."

After so much hype, Azzopardi felt their decision was definitely a major "let-down."

"The fact that we're social is not going to give us a lifelong happy marriage - that's not what I want in a life partner. It was a let down, definitely."

She went on to explain it was the mismatch that fuelled her infamous blow-up with fellow contestant Zoe Hendrix - pictured below with her MAFS husband Alex Garner and their baby Harper-Rose - at the show's dinner party.

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THANKS to the @thetodayshow for inviting us 😀 so impressed that Harper didn't crack it on live television! Getting excited for the new season of @marriedau and crossing fingers more couples find love ❤️ #ourchubbybubby #marriedatfirstsight @alex_garner_

A post shared by Zoe Hendrix (@zoehendrix) on Jan 1, 2017 at 2:51pm PST

"I was never upset with Zoe - it was at the realisation that they had gotten my match so wrong," she clarified. "When I was sitting there watching every couple having a blossoming romance and I was getting nothing from the guy I was matched with...it was disappointing. And Zoe was in my firing line."

Just last week, another former contestant, Simone Lee Brennan, blasted her on-screen "husband" in a scathing exposé about the reality matchmaking show.

"My faith in the 'matchmaking' process dwindled away somewhat when my TV husband shared with me immediately post-wedding ceremony that he hadn't dated for years and never actually applied for the experiment," she wrote on her blog, The Dating Journal.

"He was recruited from a local cafe and thought, 'Yeah sure, why not?'"

Brennan claimed it didn't take her long to realise the matchmakers had failed "at their one job."

"It became clear as day when my TV husband took great pleasure in asking the sound crew, camera crew, producers and what-have-you about potential front-of-house sports presenting gigs."

Azzopardi said the explosive post really struck a chord with her.

"I could really relate to it. I felt Michael was different off-camera. he was more showy and out there when they were on, and off-camera he was awkward. It was just constantly awkward," she revealed.

"He was single for nine years. If I met someone like that at a bar, alarm bells would go off straightaway."