'Flaming crap salad': Famed film critic and ABC star Margaret Pomeranz slams Married At First Sight in foul-mouthed tirade
Australian film critic Margaret Pomeranz has delivered a hilariously honest judgement of the TV megahit Married At First Sight, declaring the cast are "ill-suited to their partners and the planet Earth in general."
The former The Movie Show host savaged the 2025 brides and grooms, experts, and broadcaster the Nine Network on Thursday evening's episode of ABC's news satire series The Weekly with Charlie Pickering.
Pomeranz said the reality TV juggernaut, which saw 24 strangers meet the altar for the first time and say, 'I do', brought together "emotionally stunted dunces into phony unions designed to ruin their lives".
"A new litter of fame hounds and narcissistic spuds boldly seek love instead of desperately needed therapy," the 80-year-old said of the 2025 season 12 cast.
"Billed as a social experiment the same way thalidomide or the H-bomb were harmless research, the show follows hapless singles marrying a stranger selected by experts.
"And it's an outstanding cast, gagging to show the world why they're relationship poison."
Pomeranz said the couple's faux weddings "somehow increase the neurological damage" of the singles, who reveal "the fascinating ways they are ill-suited to their partners and to the planet Earth in general."
The film critic said the cast is inevitably then shocked the "flaming crap salad" shown in the previous seasons plays out again in their marriages.
"If only there were warnings like 11 other seasons," she said.
John Aiken, Mel Schilling, and Alessandra Rampolla weren't spared, with Pomeranz saying the three experts' series of relationship tasks were designed to prioritise the "emotional destruction" of the marriages.
"The expert's performances shine, artfully pretending that the emotional destruction of these bull*** marriages wasn't the objective," she said.
Pomeranz said the millions of viewers who tuned into MAFS ahead of Nine's flagship news program 60 Minutes and Network Seven's Australian Idol, watched "person after person set their dignity aflame."
"But as history demonstrates, it doesn't matter how fetid this turd is, as long as it provides a platform for the damaged, the delusional," she said.
"People will sign up, and viewers will slurp it down, so I say 'Bravo Channel Nine, this morally bereft s*** sandwich is no less than what we deserve.
"And that Earth-destroying asteroid cannot come soon enough."
It comes as MAFS' success rate this year remained typically low, with Jeff Gobbels and Rhi Disljenkovic the only couple to walk away with love.
Jacqui Burfoot and Clint Rice, who were not matched together, shocked fans when the professional golfer proposed to the former lawyer at So Dramatic's finale viewing party at Arcade Bar in Sydney earlier this month.
MAFS this year has once again raised questions about the controversial social experiment, as Jacqui and her on-screen husband Ryan Donnelly's tumultuous relationship continues to play out in real life.
After Jacqui and Ryan's relationship ended when they traded barbs at Final Vows last October, the exes have taken to social media to share a concerns letter and alleged message exchanges of a sexual nature.
Jacqui took out an interim restraining order against Ryan in Tasmania in March, which stopped him from commenting online about her.
Ryan's subsequent application for an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) against Jacqui was heard for the first time at Sydney's Campbelltown Court House last Wednesday.
Jacqui was physically absent in court but opposed Ryan's application through an email to the court registrar, which served as her appearance.
Magistrate Shane McAnulty told the court he was unwilling to grant the order in Jacqui's absence and asked the parties to prepare submissions for the matter to return to court on Tuesday, June 24.
In February, SkyNews.com.au exclusively revealed NSW Police had launched an ongoing official investigation into the show following one groom, Paul Antoine's violent actions on-set.
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That's been the trail taken by Australia's most commercially successful film director Baz Luhrmann, who grew up in the NSW outback town and on Monday will be appointed a Companion (AC) of the Order of Australia as part of the King's Birthday Honours List. He's been honoured for eminent service to the arts as a filmmaker, to the theatre, to cultural heritage, and to the development of artistic talent. "My personal journey from a small, rural town to the world stage would not have been possible but for those who came before having the vision to support the arts, allowing us to reflect our stories back to ourselves and participate in global culture as Australians," Luhrmann said in a statement to AAP. The 62-year-old came to prominence with 1992's Strictly Ballroom, which was his first screen collaboration with his now wife, award-winning costume designer Catherine Martin, who was responsible for the film's dazzling outfits. 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