Married at First Sight is moving from FYI to Lifetime for its fifth season, which will debut in April, and launching a Second Chances spinoff that same month.
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Lifetime has announced it will premiere Married at First Sight's fifth season beginning on Thursday, April 20.
Married at First Sight will first air a matchmaking special at 8PM ET/PT, followed by the Season 5 premiere -- Episodes 1 and 2 -- from 9-11:30PM ET/PT on Lifetime. The first four editions of the series aired on Lifetime's sister network, FYI.
In the new season, three couples -- comprised of six complete strangers who don't even know each other's names -- will once again marry the moment they meet. The couples who are matched up by a panel of experts will tie the knot in Chicago, IL. Previous seasons were filmed in Miami, New York and Atlanta.
Sociologist Dr. Pepper Schwartz is the only original expert to remain on the panel. She will be joined next season by Rachel DeAlto, a communication and relationship expert, as well as Pastor Calvin Roberson, a marriage counselor, who joined the show for its fourth season.
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The Married at First Sight episodes will feature the newlyweds marry, honeymoon, move in together, and attempt to get through the daily struggles of life. After six weeks of hard work, each couple must determine whether they'd like to stay married or get a divorce.
In addition, the show's new spinoff, Married at First Sight: Second Chances, will premiere one week later on Thursday, April 27 at 10:15PM ET/PT, directly after the original series' third episode. The first Second Chances broadcast will be one hour and 45 minutes long.
As previously announced, Second Chances will follow singles David Norton and Vanessa Nelson as they get another shot to find love with local interested suitors. They will once again be guided by Married at First Sight experts.
Vanessa wed Trey Russell on Season 3 of Married at First Sight and seemed like a great match. They chose to stay married at the end of the process but eventually split after the show concluded. David was married to Ashley Doherty on the same edition and wanted to make their relationship work, however, she opted to get a divorce during the finale.
Vanessa and David were memorable participants on the show because they both had a strong desire for life partnerships and put everything they had into the process. When their marriages failed, they were both extremely disappointed and heartbroken.
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Married at First Sight's fifth season will be comprised of 17 episodes, while its Second Chances spinoff will air over the course of 12 episodes.
Before Lifetime added the series to its programming slate, FYI announced Married at First Sight's renewal in late October 2016, revealing production was already underway. The experts had about 40,000 candidates to choose from.
Married at First Sight and Married at First Sight: Second Chances are being produced by Kinetic Content.
The original show is executive produced by Chris Coelen, Sam Dean and Gena McCarthy. Executive producing the Second Chances spinoff will be Coelen, McCarthy, Brenda Coston, and Shura Davison.
CORRECTION NOTICE: An earlier version of this report misidentified Vanessa and David's Married at First Sight spouses. We apologize for the error.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski