Married at First Sight, the “reality” show that pairs singles based on “scientific data” and has them meet for the first time seconds before saying “I do,” is certainly pushing the envelope. The premise is controversial, to say the least, but the show’s basic narrative is nothing compared to the strange behavior of several of the “experts” in charge of matching up the couples. Recently, they have taken to social media to slam some members of the cast and argue ferociously with fans. Whether this tactic is endorsed by the network or not is unclear, but it certainly has stirred the pot and affected audience perceptions, including viewers’ ability to enjoy the show unencumbered.
There are four experts on MAFS: Dr. Pepper Schwartz, a sociologist; Dr. Logan Levkoff, a sexologist; Dr. Joseph Cilona, a clinical psychologist, and Greg Epstein, the show’s “spiritual adviser.” Levkoff, Cilona and Epstein have been active on Twitter, Facebook and fan forums, interacting with the audience and fielding viewer criticism. Schwartz has kept quite silent on most topics, and interestingly she seems to be the most esteemed of the four, having received her PhD. from Yale. These impressive credentials along with her impeccable reputation may be related to her apparent unwillingness to participate in the down-and-dirty, scrappy cesspool of social media hell, where empathy is non-existent and which, by Dr. Levkoff’s own admission, “isn’t representative of reality.”
Levkoff, Epstein and Cilona seem to have no problem taking off their gloves and rumbling around in the murky world of this unreality by tossing out consistent insults directed at the cast and by engaging in arguments with specific audience members. Epstein, for example, who is a prominent atheist thinker and non believer who nonetheless gives religious and spiritual advice on the show, took a moment out of his busy schedule to slam Davina Kullar’s response to her husband’s promotion. Davina had just learned that her husband Sean Varricchio would not move to New York due to a promotion he had been working on achieving well before the show was cast. Sean had told the producers that he would be willing to relocate, but then changed his mind. Upon finding out the news of Sean’s job change, Davina seemed less than thrilled, and with good reason. She said she was “obviously happy” for him, but indicated that his refusal to move to NY (which was one of her pre-show “deal breakers”) would essentially make it purposeless to try to salvage their marriage.
A reasonable response, no? After all, Davina had clearly stated that her match must be willing to relocate to Manhattan, where she has forged a career as a successful pharmaceutical sales rep. The experts claim they use extensive screening to ensure matches who are “deeply compatible” with one another. Davina’s reaction to Sean’s announcement that he would not be moving in with her might seem perfectly natural to some viewers, but obviously not to expert Epstein, who tweeted out this catty comment on June 2:
Me-ow, Mr. Epstein! One question many viewers have, though, is what makes Epstein qualified to advise on what is key or not key to a marriage without taking into account the promises made prior to that marriage? Epstein does not have a doctorate in psychology and is not a marriage counselor. He is a highly respected atheist thinker, and the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard; no one should sneeze at those credentials as they pertain to secular thinking and the promotion of non belief. However, it is fair to question exactly how atheism translates to the intricacies of marriage and family issues, specifically, when his masters is in theology.
But Epstein is not the only one delivering heaps of criticism on the cast members. Dr. Logan Levkoff seems to spend nearly 24 hours a day responding to social media commentary, and she has certainly handed out some gems. She recently lashed out at fans and bloggers who had been questioning the authenticity of MAFS with this Facebook post yelling that there is NOTHING FAKE about the participants.
That is quite interesting, considering that two of the season two Married at First Sight participants are television veterans, one of whom has been acting for the last eight years. It is also noteworthy that Levkoff states the participants are not fake, not that the show is not fake. Perhaps she is privy to the reports of many scenarios of the show being staged. One example of this alleged fakery is the constant bestowing of children’s toys on the part of Davina and Sean to one another. According to inside sources, Davina did not purchase any of the Legos seen on season two of MAFS solely of her own accord. The Lego sets, puzzles, plastic stars, etc. were the ideas of the producers. This non-authentic set-up, if true, would indeed be considered quite fake indeed.
Levkoff does not stop there, though, she sent out a tweet that many viewers feel was clearly directed at Davina’s BFF, Chris Pierro, essentially calling him a bad friend because, according to Levkoff, he says “awful” things. Chris appeared briefly on several episodes of MAFS, but despite this, he is a private citizen, unlike Levkoff who is a public figure. Many fans were shocked by what they perceived to be Levkoff’s passive-aggressive public attack on him.
Despite proof that Sean was introduced to Married at First Sight by season one’s Doug Hehner (aka: Sean stating “I was first introduced to Married at First Sight through season one’s Doug Hehner…”), Levkoff has issued multiple denials that the association had anything to do with Sean’s being on the show at all. It seems she expects viewers to believe that it was coincidence for Sean to be selected for the show out a pool of thousands of applicants, even though insiders say that Sean previously knew one of the show’s producers. Again arguing with fans, Levkoff said that no one on the show had a relationship to the producers. She also insists that the producers do “psych/background checks” on all of the participants despite the fact that evidence shows Sean received a DUI for reckless driving, and that according to the public records online database at the Sarasota FL clerk’s office, he violated his probation during the time the show was being filmed:
Does the show consider a DUI arrest and alleged probation violation to be A-OK, then? Hm.
In addition to this back-and-forth, fans have also reported that Levkoff has been blocking them from her Twitter account right and left. Some say that after they asked her about the validity of MAFS, they found themselves unable to access her tweets. Many are asking today what the purpose is of engaging on social media if the experts are not capable of handling the tough questions.
As if perhaps/maybe/maybe not purposely fibbing about the thoroughness of the show’s background checks were not enough, Dr. Levkoff then turned the tables by sending out numerous tweets and Facebook posts accusing other people of lying and posting “crap”, saying the fans are “sad” because their opinions are “based on lies,” and saying that she is the one who knows the truth regarding MAFS:
Apparently not one to miss out on the action, Dr. Joseph Cilona also weighed on in on a fan forum, saying that Davina is “a mass of contradictions” and that she sometimes is “very lacking in self awareness.”
Cilona went on to say that Davina can be defensive and guarded, and seemed to indicate that these flaws were partly responsible for the problems in her marriage. The experts’ attacks on certain cast members call into question the reason why show representatives have not been forthcoming about Sean’s DUI; why they did not ensure, for season two cast selection, no previous connections to people involved in the show, and why they continue to deny that anyone in the cast has a criminal background.
At the end of the day, the experts’ behavior on social media is an abuse of power. They are public figures and as such, it is unbecoming of them to attack the “little guy”: friends of the cast, audience members, and bloggers looking for answers. The experts are the people with the fat paychecks, which they earn under questionable pretenses. Their wealth and fame sets them apart from the rest of us, and they ought to be held to a higher standard of conduct by the network than what they have thus far displayed.
According to the rumor mill and overwhelming fan commentary, this season was a failure. However, if network executives and the experts would spend more time focusing on authentic casting and documentary style television instead of living on social media to slam the cast and fans of the show from which they at least partially make their living, it would be a much more enjoyable third season for all.
Finally, we leave you with a profound quote from Dr. Levkoff herself:
Exactly, Dr. Levkoff. Exactly.