Can science help us fall in love?

Category: News Release

 

The vast majority of us are brought up to assume that love is something that just happens, but there are now 15.7 million single adults in the UK* so why are we not finding true love?  Do modern dating practices mean that marriage and monogamy have had their day? Have we forgotten how to fall in love?
Married at First Sight is a ground-breaking series which asks if science can help to create a successful relationship and if the act of marriage itself helps create a psychological bond that leads to true and enduring love.

Chosen from an initial pool of over 1500 applicants, individuals each seeking long-term love have been carefully assessed by a panel of experts in the fields of psychology, social & evolutionary anthropology and theology.  

Until the 18th century arranged marriages were common but will the combined professional experience of these experts really create the ‘perfect’ match?  Can theories of evolution, social development, attachment and personality really identify a partner better suited to us than we could find ourselves?  Three couples will find out - in an arranged marriage made by science.

Once matched by the experts the highly compatible couples will prepare to enter into a legally-binding marriage with a complete stranger - meeting for the very first time at their own wedding where they’ll declare ‘I do’.

Or will they? As the day draws close will nerves get the better of each bride and groom before they meet at the altar?

For those that do decide to become legally wed the cameras will follow the couples during the first tentative weeks of their relationship as they share their honeymoon and then their daily lives with a complete stranger.

After five weeks the couples will have to decide if they wish to stay together as husband and wife, or walk away from a marriage that theoretically could provide them with a soul mate and the long-lasting happiness they strongly desire.

Ultimately the show will ask if science can help us fall in love.





*2011 census, office of national stats