Looking for 'the one'? Channel 4 may have the answer

8 May 2014

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 and marriage is at an all-time low (2011 census, office of national stats). Have marriage and monogamy had their day. Have we forgotten how to fall in love?

Channel 4 have acquired the rights to develop Danish format Married at First Sight for a UK audience; this ground-breaking social experiment will see three couples matched by man and machine according to scientific and sociological criteria and will be produced by CPL.

Chosen from an initial pool of over 200 applicants, six single people, each seeking long-term love, will 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’ in front of family and friends.

Each of the single participants will be carefully matched by a panel of experts in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy, social & evolutionary anthropology and theology in the hope that their combined professional experience can create a ‘perfect’ match.

Cameras will follow the couples for the first six weeks of their relationship as they share their daily lives with a stranger who could potentially become their soul mate, but practicalities aside, Married at First Sight ultimately seeks to answer two questions. Can science produce a successful relationship and can the act of marriage itself help create a psychological bond that leads to true and enduring love?

For over 20 years leading psychologists have been researching the theory that human behaviour - such as acting lovingly towards another person - can actually spark the genuine emotional response in both parties… love? Is it really possible to ‘choose’ to fall in love?

At the end of the filming period the three 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 the long-lasting happiness they strongly desire.

Married at First Sight (w/t) aims to be a fascinating new Channel 4 expert-led documentary series that will question our assumptions about romantic love, ask what determines ‘the one’ and examine why love can be so hard to find and hold on to.

Notes to Editors

Married at First Sight (W/T) was inspired by a Danish format of the same title

Production Information:

Executive Producer: Murray Boland, Danielle Lux & Eve Kay

Production Company: CPL Productions Limited.

Commissioning Editor, Features: Alex Menzies & Stef Wagstaffe