Married At First Sight is back and one scene already crossed the line.

Married At First Sight Australia is known for bringing together some of the most fame-hungry people in the nation. The show is a breeding ground for influencers and aspiring stars, with a clear unwritten contract (along with several very real contracts and NDAs).

The MAFS deal is this: if the participants can put on a good show and get over all the so-called editing and manipulation, they'll garner their desired attention and fame in exchange. We all agree to pretend the premise is about finding true love, but we know it's not really about that.

Over the years, the show has evolved from a simple matchmaking series to one that focuses on drama, scandal, and tearing people apart for entertainment. It's the modern day colosseum: where once there were lions and men in leather skirts, there now stand before us 'nice guys' who pretend to be interested in finding true love while actively displaying the very reasons no woman should ever go near them.

But there is an expectation from the audience that genuine contestants be left unscathed. That we don't subject the 'real' people to this display of drama.

There is a line. And the love experts — or MAFS producers — just crossed it.

Katie and Tim's wedding episode was an uncomfortable affair. Image: Nine.

Katie Johnstone was introduced to viewers in the premiere as a lovelorn single woman in her late 30s, who shared a special set of criteria for her future groom: she literally just wanted someone kind. Someone nice. And the MAFS love experts have paired her with the ultimate nice guy: the fake one.

In the second episode, Katie was matched with Tim Grommie.

"Tim is the self-described nice guy, he's going to give Katie exactly what she needs," expert Alessandra Rampolla declared. John Aiken echoed her sentiment.

"Tim is getting exactly what he's asked for. He wants someone who is family-oriented, who has a great personality, sociable, who is also ambitious," John said of the match.

But… John, what about Katie?

Katie is an emotional and vulnerable woman, as made clear by her own admissions. She just wanted someone who would be kind to her and she was turning to Married At First Sight to try find real love. It's rare, but given the show has produced some successful matches, they do still see some genuine applicants amid the growing list of social climbers. Katie is a woman who was actually wearing her heart on her sleeve.

We watched this woman have a tearful breakdown as she tried on wedding dresses, expressing her deepest fears and insecurities of being unlovable or judged for her appearance — and the experts saw this woman and handed her a man who will do his best to destroy the remnants of her self-esteem.

Do they expect us to believe Tim was the best option for her? I think we all know why the experts and MAFS producers chose Tim for Katie: they were calling his bluff in order to make great television. We've seen them do it before.

Watch Tim and Katie on Married At First Sight. Article continues below.

One sentence from Tim's opening montage showed us what we were in for.

His very first words on the show were "nice guys finish last". He uttered the toxic catchphrase before launching into all the reasons he was sad and single and did he mention, nice? He was hoping his appearance on MAFS would lead him to the right person who would "want the nice guy" for once. 

You're telling me the experts and the producers simply couldn't see the truth behind the facade? I spoke with Eliot Donovan earlier this week — yes! That Eliot! — and even he had some words for his co-star.

I asked Eliot about the fact that he'd clashed with Tim during the bucks party, and his response was telling.

"There were a lot of grooms saying what they thought people wanted to hear. I was just trying to get people to chill out and pretend the cameras weren't there," he told Mamamia, explaining he felt Tim, amongst other grooms, was putting on a display for the producers.

Eliot said he felt the 'nice guy's finish last' mantra was a farce.

"Nothing against the guy, but the way Tim was talking about his experience with women… It was very much a pity party and 'they all take advantage of me' and 'I cared too much about them' and this and that… and I don't know, to me, people treat you how you let them treat you," Eliot said. "I don't know, it seemed like he was the kind of guy that wasn't super authentic."

Eliot says Tim seemed inauthentic on MAFS. Image: Nine.

When Eliot is calling you out, I think it's time for a little self-reflection. But Tim didn't have an ounce of that on his wedding day, which will go down in history as one of the most painfully uncomfortable episodes in MAFS history. 

Following their on-screen nuptials, we all seemed to be on the same page: Tim was 'deflated' by his match, and Australia was enraged by Tim.

On paper, this is a good match. Two nice, normal-looking people who are roughly the same age and say they want the same things. But off paper, she is a beautiful, kind-hearted and selfless person who is by all accounts positive and fun. He's just there, not bringing a whole lot to the table from what we've seen.

But he doesn't think Katie is good enough for him and he was very clear about how unimpressed and uninterested he was in her.

The problem here is that he's also not the kind of guy who was willing to be honest or truly kind to Katie in the process. And so, MAFS producers have taken us to a dark place: we're going to watch this man belittle this woman. And, to be quite basic about it, this isn't fair to her.

She deserved better. Image: Nine.

From watching the episode, my problems with Tim are threefold: he's dishonest, he's a gaslighter, and he's got no regard for Katie's feelings.

Tim was asked point-blank about his ideal type of woman and told the producers, both pre-and-post his wedding ceremony, that he didn't have one. But after meeting Katie, he repeatedly said he expected to be served up a petite young blonde.

That, my man, is a type.

You just don't want to sound like a bad guy because you've based your whole brand around being nice. 

"Looks fade, you just want the personality and the person you can banter with. I definitely believe in this experiment and I'm coming in with an open mind," he told producers, before the wedding.

But he didn't have an open mind. He bolted after the ceremony, telling producers "what the f**k, it's totally not what I wanted" and declaring he was embarrassed to have come on the show due to his "disappointing" match. 

Producers wrangled with him as he hid in the fields like some kind of reverse-Mr Darcy from Pride & Prejudice. 

"You can't judge someone straight away from that amount of time," a producer pleaded with Tim, as he threatened to leave the experiment and claimed he wanted to run away.

"[Give her] five minutes… you've completely cut this woman off," the producer begged. 

Hell of a reaction for a guy who claimed not to have a type. A guy who claimed to be kind.

Tim's appearance on MAFS has caused quite a stir. Image: Nine.

I do also have to single out the subtlety of the gaslighting in this episode. It had Katie questioning whether she was seeing things. Was she imagining tension? Over-catastrophizing? Yes, he convinced her she was.

"He's saying all the right things and being considerate with family and friends, but I can see something is up. The facial expressions, the body image, it's like he was avoiding me the whole night," Katie told producers, before confronting Tim to understand what was going on.

She asked him to his face whether or not there were any issues. He could have told her the truth, but instead, he led her to believe that things were fine. I mean, he'd literally been sitting at the table mocking the match to his friends. He'd run away from the wedding to tell producers he was horrified by the pairing. But, sure! No problems here, pal.

Katie left that conversation feeling reassured.

He waited until they were alone and away from the cameras (and all of her loved ones) to tell her the truth. Then, when she was emotional about the reveal, he said: "I know I haven't made you feel this way, but I put you in this position".

A grown-up would admit that, actually, they had made her feel this way. But Tim doesn't appear to be one, also putting the responsibility back on Katie to decide whether they should embark on their honeymoon or not.

For Katie's sake, I hope things turn around. But I know they won't — at most, Tim might get a talking to from the experts when he makes it to the commitment ceremony. But let's not forget, these are the same experts who stuck her with him in the first place.

John Aiken, I've got my eye on you.

Feature Image: Nine.