'We don’t create villains.' MAFS producers have one thing to say to rogue contestants.

When it comes to Married At First Sight Australia, there's no avoiding the annual 'blaming of the edit' once the first episode has aired.

Each year, contestants call out the show for its 'franken-editing' (a term which describes the editing together of multiple pieces of dialogue in order to create one narrative) and the infamous 'villain edit'.

The 2025 MAFS season has barely begun and the 'edit' chatter has already started. And honestly, we get it. Things can be taken out of context, dialogue cut off. It's a lot.

Eliot Donovan, one of this season's most high-profile characters at this stage, said he was a little thrown by his edit in the first episode but understands it's all about making great TV.

Watch Eliot talking about his perfect match. Article continues after video. 

"They're trying to make a compelling episode and that whole thing," he told Mamamia, adding there were some scenes where his words were inserted into moments that had been entirely unrelated.

"It wasn't exactly spot on, but obviously they've got to kind of... make it as controversial as they can."

In particular, he singled out the discourse surrounding his list of "non-negotiables," telling us it was something he was asked to bring to the table.

"The funny thing is the whole non-negotiable thing started from the audition. They asked that question. So, that was one of the things I was a bit disappointed with. They're kind of putting it on me as if I rocked up with this list," he said.

And while we're certainly aware that context is important and editing plays a huge part, the show's producers, John Walsh and Alexandra Spurway, as well as MAFS expert John Aiken, have set the record straight when it comes to the editing.

Speaking to Mamamia about the 'villain edit', Walsh and Spurway shut down speculation. They claimed that, while everyone is flawed, it's important to face mistakes head on rather than trying to "rewrite history."

"We don't create villains," Walsh said to Mamamia. "The villains reveal themselves and they just don't like the mirror being held up."

Eliot claims he was 'thrown' by his edit. Image: Nine. 

"If we're talking about the edit, I really don't think there's such a thing as a bad edit, just bad behaviour," Spurway said.

"You come into this experiment, everyone's flawed, everyone has the good, the bad, the ugly, including the experts, and you can't rewrite history. If I've behaved badly in my life, I can't go back and pretend it didn't happen. I've got to face it, I've got to take accountability, and that's what often happens in this experiment," she added.

She encouraged participants to look inward at their own behaviour, rather than placing blame on any so-called 'edit'.

"What would be great to see is if participants who do come into the experiment and then watch it back and aren't happy with what they see, look at why they behaved that way, what beliefs they may have, or values they may hold, and whether they should be questioning their own values rather than coming for the edit. Because it happens every year," she said.

"You can't rewrite history." Image: Nine. 

One of the show's three experts, Aiken also gave us his two-cents when it comes to cries of franken-editing on MAFS, pointing to a lack of accountability on the part of the show's disgruntled contestants.

"The participants that put their hands up have had plenty of opportunity to watch the previous seasons. So they know what they're getting into. Their behaviour, what they say, what they do, is driven by them and their choices, and when they're put on air, they can either like it or not, but it is essentially an accurate portrayal of what's going on," Aiken said.

"And what we've realised now, over the last few seasons, is that some participants will put their hand up and be accountable and say that's me and others will just blame the edit, and you can't really control it."

John Aiken dismisses criticism of 'franken-editing'. Image; Nine. 

At the end of the day, Spurway reiterated that the aim of the show is not to create 'villains' but to reflect genuine and honest human behaviour, good or bad.

"The villain edit as well is an old school reality term. We don't cast people because we think they're going to be the villain. You cast people, not only for their matches, but for their unique personalities, the kind of characters they are, their backstories," she said.

"And then it's just the nature of the experiment that you do see unfiltered raw behaviour from human beings who are inherently flawed, and we're going to show that."

So that's that, I guess.

At the end of the day, yes, problematic behaviour on TV should absolutely be called out. Let's start with some accountability.

But let's also remember we're watching real people. What we see is just a fraction of hundreds of hours of footage, so take it with a grain of salt.

Keen for more MAFS? Check out our Married At First Sight hub here. 

Feature Image: Nine.